Yeah well, … did they have the same mechanisms to register climate change 300 years ago?… and modern ice ore samples?… hey… lets ask the frozen mammoth who died with a tuft of grass in its mouths ( personally I think it died of a heart attack or old age .. ) , point is … why do we think we are any different ,- this worlds gone through many epochs of cooling and warming.
And as for the industrial revolution and 100 years of petroleum /coal usage?
One volcano the size of Karaktoa put up more debri into the atmosphere .
I dunno. I cannot escape the suspicion theres a definite political agenda behind much of this, and yes, there are changes, but we've moved from ' global warming' to 'climate change'… all in a few short decades…
20c Global Warming was considered linear, now it's evident it's exponential and the Planet is transitioning ( Abrupt Climate change) to a new hot state. Refer Michael Mann's hockey stick analogy.
Yeah well smog, space junk , and plastic bags killing marine life are all bad.
But if we are to believe the evolutionists ,they say this earth is 'old' and has gone through many heating and cooling events. From Gwondala land ( and every other permutation on the theme ) and its break up and the volcano/mountain building process to the Carboniferous , Mezazoic, Cretaceous and a whole bunch of other 'zoics' and convenient eras they care to label.
Think of it,… the 'Carboniferous' period… tons and tons of carbon locked up in trees, when they say the worlds atmosphere was far warmer than it is at present and there were no ice caps and the sea levels were much higher than now. So now we release a small percentage of that carbon in the form of oil and coal into the atmosphere again… so , voila!- instead of a return to the Carboniferous conditions and accepting it , – all of a sudden we get something different entirely… whereby certain groups ( read ' Bilderbergers' ) of this world can impose carbon taxes and gain control… seems a bit human – centric to me ,mate… with a fair few of those humans seeing a golden opportunity to make a fast buck and gain power more than any real concern ' for the planet'.
And this is where we have the orthodox geologists and evolutionists by the short and curly's yet again, – by asking the question exactly WHY should we expect any difference between the Carboniferous period for example and now?
You cant destroy matter as we've been led to believe, – and what goes up, must come down, – so they say. So now we release a very small portion of that former Carboniferous period carbon into the atmosphere in the form of oil and coal and now all of a sudden its 'anthropomorphic climate change'.
It raised the alarm when Al Gore stood to gain millions of dollars in carbon tax shares along with the Bilderberger society ( the originators and pay roll guys of the theory originally ).
There's no doubt there's change, but its a far cry from what the doomsayers are trying to make us believe. There's just no way conditions are going to approach anywhere close to the conditions that the orthodox geologists , climatologists and evolutionist's are leading us to believe. No way at all.
You, your children and your grandchildren will still be here in 100 years time. Yes , Australia will grow hotter, yes the polar caps will shrink – as many of the glaciers have,… and yes, we will see more cataclysmic events regards typhoons and hurricanes …but that is supposedly a trifle compared to what changes this planet has undergone before – WITHOUT anthropogenic interference.
As I've said before … you have far more to fear from THIS :
"I cannot escape the suspicion theres a definite political agenda behind much of this…"
Oh yes, there certainly is. And there is huge money to be made from this great bandwagon. But the bigger problem is that the kind of hysterical alarmism now so common is actually turning people off taking real action to address the issue.
I think the issue is when people keep repeating themselves.
You do have a point re: doomsayers. But we must allow for the grieving process people go though when they realise the world and life as they know is under threat. Hell, I'd rather dream of a rosy future full of robots and hover boards than worry about how to deal with survival through rapid change.
It does cause a period of histrionics in many as grief is a real bitch.
As for making money… You really think there's some leftie conspiracy going on for cash? You don't understand lefties at all do you. There might be a few opportunists on the bandwagon but most aint in it for money at all, they're trying to save our asses.
Some of them trying to save our asses seem kinda shrill. The intention is largely honorable and sometimes it's a PITA.
You're a big boy now aren't you. You'll figure it out.
If there's one thing that galls me is humankinds rank stupidity in clearing the worlds forests ,- those massive 'purifiers' that are the real 'lungs' of the earth. The natural flora in any environment is there for a reason because it is the flora designed for that region. They are the filters of the planet.
We replace it with monocrops such as pine , or worse ,… put it into pasture,… in NZ , I think there is less than 17% left of our lowland forests. Appalling.
We collectively destroy those forests and the fauna which derives sustenance from them. We truly are wreckers. We create deserts. And the worst thing?- it is totally preventable.
I wonder if more effort was put into simple revegetation ,… along with developing alternative, cheap sources of energy ( and they exist – one only has to read the huge amounts of data online ) whether we would see a far more balanced environment. I'm sure we would. One only has to look at documentary's on Chernobyl and the return of the mega wild life including Deer, Moose , Bears and Wolves – all totally unharmed by any 'radiation' to see the punyness of mankinds endeavors.
Nature has a way of cancelling out anything we ever do once left alone.
It is a comfort to see how rapidly the forest has again taken over and is covering the 'once city' of Chernobyl in a mere 30 years.
In a study of the Toltecs, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas ,.. it is amazing how those society's not only created vast land areas from swamps and islands, – massive city's – ( 20 million populace in both the Aztec and Incas empires) but how they managed by not managing their surrounds barring what they needed for horticulture/agriculture. We cannot go back to that era but it is food for thought.
An example of good planning are those farms in NZ who revege on riparian areas or provide natural areas for stock to shelter under… small increments such as that help to provide habitat, food sources, shelter – and in the case of riparian areas, – a natural filter for excess nitrates and the like.
Our problem is our method of governing,.. with successive govt's not seeing the environment as being more important long term than pandering to human profit interests in the short term.
Indeed,… it would be interesting to see if the 'lungs' of this earth were again increased to even a portion of what they once were,… if that would create a more stable atmospheric system and negate this mad hysteria of 'anthropomorphic climate change' and the carbon tax whereby nothing changes globally in an environmental sense , – barring certain elite individuals becoming even more obscenely powerful and wealthy.
And we still promote tourism as a growth industry. So we can "tax" those with a few $$ considered rich BUT should there be an industry that would have large negative impact on our well being better not touch !!
And as for calling for an emergency ?? Hopeless without meaningful action , and in most cases meaningful action has a price to pay as those US civil rights activists killed .
“staggering” new warning from a top United Nations official that climate crisis-related disasters are now occurring at the rate of one per week, with developing nations disproportionately at risk, provoked calls for immediate global action to combat the human-caused climate emergency.
The warning came in an interview with The Guardian, which reported Sunday:
Catastrophes such as cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Mozambique and the drought afflicting India make headlines around the world. But large numbers of “lower impact events” that are causing death, displacement, and suffering are occurring much faster than predicted, said Mami Mizutori, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative on disaster risk reduction. “This is not about the future, this is about today.”
This means that adapting to the climate crisis could no longer be seen as a long-term problem, but one that needed investment now, she said. “People need to talk more about adaptation and resilience.”
If anyone was ever curious about Artificial Intelligence this is an excellent primer based around the question 'what are machines so smart, yet at the same time so dumb'?
One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health.
Queues of people lining up at the Manurewa MSD office to get emergency assistance.
Auckland City Mission general manager of social services Helen Robinson said they have seen a 40 percent increase in demand for food this financial year, compared to last year.
The number of hardship grants provided by this Government has increased 60 per cent year on year.
If this was a National Government one would be asking where is the brighter future? But in this case it's a Labour one promising wellbeing as it proudly spends $20 billion on defence
Without the Chairman's relentless and heartfelt expressions of concern for the Government's behaviour, this site would be nothing more than a riotous, bacchanalic festival of gloating and showboating by irresponsible, boastful lefties, drunk on power and sherry (is that what Socialists drink?Milk-stout maybe?Ena Sharples and Minnie Caldwell were never a Tories, were they?).
We have a great deal to thank the Chairman for; he brings dignity to a blog that would otherwise be nothing more than a great night at the Rovers.
Yay! Oh damn. I'll go for Yay! I love that florid description Robert – I wait in anticipation of being drunk on power, and sherry or kambucha (once I get used to it. We have a firm that has started making it in Nelson.)
Kambucha, grewarshark, is easy to make with basic brewing skills and gear. Cheap, tasty, even in smaller doses healthy. Doesn't have to be strongly alcoholic either. My brew is about 1% abv and made from mostly black tea with some flavoured tea bag additions. All you need is a SCOBY, tea, sugar and a brewing vessel. Mine's under an airlock in a 5 litre bottle. 3 litres every three weeks. My daughters reckon I'm an original hipster- though I'm of hippy age.Cheers!
"be concerned for those the Government are failing"
Are the Range Rover owners all getting crook off the plastics? Have the homeowners been dropping from exhaustion trying to make their rentals liveable? What about Farmers, cleaning up shit can't be good for them?
I understand how the lack of CGT has affected the poor dears leaving much less ammo to back up their claims the sky is falling while they continue to live off the sweat of real men.
I suggest an army of folks with umbrellas to symbolise the danger of said sky falling, and perhaps a Range Rover parade, to commemorate the death of the free market.
It is good the Auditor General is able to illustrate the gross failings and mismanagement of the previous government. Have we managed to link it all to the current government yet? Those PR boys need to earn money too.
It may be the government lack the perfection of execution required to clean a complete shit show up overnight. Let alone the convergence of many life threatening phenomena at once.
I do hope you'll send them a terse letter compiling your concerns.
It doesn’t matter whether I “already have some idea that it is far more” or not. The point is that others who read TS may not know. You drew the comparison with the Defence spending budget yet failed to show the other side of the ledger. A persistent failure, I may add.
But it would be interesting to know how much is spent on the bureaucracy opposed to the recipients.
I assume you mean the bureaucracy to run the social welfare system? In what way would it be interesting? Do you have a benchmark in mind? Would you like to propose a more efficient and effective system? Are you in favour of small government?
Again, you ask leading questions but fail to offer anything constructive. Is it merely negative criticism or anti-government propaganda? Despite your repeated protestations and claims of being “more left than most” it is often impossible to tell. By your comments we know you.
The comparison drawn was to highlight we have a welfare system that is largely unfit for purpose, resulting in widespread hardship. Yet, the Government prioritises a massive military spend over increasing core benefit rates in its so-called Wellbeing Budget.
If this wasn't so dire it would be a joke.
Thus, of course this is negative criticism. Labour can't pull crap like this and not expect to be criticised. The left I know are fuming. Yet, here, one can't point out such things without coming under fire.
In what way would it be interesting?
Exactly as I stated. To see how much of the welfare spend actually goes to those that require it. What's the CEO on now days?
I'm not advocating for smaller Government but I'm confident efficiencies could be found at MSD.
There you go again, with emphasis added where you clearly show your prejudice:
The comparison drawn was to highlight we have a welfare system that is largely unfit for purpose, resulting in widespread hardship. Yet, the Government prioritises a massive military spend over increasing core benefit rates in it's [sic] so-called Wellbeing Budget.
There is no comparison if you do not give the actual figures. It is just disingenuous innuendo and almost looks like a smear campaign.
I’m also sure efficiencies can be found at MSD, which is an operational matter. Let’s cut the CEO’s salary by 50% and see whether that will solve “widespread hardship”. What is your benchmark for how much should go to those who require it?
So, Labour, NZ First, and the Greens should stop to “pull crap like this” and you and your lefty buddies can stop fuming, no less. To me this sounds it is all about you and might explain the angry emotive language that has become your trademark for criticising Labour in particular rather than the CoL Government as a whole.
I think the paradox of who pays for the military and how is limited by a population that is surplus to requirements, Y'know disposable.
I don't think that is Ron Marks fault for successfully getting his budget priorities through. I think it is rather more telling that the rest of the cabinet ministers didn't.
I don't think so. If you were to construct a budget right now based on your desperate attempts to protect your little theoretical model of a government budget it would produced a CEO salary half what it is now, fewer bureaucrags so a smaller cheaper government and more stupid.
Well Y'know Chairmen and I have discussed this welfare thing a few different ways before and I thought he was correct on a few things. The public just has to get used to these billion dollar unicorns. A billion dollar budget blow out used to be a very rare event. Now practically every ministry is experiencing these budget unicorns and we just have to mornalize them.
Well I listened to Ron Marks budget speech. In it he congratulated the former minister of defence Gerry Brownly for showing a little bit of interest in his portfolio at the time, something he criticized Mark Mitchel for lacking, Y'know interest, self drive, a bit of knowledge of the issues.
If I go down the list of priorities out lined in the Defence Capability Plan released a couple of weeks ago, an extra LHD, an extra patrol vessel, basically $20 billion in stuff. No one thought Ron Marks could get all that past the Greens.
More significant is that the $20 billion dollar plan has so far crossed 2 successive governments. In my humble opinion I think the public should embrace such spending and more of it as a natural part of running a government.
There is no comparison if you do not give the actual figures.
Clearly, it wasn't a dollar for dollar comparison. It was a moral one. Highlighting a massive military spend was prioritises over increasing core benefit rates of kiwis most in need.
What is your benchmark for how much should go to those who require it?
The Welfare Expert Advisory Group gives some good indication.
To me this sounds it is all about you…
Well that clearly highlights you live in a bubble if you genuinely believe that to be true.
Do you see your disingenuous smear campaign criticism of Labour as some kind of moral crusade? I mean $20 billion and the CEO’s salary combined obviously show how evil out of touch Labour is, and without a moral compass. There is no comparison necessary about dollars or how taxpayers’ money is spent, it’s just plainly and clearly wrong.
You don’t have a benchmark except for some vague reference to a group of others. Did they give benchmark for how much of the total MSD spent should go to those who require it? You brought it up so it is a valid question to ask you. But you keep ducking for cover and not answering the question.
Yes, I live in my personal sphere. What do you live in? When do you stop drawing attention to yourself and when will you start using your skills in a more effective and productive way here?
It's somewhat moral but more so a political need. And I'll explain why. Unfortunately, despite all their rhetoric, Labour's representation of the left is vastly lacking. National lite is the most common description. Therefore, they only tend to act in the interest of the left when they are publicly pressured to do so (and even then they largely fall short). I'm one of many helping to apply that public pressure.
The need is somewhat exacerbated in the current political environment due to the Greens heading down the same path since the political demise of Metiria Turei.
Prioritising such a massive military spend up over better addressing the more pressing issue of poverty suffering and hardship in a so-called Wellbeing Budget is a kick in the face for those who believed their campaign rhetoric and voted for them as a result.
When Little was leader he talked of cutting back this military spend. Yet, evidently, that quickly went out the window once they achieved power.
If Labour no longer want to represent the left, then fine. But they must make that publicly clear. Don't try to appeal to us only to turn around and shit on us. A least with National, the left know where they stand. No expectations, no let downs. With National we know we are screwed.
Re the bureaucracy opposed to the recipients, as I don't have a total overview, I don't currently have a benchmark in mind. I just thought it would be interesting to see the actual breakdown of where the money all goes.
I appreciate your considered comment, I really do.
It leaves a number of questions unanswered. For example, is the Defence spending really “massive” compared to social welfare or health or poverty reduction? How can we tell without actual figures? Another way of putting it is to suggest how much less should be spent on Defence IYO and where and more importantly how should that money be spent elsewhere? It is easy enough to gesticulate wildly with your hands and arms but given that you don’t know what those who are in charge know I think this comes across as ignorant and arrogant.
Another question that remains is why Labour should be held to account for things they said and promised in the past, which they are allegedly not delivering on in the current Coalition Government? Can Jacinda Ardern be held to everything Andrew Little said when he was Labour Leader? Even when the parties are not delivering on past promises, it might mean that they are doing as much as they can under the circumstances.
The Defence spend is massive in a historical sense.
Little was speaking as Labour Party leader months out from the election, they changed leader but made no suggestion they were going to change their stance on this military spend. So of course they will be pulled up on this and called to account. Are you on planet Key? What were you expecting? Everybody to lay down and take it?
Labour's failure to deliver largely comes down to them tying their own hands (BRR, income tax, CGT etc) when it came to funding their rhetoric.
Another way of putting it is to suggest how much less should be spent on Defence IYO
I'd look at cutting it in half. And spend the money on welfare, housing and health. But I don’t have a full overview. Nevertheless, whatever the case I wouldn't be spending that much on Defence with the current shit that's going down locally.
Moreover, that massive expenditure will largely head offshore. Whereas, if we spend it locally now, it will not only stimulate the local economy but will also save us money (by improving social ills) going forward. Putting us in a better position to re look at it (the military spend) further down the road.
Ok, are you talking about cutting in half the Government's $20 billion Defence Capability Plan 2019 for the next 11 years?
What would be the known consequences of that cut?
Is that the only source of money or are there other areas you would cut too? Or was Defence spending just a rhetorical tool and a weapon to use against Labour? More like you’re ideologically opposed to Labour rather than ideologically supportive of more social welfare? I really cannot tell because once you start lashing out at Labour it doesn’t seem to matter what it is/was about.
You would “spend the money on welfare, housing and health”. Sounds good but what specifically would you do with the $10 billion? Build more social housing? Increase PHARMAC funding more? Increase benefits more? More support for mental health?
It’s the largest Defence procurement ever announced. Albeit it was initially announced by National.
What are you suggesting? That they rip up the Coalition Agreement?
Don't be silly. I was highlighting why they are failing to deliver.
Could they have avoided this? Yes, I'm confident they could of. They didn't have to make the BRR so stringent from the onset.
Just as Jacinda could have done more to secure a CGT (as I've highlighted here before) And she further dropped the ball completely dropping it. Polls showed support for a CGT. Especially when combined with tax cuts. She could have at least put it up for referendum come next election.
It was only going to be tax neutral for the first 5 years and it would have become a massive revenue source, which Jacinda has unnecessarily thrown away without batting an eyelid. And to make matter worse, they have no B plan as yet. And it will be a hard loss of revenue to compensate for.
They wouldn't have lost any votes taxing the top 1 percent (they may have even got away with taxing the top 10%) yet nada. Another lost form of revenue.
The tourist entry tax was another area they fell short. Another potential revenue stream cut far short.
They have a lot to deliver but are fiscally boxing themselves in.
I like your minimizing tactic and the way you continue to pretend it's just me that wants them to do more. Have you seen the People's Budget. Heard of CPAG? AAAP? I don't stand alone in my wants.
I'm not angry Labour are leading the coalition, I'm (along with many others) disappointed they are failing to deliver. Moreover, they seem intent on making matter worse. Why do they keep doing that?
The Coalition Agreement is probably more of a ‘roadmap’ but also a ‘rulebook’ that loosely (?) defines the boundaries of what’s possible and what’s not from the Coalition’s perspective. Then there are, of course, the usual constraints on what the Government can do. In the end, Governments makes policy, they don’t perform miracles.
Yet, in your eyes, they systematically and continuously fall short and fail to deliver.
With the wisdom of hindsight, with different cards dealt to them by the voters, and under different political and economic circumstances we would and we will have a different outcome. Until then, they play with the cards they were dealt, to their best ability.
But you always claim to know better. Yet, you’re not an insider but more likely just another armChair critic.
I like your evading tactic and never provide straight answers, hard figures, or actual facts. Just your negative views of and attitude towards Labour. Didn’t you vote Green Party??
Good for you that don’t feel alone in your “wants”; is that supposed to show that it’s not all about you? Others here on TS are not exactly blown away by this Government either but at least they put up well supported arguments for debate and not just negative bias towards Labour.
Moreover, they seem intent on making matter [sic] worse. Why do they keep doing that?
This captures your enormous bias in one. Firstly, it is intentional on (again) Labour’s behalf. Secondly, (all) things are getting worse. Thirdly, doubt and suspicion again of their motives and wilful actions.
In short, you don’t seem to comment here in good faith and this is starting to concern me. In fact, you’ve been repeatedly called out about your behaviour here but there’s no hint of acknowledgement, that you take these things on board. Why do we have to put with your comments that demand change from Labour the Government in such an uncompromising way and whilst you show that you’re utterly unwilling to take our criticism on board? Your demands are therefore irreconcilable with your behaviour here and to me show a rigid angry person lashing out at Labour, time after time.
Yet, in your eyes, they systematically and continuously fall short and fail to deliver.
Are you that blind and committed to Labour that you can't see this failure?
So, for example. When they only took 3 recommendations from the The Welfare Expert Advisory Group and not one of them was lifting core benefit rates (which by the massive increase in emergency benefits being issued coupled with the fact we know benefits were slashed, thus no longer fit for purpose showing an increase is long overdue) you didn't see that as them falling short in any way?
Especially with all their campaigning on poverty and giving Kiwis a fair go and a so-called Wellbeing Budget on the horizon?
You see no failure and are totally shocked anybody else would?
Moreover, I'm "a rigid angry person lashing out at Labour" for even suggesting so. Oh and I'm supposedly the only one in NZ even thinking so? Yeah right.
If you don't like what am saying, move on to the next comment.
Don't play stand over games with me. I don't fear you.
It is not about being blind, it is about willing to see and focus. You seem to focus only on Labour’s failures. It is the only thing you want to see, expect to see, and focus on. Thus, you are wilfully blind. You cannot or do not want to see things in perspective. That is a very ‘limited’ way of discussing politics and trying to further progressive ideas IMHO.
If you don’t like what [I] am saying, move on to the next comment.
You claim to be “more left than most”, which should mean you and I are in the same political ‘camp’ for all intents and purposes. However, your anti-Labour bias, which often borders on smearing them IMO, is more hinder than help. To mitigate, I call you out.
Don’t play stand over games with me. I don’t fear you.
Well, that’s a new tactic to make another commenter stop challenging you on your anti-Labour bias. I tell you what, as long as you are making these unrealistic demands of Labour here, I will be challenging you on your comments. If you don’t like what I am saying, move on to the next comment. Don’t play silly games with me. I don’t fear you either.
"One of the key problems today is that politics is such a disgrace, good people don't go into government."
– Donald Trump
Failure is everywhere. It's puzzling that a self-professed "lefty" who is "more left than most", such as The Chairman, remains stubbornly silent (on this left-leaning blog) about the manifold failings of the National party, both in government and in opposition.
No let-up, however, in their "relentlessly soggy" criticism of left leaning politicians/government, so that's a ‘blind in one eye’ fail for The Chairman. As the (now searchable) evidence here continues to pile up, one begins to suspect they were never a friend of the left.
Yes, neoliberalism has moved political parties towards the right which has resulted in Labour becoming National lite, thus no longer really a friend of the left.
And the Greens have shown themselves to be a toothless kowtower to Labour as they are also moving with the neoliberal tide.
So the choice for the left is to either push them back to the left and regain our political representation or look elsewhere for it. Sadly, a good number have just opted out and no longer vote as they see no hope of change.
And when people lose hope, that is where we risk things becoming dangerous.
Are the youth losing hope, or are they "pretty damn hopeless"?
Do you recall your criticism of the Finance Minister at the time.
"Bill English blamed the number of young people on drugs, in part, for the Government's decision not to further limit unskilled migrant numbers.
It's not the first time either. English previously regaled a Fed Farmers meeting about the number of "pretty damn hopeless" young Kiwis who were unemployable."
"pretty damn hopeless" unemployable young Kiwis – Bill English
"when youth lose hope" – The Chairman @3:36 pm
I submit that the current coalition government, led by PM Ardern, gives most young NZers more cause for hope than English or his hair fondling predecessor ever did. Feel free to disagree, loudly & often.
The "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman deplores the inadequacies of NZ's current government, loudly and often, but couldn't manage a bad word about the efforts and outcomes of the previous National government, preferring instead to highlight the manifold shortcomings of Labour, the Greens and even NZ1st in opposition.
The Chairman is "an enigma wrapped in a riddle" – a conundrum. The Hair-man’s deceits, on the other hand, were lauded as examples of integrity and honesty in National party circles.
At least English was being honest in his opinion of young unemployed NZers.
What you clearly fail to see and evidently fail to understand is, Labour's achievements are largely tied to their failures. So it's not that I don't see them, it's just they are not worth raving about.
Take the new tourist entry tax/levy, that was an good achievement which also fell well short.
Medicinal cannabis is another achievement but also another fall short. And again, nothing really positive to rave about.
GP fees, another good move, but again they promised $8 GP visits but only dropped the fees to $18. So of course, the jumps for joy aren't going to be forthcoming.
I can go on but surely you must be starting to see and understand.
What gripes me and others is the lost opportunity, we don't have time to mess about, things are really bad out there and getting worse, hence we need far more done now.
Have you ever seen me rave about Labour or this Government for that matter?
The way I see it is that constructive criticism is about balance and finding the sweet spot between the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’. Everything happens on a scale, a spectrum if you like. Actually, more in a multi-dimensional and multi-factorial continuum. Simplism and reductionism only get you so far, and binary thinking and dualism are not much help either.
I am optimistic that you and I and many others here are contributing to a better future, whatever that means, and not just for ourselves but also, and more importantly, for others. And we all do this in our own ways, starting with ourselves and our natality (cue Hannah Arendt).
"What you clearly fail to see and evidently fail to understand…"
It's clearlyillogical to expect me to understand that which I "clearly fail to see."
Nevertheless, I see well enough to see through your carefully choreographed pas de deux.
I'm personally disappointed by the scale and speed of progress the Labour-led coalition has made thus far in rolling back some of the more egregious ills perpetrated during nine LONG years of self-serving National party 'rule', but IMHO is a bit too soon to panic. Carry on.
Really? Come on, you're not that ignorant are you? Surely you must know there will be a number of them. Mainly, our defence capability will take longer to rebuild and the wider impact of that. However, it will be $10 billion better off than it currently is now going forward.
It's going to disappoint the international interests that are going to cash in on this. And those that want us to carry more weight. But again, $10 billion will make improvements to our current capability.
Is that the only source of money or are there other areas you would cut too?
No. I would make other cuts and changes too.
I'm ideologically opposed to war. Moreover, historically our military spending has largely been atrociously wasteful. With cost blowouts and purchases not fit for purpose. Which, I'm sure we will see more of with this massive spend up. As they say, watch this space.
I am ideologically supportive of more social welfare spending. It's not only morally correct, it's fiscally astute.
I don't generally lash out at Labour, I just tell it how it is, yet some here take it as a lashing. I guess its a case of the truth hurting some of the more sensitive ones.
Sounds good but what specifically would you do with the $10 billion? Build more social housing? Increase PHARMAC funding more? Increase benefits more?
Yes, yes and yes. In health, more preventative and diagnostic investment to better catch things early. Speaking of which, where are those $8 GP visits that Labour promised but have yet to deliver?
Social housing is where the need is worse and is not being met, which in turn will slow private investment in rental property as rents slow as supply increases. Resulting in less demand for housing, thus slowing house price growth going forward.
Indeed, I’m ignorant of the cuts you demand and their consequences. It is for you to show the impact of these cuts and whether and how the claimed benefits outweigh the negative consequences. This not a simple Excel exercise, you know. Yet again, you fail to provide a satisfactory answer. In fact, you don’t even make a genuine attempt. For example, tell us what you’d cut, why, and what the consequences would be. Be specific. You can use the Defence Capability Plan 2019 as your guide.
I am also opposed to war. Yet paradoxically, spending on Defence can help to avoid war.
Moreover, historically our military spending has largely been atrociously wasteful. With cost blowouts and purchases not fit for purpose. Which, I'm sure we will see more of with this massive spend up.
Nice adjectives. Care to give some examples? You do realise that cost blowouts and purchase not fit for purposes are part and parcel of governing and are really operational matters and not specific to Defence, don’t you?
I am also in favour of more or rather better social welfare spending. I agree, it is good economics.
I don't generally lash out at Labour, I just tell it how it is, yet some here take it as a lashing. [my bold]
Uhhmmm, no. You just tell it how you see it and how you want it. Unless you have all the facts and the complete picture, which you obviously do not, you have just an opinion.
You know that GP visits are not paid for or subsidised by PHARMAC, don’t you? Yes, very good point about prevention and early diagnosis with the only proviso that early diagnosis can have the unwanted consequence of too much and/or too early intervention. Along these lines, pregnancy appears to be more and more treated as a health risk and there are way too many C-sections performed IMHO, at great cost (and with their own health risks).
I agree that the Government should ramp up social housing. I don’t necessarily agree that this should come from the Defence budget but I’m awaiting a compelling argument to convince me otherwise.
Q.1: How long has NZ had "a welfare system that is largely unfit for purpose"?
Q.2: How long has The "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman been criticising the Government charged with formulating and delivering that welfare system?
Our welfare system hasn’t been fit for purpose since at least 1991. Some would argue before that when benefit rates ceased to be tagged to the cost of living.
China without any doubt whatsoever is a threat to our future way of life and standard and quality of living. Ergo, welfare for our countries future security is also social welfare.
Have we so soon forgotten the lessons of the creeping danger as in the appeasement policies of the 1930s, or the appeasement policies of the US towards the sick North Korean regime?
Have you reviewed the WW2 studies where it was pointed out that Chamberlain's period of appeasement enabled Britain to hurriedly prepare for war.
Earlier they would have had insufficient organisation, infrastructure, weaponry, training, planning, manpower etc. to withstand Germany's superior organisation. Winston could and no doubt, did, advise them on that as it had been an interest of his for probably a decade, and he organised regular reports to him on such matters.
The obvious was useful, everyone thought Britain was backing off, and no doubt if they had caught one of their diplomats leaking the truth about their unreadiness, he would have been quickly dealt with; faster than Trump.
This is a very interesting excerpt from a book about Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936. It seems to give a thoroughly researched picture of the man and his approach to his country and royal duties. He seems admirable to an extent which I had not realised, with enough detail to substantiate and explain any faults that could have been found.
' Have you reviewed the WW2 studies where it was pointed out that Chamberlain's period of appeasement enabled Britain to hurriedly prepare for war.'
Or it was a giant fudge that ended when a forest was found to be not a very effective fighter against the relatively most advanced & mobile technological war society of the time & probably since
No forests and fudge didn't appear in the information I was reading.
I thought i was talking about Britain and Germany and France all facing off around 1938-39, and I put a timeline showing earlier years. Was Britain all ready at the time Chamberlain was having talks – they had a phony war too for a while – that must have helped in giving time to get defences ready and plan for attack?
"The number of hardship grants provided by this Government has increased 60 per cent year on year." – The Chairman @4
Why would The Chairman, who is "more left than most", chose to propagate such a scurrilous out-and-out 'citation-free' lie? Steven Joyce, or John Key (god, weren’t they just stinkers) I could understand, but a "lefty" such as The Chairman? Why, it fair beggars belief – who does The Chairman get their facts from, Stacey Kirk?!!
Here are the annual increases (to Sept each year) in the number of hardship grants provided for the last three years. The increase to Sept 2018 is not dramatically higher than the previous two years under a National-led government, and is presumably needs-based. Possibly, just possibly, an unmet need developed under the ‘careful watch’ of National party MPs that is only now being addressed.
"If this was a National Government one would be asking where is the brighter future?" – The Chairman @4
Yet The Chairman was curiously silent about the year-on-year increases that occurred under the National-led government, curious at least for a self-described "lefty".
The Chairman, "as transparent as a transparent thing" – maybe it's all Jacinda's fault, but I don't trustThe Chairman's motives, nor anything they say.
Why would The Chairman, who is "more left than most", chose to propagate such a scurrilous out-and-out 'citation-free' lie?
A lie was it? Yet it was reported as a quote by Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, in response to claims it was turning away people in need at Manurewa.
Blowing Labour's own trumpet a bit hard perhaps in the ass covering process?
So your information source is Stacey Kirk – quelle surprise.
So glad we at last have a NZ government that is attempting to address this previously unmet need so that folks who were struggling under National's 'blighted future' policies have a better chance of life with dignity – don't you agree?
“Blowing Labour’s own trumpet a bit hard perhaps in the ass covering process?“
Even for The “lefty” “more left than most” Chairman, this is a bit rich. Maybe, just maybe, they are finally transistioning from their ‘friend of the left’ charade – not a second too soon, IMHO.
When I was a child in the 1960's, a significant portion of my neighbourhood struggled to put food on the table. The difference was that people made sacrifices to make it happen, they didn't think the state was the first port of call for help, and they beat down every door looking for work. We have grown soft, massaged into submission by an overly generous welfare system and an unwillingness to make personal sacrifices to take care of those we have had a hand in creating.
Being concerned about how people die rather than some mythical welfare queen eating caviar between meals, popping out kids for less money than the government gives while having to prove they’re looking for work is a fantasy. It’s not a real concern.
It’s the signal. Do the right thing, pay what you owe, and then watch others who didn’t get rewarded. Or, keep you hands in your pockets, live frugally and independently, and watch others live off the state. It’s not all recipients, but there is enough to be of concern.
The 'others' who didn't pay the NCEA fees and had the debt forgiven. The 'others' who cheated the taxpayer and then become Green Party MP's. There are plenty of examples.
When we allow our political leaders to get away with stealing form the taxpayer, we are sending a signal that that is ok. All of what you mention is wrong, but maybe if we made an example of some high profile miscreants (and not just ex Green party leaders btw) the rest of our bad behavers might get the message.
Oh piss off Mr Realestate. Y'know thousands have lost there jobs in the last 10 years through offshoring jobs. Employers just make people redundant and you want to blame Labour, The Greens or the Welfare state. Classic really, conservatives and hard left all in denial.
Hey not every forex trader assumes sovereign risk. Sometimes they just get lucky. Nah but the Reserve Bank now has tools to fight against currency manipulation and I think they are exercising there duties as well as could be expected. Y'know the she'll be right attitude is just the wrong one to have. It's crazy to assume that poor people are the reason the economy is soft.
A reasonable strategy might be to allocate publicly-funded investigative and prosecutorial resources roughly on a pro rata basis, i.e. estimate the total cost (to victims and wider society) of each major category of offending, then allocate taxpayer funds accordingly, starting (as Shadrach suggests) with high-profile alleged offenders.
Don't know exactly how much Metiria Turei's self-confessed offending (~10 years before she was elected to parliament in 2002) cost the taxpayer, but the courts have determined that another former politician (an ex-PM, no less), is liable for $6,000,000 – no small sum. I wouldn't hold my breath that reparations will be forthcoming in either case.
And I couldn't begin to speculate on whether one, or the other, or both offended for love of money, although if personal wealth is any measure then their love of money is not shared equally
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." – 1 Timothy 6:10
Shadrach – You conveniently forget that when you were growing up, people who found work were paid a decent wage relative to the cost of living. It was worth the effort to work.
No longer so: the minimum wage is now an insult to anybody's dignity.
I blame the Rogernomes. I am old enough to remember Roger Douglas earnestly expounding how his theories had to work, and how NZ should avoid becoming a low-wage economy. With a high-wage economy, we would thrive incredibly..
What a bloody liar. He and his ilk then put in policies that could only plunge NZ into a low-wage economy.
When you were young, people got decent wages when they worked. They don't now, and that changes everything. You reminiscences are invalid and downright stupid.
"When you were young, people got decent wages when they worked."
Did they? And yet my dad worked two jobs at times just to pay the bills. I don't know whether it's easier to live on the average wage today or not. All I know is that I see a lot of people with one hand out and the other spending it on stuff we used to call luxuries.
You're not, by any chance, thinking of David Hisco, Nigel Murray, Jenny Shipley or Peter Whittall? Best not to bother wealthy 'players'; focus instead on real crims.
“Only the poor break laws – the rich evade them.” – T-Bone Slim
In the early 60's, New Zealand enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world.
One main income earner was able to cover the bills, put food on the table and pay off the family home. Jobs were plentiful and double time and time and a half for working overtime and weekends were common practice. This allowed many low skilled workers the opportunity to put in some extra hours and be nicely rewarded come payday. Unions were strong and workers enjoyed the benefits of that.
Moreover, the cost of renting or owning a home was far less relative to incomes then than it is now. It was a totally different era, thus as In Vino (above) points out, your comparison, in a general sense is far from valid.
In the 1960's we owed our standard of living entirely to mother England. Those days of gone, and we have had to grow up. Some people haven't, and the rest of us are picking up the tab.
We didn't "grow up" we created an unsustainable mess.
Jobs were lost, unions weakened, and benefits were severely slashed. Labours share of the economy was reduced. House prices have soared and households debt is at record high levels. The most lucrative means of production are largely in foreign hands/ownership and the rich have become richer while more commoners are living in cars and our jails are at near full capacity.
We grew up. Yes jobs were lost, but far more were created. Our economy went from being a basket case to being described in rock star terms. NZ today employs more people than ever before.
We have benefitted enormously from technological advance which has seen us enjoy a standard of living my parents only dreamed of. We have access to inexpensive goods and services far beyond those of the 1960's. And all of that is sustainable if we have government’s that manage the country with skill, which fortunately we have had. Until, arguably, the current government. Time will tell.
What we aren't is dependent on mother England for our standard of living. We have forged an independent economic pathway that has delivered benefits to all who work to enjoy it. That you see the weakening of unions (by workers voting with their feet) and the 'slashing' of benefits as somehow bad things is indicative of a mindset that is stuck in the 1970's. Thankfully the country has moved on.
Apart from technological advancements that, as time moved on, would have largely occurred regardless, our standard of living has fallen since the 60s – not improved.
The rock star label was a sham. Built on a house of cards, namely soaring household debt and an opening of the floodgates (immigration). Both of which are unsustainable in their current trajectory. Our infrastructure is failing to cope, and our growing debt is of concern to our creditors.
As for our indebtedness, local Government is up to its eyeballs. With Auckland for example, hitting their debt ceiling.
Jobs have largely become low paid and insecure, it's now called the gig economy. And the stats used classes one hour of work as being employed, thus there is a growing number that can get the hours of work they require.
Stats NZ data shows that in the year to June last year, there were 2.14 million people in New Zealand who had annual income from wages and salaries.
Of them, 50 per cent took home less than $45,673 a year.
Only 23 per cent of people had income of more than $70,000.
Our impoverishment is now straining our health system.
Having access to inexpensive imported goods such as big flat screens is of little help when people can't afford a flat/home to put them in.
The New Zealand economy would have been 10 per cent larger in 2010 were it not for the steep rise in income inequality which occurred between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, OECD economists have found.
Drawing on data from across the OECD over the past 30 years their econometric analysis finds that income inequality has a negative and statistically significant impact on subsequent growth.
Yes, we have come a long way from dependence on mother England. We were the first to do a trade deal with China and have a number of others under our belt. But while we have come a long way and had sustained GDP growth, our standard of living (bar from technological advancements) hasn't improved and we could have done better (as highlighted above) if we didn't slash benefits widening our inequality. Moreover, our income stats above highlight only a very small number are doing well. The love isn't being shared and it is costing us all apart from a small number at the top.
So instead of pointing the blame at those on the bottom, start looking at what's going on up top.
As I've clearly shown, my perspective is fine. It's yours that needs adjusting
“Apart from technological advancements that, as time moved on, would have largely occurred regardless, our standard of living has fallen since the 60s – not improved.”
That’s nonsense. NZ’ers have been in the position to enjoy new technologies because of the economic liberalisation of the 1980’s and beyond. Without those changes the new technologies would have remained beyond most people due to duties, quote etc. Today even the most modest of households enjoys a lifestyle my parents could only have dreamed of.
“The rock star label was a sham. Built on a house of cards, namely soaring household debt and an opening of the floodgates (immigration).”
Again, nonsense. Our economy is diverse. We have enjoyed growth in a range fo sectors beyond property, including tourism and technology.
“Jobs have largely become low paid and insecure, it's now called the gig economy.”
That is little more than a mantra to satisfy those who have been left behind in a modern economy. We compete on the world stage across a raft of different industry sectors, something we were incapable of in the ‘60’s.
“Our impoverishment is now straining our health system.”
No, they aren’t. Our health system is exceptional by world standards. The stresses on it are largely the result of the availability of new procedures and technologies, and the pressure of an aging population.
“Having access to inexpensive imported goods such as big flat screens is of little help when people can't afford a flat/home to put them in.”
Very few people cannot. I rent to low income families. All have the latest TV’s phones, etc.
“Moreover, our income stats above highlight only a very small number are doing well. The love isn't being shared and it is costing us all apart from a small number at the top.”
You are conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. For every economist you cite who claims we could have been better off with less inequality I’ll quote you one who disagrees. Just because my wealth hasn’t increased as much as my neighbours doesn’t mean mine hasn’t increased. Indeed mine may have increased BECAUSE my neighbours has increased by more. Our economy today provides the opportunities for far more people to prosper, but today it is far more about choice than it was in the 1960′. Some choose to live off the rest of us (and that is the fault of an overly generous welfare system), when it really isn’t necessary. Back to my original point.
Without those changes the new technologies would have remained beyond most people.
Not if the love was better shared and people were earning more as a result. As it stands, most of those items are put on tick as they continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessaries (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.
While our economy has diversified somewhat, GDP growth is still largely coming from soaring debt and immigration. Tourism is another area that is becoming unsustainable in its current trajectory, hitting capacity constraints in our infrastructure and accommodation.
A large chunk of tourism income goes towards accommodation, which is vastly offshore owned.
The gig economy isn't merely a mantra, there is a growing number of part time work and a growing number of workers that are underemployed. A job for life has become a thing of the past.
The Auditor-General's latest report into DHBs points to years of underinvestment combined with an ageing and increasingly impoverished population putting strain on our health system.
While low income families may have the latest TV’s phones, etc, a good number still struggle to buy food and pay their bills. These largely one off items (opposed to ongoing daily expenses) don't offset the hardship they face. And you'll find most get into debt to buy them anyway.
I wasn't conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. I was highlighting the returns from GDP growth aren't being widely shared. The rich are getting richer as the majority are ending up with less of a share.
For every economist you cite who claims we could have been better off with less inequality I’ll quote you one who disagrees.
You sound like John Key. The IMF and OECD not only acknowledge this but understand how it contributes to the boom and bust cycle. A more equal economy not only fosters growth it is also a more long lasting sustainable economy.
You go on to say "our economy today provides the opportunities for far more people to prosper".
Yet, evidently, more aren't. Home ownership is in decline, Household debt is soaring. Food bank queues are growing. Jails are at full capacity. But that's OK for you as most have the latest phone and a big TV.
Even Phil O’Reilly gets the welfare system in NZ is not fit for purpose and is not overly generous. https://youtu.be/Cdo_Pz6ez5w
“Not if the love was better shared and people were earning more as a result.”
So go live in a communist country, but you’ll pass masses leaving for market economies, that are providing much higher standards of living.
“As it stands, most of those items are put on tick as they continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessaries (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.”
No-one is forced to buy anything. That’s the beauty of a free society.
“While our economy has diversified somewhat, GDP growth is still largely coming from soaring debt and immigration.”
Now you’re saying ‘largely’. That’s a climb down, but you’ve still got some way to go.
“The Auditor-General's latest report into DHBs points to years of underinvestment combined with an ageing and increasingly impoverished population putting strain on our health system. “
We don’t have an increasingly impoverished population. You’re just making this up.
“While low income families may have the latest TV’s phones, etc, a good number still struggle to buy food and pay their bills. “
Maybe these are connected?
“I wasn't conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. I was highlighting the returns from GDP growth aren't being widely shared. The rich are getting richer as the majority are ending up with less of a share.”
So what? If my 10% share is worth ore than my old 15%, I’m better off.
“ A more equal economy not only fosters growth it is also a more long lasting sustainable economy.”
There is absolutely no evidence for that. In fact the failure of just about every socialist economy proves you are wrong.
“Home ownership is in decline”
Again, so what? Home ownership is in decline globally, and many immigrants to NZ come from countries with no specific culture of home ownership.
“Food bank queues are growing. Jails are at full capacity. But that's OK for you as most have the latest phone and a big TV.”
The prison population is the result of individual decisions to commit crime. Not colonisation. Not economic policy. Bad personal choices.
“Even Phil O’Reilly gets the welfare system in NZ is not fit for purpose and is not overly generous.”
Our welfare system is a disincentive to SOME to better themselves by their own effort. As a last resort, I fully endorse the welfare state, but it has become the first port of call for too many, and that as been actively encouraged by successive governments. The extensive reach of Working for Families is an excellent example. Middle class welfare is socialism by stealth. And yes, that is John Key.
Why would I want to do that when more socialist countries like Norway are doing so well? I'm a modern day Keynesian not a communist.
I didn't claim people were forced to buy. Was highlighting these items continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessities (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.
Stating largely wasn't a climb down from my initial comment where I stated namely. Nor does it change the point made.
I'm not making shit up. You are just poorly informed.
Purchasing a TV etc is generally a one off expense albeit spread out over time if ticked up. So while purchases like this will have an impact on household budgets, it won't be the main driver of fiscal hardship. Therefore, the interconnection would be small.
If your new 10% share is now worth more than your old 15% share then your new 15% share would be worth more than your new 10% share, hence you are losing out dropping to 10%.
There is indeed evidence. Economic inclusion is a high priority issue for the IMF. High inequality is negatively associated with macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth—core to the Fund’s mandate in promoting systemic, balance of payments, and domestic stability.
You state home ownership is in decline globally as if it's a good thing.
The ability of less people to afford a home is an indication all is not well in an economy, and you are right, this isn't limited to NZ. But that is not a good thing.
While the prison population is the result of individual decisions, it's the wider circumstances that influences and helps shape the decision process. As a society, we can't turn a blind eye to the wider role we play (fiscally and politically) in people's personal choices as it will prevent the right solutions from being found.
The unemployment benefit pays little and has high churn. It's no longer enough to live off so is far from a disincentive. And if you fall ill and can no longer work, you are destine to a life of poverty as the supported living benefit is also no longer enough to live off. Hence, the massive increase of emergency benefits being issued.
The welfare state has become the first port of call for too many due to low incomes (remember your declining share) and the increase of the working poor. WFF is an employer subsidy taking pressure off wage demands and fails to give enough or any to the poor that aren't actually working. Which Key himself admitted and which is why he kept it on the National party agenda.
“I didn't claim people were forced to buy. Was highlighting these items continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessities (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.”
You said they were purchased ‘on tick’. If they are beyond their income, why are they buying them?
“Purchasing a TV etc is generally a one off expense albeit spread out over time if ticked up. So while purchases like this will have an impact on household budgets, it won't be the main driver of fiscal hardship. Therefore, the interconnection would be small.”
But you claimed the funds are borrowed, meaning there is a close connection. You’re dancing across a number of contradictory arguments.
“There is indeed evidence. Economic inclusion is a high priority issue for the IMF. High inequality is negatively associated with macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth—core to the Fund’s mandate in promoting systemic, balance of payments, and domestic stability.”
That’s debatable. Very debatable. The evidence of actual economies is that the free market is reducing poverty while increasing inequality.
“You state home ownership is in decline globally as if it's a good thing.”
No, I state it to put your saying it is a bad thing in a global perspective. Home ownership is not a right.
“The ability of less people to afford a home is an indication all is not well in an economy, and you are right, this isn't limited to NZ. But that is not a good thing.”
In the UK, home ownership has not been an indication of how well the economy is doing. The idea of home ownership has been an unattainable notion for many for a very long time, and yet people live comfortably.
“While the prison population is the result of individual decisions, it's the wider circumstances that influences and helps shape the decision process.”
Not really. To end up in jail requires a particularly serious misdemeanour. That misdemeanor takes a particularly bad set of choices by the individual that most of us don’t take.
“The unemployment benefit…”
…is just one of a raft of welfare measures available in NZ.
“ It's no longer enough to live off so is far from a disincentive.”
And yet some do.
“The welfare state has become the first port of call for too many due to low incomes (remember your declining share) and the increase of the working poor.”
You’re doing it again. A declining share doesn’t mean lower income people get less.
“WFF is an employer subsidy taking pressure off wage demands and fails to give enough or any to the poor that aren't actually working.”
No it’s an income redistribution. Employers pay market rates. They don’t pay less simply because of WFF. WFF should be replaced with a tax free threshold, targeted at genuinely low income families, not middle class welfare.
I said a "more" socialist country opposed to your suggestion I move to a Communist country. And Norway is (albeit not fully) a more socialist country than a Communist country. Additionally, socialist countries tend to be based on a mixed economy, which Norway is.
I said the reason people were putting such items on tick is because it was beyond their discretionary income. And because they are not everyday items there impact on household budgets would be limited, and not the main driver of fiscal hardship such as the high and ongoing weekly cost of accommodation. Therefore, you are either trying to intentionally spin my words for the sake of scoring a point or it could be you genuinely misunderstood.
While the free market may have lifted people in developing countries out of 'extreme' poverty, the same can't be said for developments here in NZ. For example, the number of children living in poverty increased from 12% in 1986 peaking to 24% in 2001. It declined somewhat (with the impact of WFF and and the global boom) but is now (latest data, 2018) sitting at 23%. So not only has inequality worsen, poverty in NZ has almost doubled since 1986. Not improved.
Home ownership is not a legal right, but accommodation is a necessity. Moreover, increasing home ownership is a sign of growing and widely shared prosperity, hence is a good thing. Thus, its decline is not.
Child poverty in the UK is almost at record highs, sitting at over 30%. Clearly, their economy is not as "comfortable" as you claim.
Wider circumstances do indeed influences and shape the decision making process. It impacts us in all manners of ways. From our investment choices right through to whether or not someone will commit suicide or being put into a position they need to break the law. Activism being merely one example. Moreover, wider circumstances such as the poor being more likely to go to jail than an executive also comes into play.
Not only is declining share Of GDP a lower income (as clearly explained above with your new 10% share equating to less than a new 15% share you missed out on by dropping to 10%) it also has wider negative, macro and political impacts.
Again from the IMF:
Equality, like fairness, is an important value in most societies. Irrespective of ideology, culture, and religion, people care about inequality. Inequality can be a signal of lack of income mobility and opportunity – a reflection of persistent disadvantage for particular segments of the society. Widening inequality also has significant implications for growth and macroeconomic stability, it can concentrate political and decision making power in the hands of a few, lead to a suboptimal use of human resources, cause investment-reducing political and economic instability, and raise crisis risk.
rump is horrific self serving bullshitter …. People who claim to like him are sucked in by what he says …. as just like every other bullshitter .. he is a con artist who does not deliver on what he said.
Racists love his dog whistles, especially the ‘build a wall to keep out the invaders’, These idiots deserve to be deceived, and so it is ,,,Their nasty stupidity is being milked by dangerous fool smart enough to say the moronic things their dumb bad ears love to hear….
Trump is totally unable to ' seal the border' …. Unless he wants the usa to have a great depression again.
Sealing the entire border between the countries, meanwhile, would cause economic chaos. In 2017, about $558 billion in goods flowed across the U.S.- Mexico border in both directions, making Mexico our third-biggest trading partner for goods
47 official entry ports, which process more than 1 million people and about $1.7 billion in commerce every day.
Unfortunately and just like our own dirty mucksters, the national party ,,,, Trump goes after the racist vote, and flames their ugly paranoid delusions ,,, That means he will probably ramp up the cruelty towards migrants and refugees …A consolation prize to his angry inbreed voter base.
Microsoft are rolling out new Service Agreements and Privacy Statements. I'd really appreciate a lawyer type taking a look for we who lack sufficient legalese.
I'm putting up a link to this Aussie doco on our very very preventable christchurch mass murder tragedy …… it is very well made, and any Aussie who has watched it is way more informed than the NZ public.
We've got a whole lot of less than honest misdirection and filtering acting against us here in NZ ,, with our 'lone wolf media ' ,,,,, Arse covering secret investigations ,,,, Not to mention all the politicians and media people keeping quiet and hoping we all forget the smears and negative stereotypes they have pumped out since the 9/11 blow back,,,,,
Blowback that was motivated by the 'crusader' killings of 500,000 Iraq children ,,, who died quietly,,,, starved and poisoned with the old traditional crusaders weapon of siege warfare ,,, renamed as sanctions nowadays ,,,in a modern feel good touch.
Our indifference to the ethnic cleaning and land theft ,,, still going on till this day ,,, of the Palestinian People … was also mentioned as motivation … as reported on by Robert Fisk.
Anyway if you wish to be better informed it is a much watch …. Its quite emotional and I got really fucked off at the scope of the failings revealed … the sub-human and white disgrace / trash was posting and displaying red flags ,,, to eyes that were blind … if red was on white.
Also ….. who knew that apart from having " Turk Slayer" written on one of his weapons … He also called for the assassination of Erdogin …
Don't get me wrong …. Erdogin is a war criminal and Kurd killer etc etc …. But our media kept us in the dark when everyone was dumping on him for his ANZACs in coffins comments. However given the context of a networking white sub-supreme terrorist visiting his country twice…. and with the turk slayer message … and kill Erdogin directive.,
,,Tells me Once more NZ has been kept ignorant and manipulated … putting us in the wrong ,,, morally wrong against a creep like Erdogin …. ffs
*The doco does off course give us the name and face of sub supreme …
And it is emotionally upsetting … both from the tragic interviews of survivors …. and the huge red swatzstickers this killer clown was all but draped in when posting online at fascist facebook pages and other extreme right muck hole meeting points .
Sorry peter … I did not see your reply post sooner.
Osama Bin Laden …. who was one of the main planners and leaders behind 9/11 was quoted using the 'crusader' label, which he attached and used to describe the crime of 500,000 dead Iraq children killed as a result of the western nation siege / sanctions.
So I'm quoting the motivation for the 9/11 terrorists ,,,,
9/11 spurred on a big increase in anti-muslim language smears and stereotypes worldwide ,,,, and gave the excuse for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya.
These wars have been endless with huge destruction …. Causing tens of millions of refugees to flee from the bombs and the war.
The refugees from our bombs and wars have created a ' Invaders ' fear into the dumb insecure and paranoid white Europeans. … Trump and others fan their fears by using their language and agreeing with them ….
I hope this explains it a bit better for you …. 'Cruesader' crimes was the language used and excuse given at the start of a chain of events ….. leading up to the christchurch 'killer …. and his 'invaders' excuse.
None of the excuses given by all the terrorists involved ,,,, and I include the lies / excuses given for invading and going to war in Iraq or Afghanistan were valid.
Bush, Blair . Clinton and Cameron ….. should have all ended up where the christchurch shooter now is … getting locked away for ever/
Trump is having a major fit of the sulks over the British Ambassador emails. He's not gonna work with him anymore even though he and the Ambassador have never met. He's also lashing out at Theresa May and proclaiming his pleasure she will no longer be PM soon:
I'm still trying to figure out why the leaker (whoever it was) leaked the emails in the first place. Was it because he/she was wanting to embarrass the govt., or did he/she think it important for the public to hear the truth from a top diplomat?
Q. Have you ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of 18?
A: Though I'd like to answer that question, at least today I'm going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights, sir.
Pukumeke is a conjunction of puku and meke, meaning ‘final blow’ in the context of the song. As in, the final power, the power to bring change ultimately lies with us.
This is a waiata porotēhi, a protest song towards the dairy industry and other industries in NZ that are polluting our waterways and poisoning the land.
Thanks, Marty. The timing of your post was exquisite and I hope I can share why that was with you someday soon. You'll be thrilled. Can't say more at this time.
Racism. We are all racists. As we can all attribute to someone's virtues based on racial origin. Maori are some of the strongest advocates of positive racism, attributing positive virtues to Maori. Well no, surely examples are needed, otherwise this is well, bad racism, racism that is unevidenced, its like heckling badly. Fair dealing would be some form of accomadation between racists where they evidance each others virtues, but no this isnt common. Since talk of racism immediate brings up one's racial divisions most people avoid the notion as it's rather dumb. Racism is dumb.
Evolution shows us that we are all superbeings having hundreds of million of years of successful ancestors, the idea that we are dissimilar in some way significant way as to require being enslaved, mistreated, denied equality, is absurd as it is an abuse of logic.
Religion, wealth, skin pigmentation, height, etc are continuing to be used in debates to push control of each other. As a society, rule of law isnt about denying people the opportunity of warning us who is making a special pleading, since it's nice to know who to deny jobs, to keep distance from, for good reasons, that bigots come in all forms, closed minded bad for business.
It is wrong what happen to many, it's inevitable societies make mistakes, advancing some, it's necessary that efforts are made to rectify them. The rich are failing to deal with growing inequality.
Did a Iwi / Kiwi racist National electioneering board fall on your head hard, giving you amnesia, makeing you numerically illiterate and unable to see our … racist …. society….
While not committing the aggressive genocide which cleansed murdered and starved the indigenous Native Americans and Aboriginals in Australia … We did lie cheat and steal through 'legal' means …. wage war to take land ….and generally try really hard to break their culture.
We're still attacking their well being ……
Who do we think bears the brunt of our predatory speculation housing bubble ….
Or our Alcohol abuse problem …. that the nats did a Dirty Politics side-step to avoid any meaningful measures to address
Someone like Judith Collins will shit all over Maori in our Justice system … But as pointed out by the corruption exposing reporter who ended up bringing down the criminal ruling Malaysian PM and his Govt …. Judith Collins is saying things that are untrue and unbeleviable …. as she defended the biggest criminals in the world … and Nationals non-fix, of their sneaky corruption enabling tax legislation.
Where greed combined with rich racists … shows the absolute worst about our culture.
New Zealand has vulture investors …. ie the billionaire chandler Bro s
The British, usa and Israel diplomats … should all be told to piss off out of NZ until they reform and stop their warmongering,,,, their stealing,,, and acting like a weaponized lynch mob.
What a depraved disgrace they all are …. The christchurch sick fuck shooter praised both trump and Israel …. it's easy to see why.
The Poms are boozey has been pirates …. only good for stealing, starving children to death in Yemen…. and killing civilians with their military.
We should get out of the five eyes lynch club …. grubby mobsters.
Which reminds me …… Did double dipper Wayne Mapp ever state or show ,,,,, that he made an apology or compensation,,,For the killings of children and civilians …. that he involved all of us in ?.
I'm still waiting for the slightest bit of real proof …. that he has any remorse for the pain and suffering and death and maiming that he walked himself …. and us into.
Some people think he's remorsefull …. He's had a long time to say sorry to the victims ,,, and offer something for the lives he's destroyed.
Because I'd like to get really rude ,,,, and tell him to fuck off and live in Israel .. a flabby but hard right wing Uber-gentile, living among uber-zionists … A kiwi war criminal living in the war criminal Apartheid state of Israel.
Maybe he can show that he did care enough to do the two token gestures towards his …. and our victims.
Or does he have the old white slave-masters complex ????
racist do not want to address racism. duh. So why box them in as racists, let them be humans like you who have feelings. You assume that all racism is racist, it's not some people have turrets? some people just mimic and don't get that it's offensive. most just want a easy life and thought being a jerk gets them what they want. If a boulder is rolling uncontrollably down a hill, you don't argue with the boulder, you point out how the smashing hurts, how the waste costs us, how the simple life…
Anyway, Romans invaded Briton and changed Britons, Britons interbred and are much more diverse, coloured pinkies, and are as a rule unlikely to sign a treaty with Maori if they were racists. rather they knew better by then.
By saying let racists be ……. your passively participating.
And even passive actions speak louder than fine words of how equal we all are when speaking to non-racists. ….
Its like bad behavior from a child ,,, we teach them good behavior ,,,, and everybody ends up more happy .
Racism is also a lie ,,,,, it can make some people so sick they will kill Women, children and old people ……. Christchurch.
I doubt you put up with other types of lies being told to you … if you know the truth you'll go 'hang on a sec, that aint right ' … and explain why.
Racists are a bit like wife beaters … they sick on the inside, with this ugly anger that robs them of the good emotions, those which make us content, happy, satisfied and relaxed.
Kia kaha to the youth for fighting for their future environment.
Let the neanderthal who run this Papatuanuku your future is so special to Eco Maori
New Plymouth students organising climate conference
For two New Plymouth students, climate change boils down to whether or not they will have a planet on which to live out their lives.
Jezza Vivian and Nikita Taiapa, both 17, are organising a climate conference to help the next generation get actively involved, as well as providing rangatahi with a platform to have their voices heard.
Many of their friends don't even want to have children because of uncertainty over the future environment, Nikita said
Coach Stevie I know how you feel with people taking your words and making a moanga out of a mole hill of course there are some women who beat men I have seen it as well.
All you people who are complaining about tamariki getting there qualifications even if they could not afford to pay their fees are just not very nice people you should be feeling sorry for all the tamariki in hardship muppets.
There you go trump is a brat full stop that was a conversation that should not have gotten leaked is trump spying on him ???????????.
Sir David Attenborough ka pai for your highlighting the harm that climate change is going to do to our mokopuna futures. If we don't stop burning carbon the common person future looks very bleak.
Jensen you're art is making the place better and beautiful we should be encouraging people who have great art not suppressing them kia kaha m8.
I it is a step in the correct position on medical marijuana it can revleave a lot of pain that people are suffering.
Biddle I thought I new the feachers I know some Biddles from Te taiwhiti.
The ass has dropped out of the log markets thanks to trump.
Like I have said the returns the Maori land owners get is crap if the logs have to be carted more than 2 hours only the forestry company's are making cream good money there needs to be a port on te taiwhiti coast to cut costs. I reckon that the forest company's short change Maori forest owners and pay their Pakaiha m8 more I see that behavior has been happening for hundreds of years the same can be said for stock agents ripping off Maori farmers and paying their m8 more money.
Lloyd you look like you're enjoying yourself in Britain.
Ryan we need to invest in mass transport not roads we need more Railways. The line to Gisborne Te taiwhiti needs to be fixed so Ngati Porou can get more value out of our exports. Is it a coincidence that the 2 place with high Maori populations have had next to no investment in the roads or railroad. ?????.
I heard that the tenants gave Jensen permission to paint the building with his street art it's all good Ryan the Eco Maori effect is in play Jensen art will get heaps of publicity NOW .
The neanderthals running Our Papatuanuku to the dirt at the minute can not even listen to Wahine concerns let alone listening to our rangitahi concerns with the Papatuanuku and their futures. The 30 under 30 is a great campaign kia kaha. Rangitahi are intelligent people some can see the big picture on Humanity's reality that is we can not keep SHITTING in our own backyard in reality it's full of shit that needs cleaning up right NOW.
I agree Sir Graham we need to nurture our rangitahi not put them down.
Good parenting Reason. Isn't calling your kid a racist when they say something racist, it's far more than that. Kids learn hate from those who teach hate towards racism and racists. Racism is just shallow thinking, as all vulgarity, yet of course has wider effects.
Eco Maori goes to Jaycars Rotorua and Harvey Norman's and what do you know they don't sell satellite dishes for sky or other tv satellites YEA RIGHT The sandflys are playing there stupid game the Muppets
Eco Maori thanks France for putting a Eco tax on there Air travelers all countrys need to follow there lead but use the tax to subsidize clean energy transportation. Ka pai.
France to slap new 'ecotax' on plane tickets from 2020
France will introduce a new charge on plane tickets from next year, with revenue used to fund environment-friendly alternatives, the country's transport minister has said.
The "ecotax'' costing between €1.50 (NZ$2.50) and €18 euros (NZ$30.50) will apply to most flights departing in France, Elisabeth Borne said.
The only exceptions will be for domestic flights to Corsica and France's overseas territories, and connecting flights that pass through France. It will not apply to flights arriving in France
Murphy said the French move could boost efforts to introduce a Europe-wide tax on aviation to reflect plane travel's environmental impact Germany, Italy and some Nordics nations also have ticket taxes. Several European countries are meanwhile pushing for the VAT exemption that airline fuel enjoys in Europe to be dropped
Germany's Environment Ministry said Tuesday it supports discussions on additional CO2-based pricing systems for air travel to reduce the industry's contribution to man-made greenhouse gas emissions, currently estimated at more than 2 per cent but forecast to grow significantly in coming decadesWhat's more, the conditions for competition between air, road and rail travel need to be made fairer,'' the ministry said in a statement. "This is something we in Europe need to achieve together ka kite ano link below.
Ka pai to Meng Foon for his new mahi as race relations Commissioner a great choice for that job.
The Americas couple whose IV babies got mixed up looked unhappy about the time of the mix up happened the hospital tried to sweep it under the carpet tipical don't give a stuff about the people feeling both parents.
Its is great that Middlemore hospital is getting a big money injection so that the hospital can lower the operating list its good that there is more investment going into treatment for Maori and Pacific health problems.
Condolences to Hone Ngati Whanau I like his DJ on The Code on Maori TV.
I agree stop the war on the poor one good thing is we now have a government that is trying its best to serve the tangata needs .It's tuff trying to live in Auckland when you are poor.
Meng foon deserves his new mahi.
With the James Cook not comments but Eco Maori has to let the Whanau know what is actually happening so that they can counter the bias discriminatory ways . Maori must keep trying harder when the system throws US heaps of underarm bowls kia kaha.
Tea puia marae is preforming a excellent service for te tangata.
I,,, you can't beat a traditional Hangi the last hakari was reka.
I think wakakura flax pepi cots will be excellent for Maori pepi living in the . It will be a lot safer than pepi sleeping in the same bed as te Wahine.
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
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In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
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Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
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Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
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You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Wooooo hoooooo….. cheaper electric cars? YES PLEASE and THANK YOU 🙂
We've been wanting one for ages, but haven't been able to afford, I really hope this happens, it would be life changing for so many.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114068301/government-proposes-massive-feebate-car-scheme-that-would-make-cleaner-cars-up-to-8k-cheaper-and-dirtier-cars-more-expensive
Our climate is transitioning to a hotter state = Abrupt Climate Change
Tiny Blip in Jet Stream Submerges Large Parts of Washington, DC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iks8i0k-YEU
Anchorage, Alaska roasts in 90°F heat, smashing all-time record by 5°F
https://desdemonadespair.net/2019/07/anchorage-alaska-roasts-in-90f-heat-smashing-all-time-record-by-5f.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXqPG6c-m5g
Washington D.C. Drenched By Record Rainfall And Flash Floods
https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/08/washington-dc-virginia-reagan-record-rainfall-flash-floods/
Alex Farrant 1 hour ago
Washington DC now a swamp. Almost prophetic. This is why I don't do fiction anymore.
Riitta Puhjo 54 minutes ago
Literally and figuratively a swamp.
Yeah well, … did they have the same mechanisms to register climate change 300 years ago?… and modern ice ore samples?… hey… lets ask the frozen mammoth who died with a tuft of grass in its mouths ( personally I think it died of a heart attack or old age .. ) , point is … why do we think we are any different ,- this worlds gone through many epochs of cooling and warming.
And as for the industrial revolution and 100 years of petroleum /coal usage?
One volcano the size of Karaktoa put up more debri into the atmosphere .
I dunno. I cannot escape the suspicion theres a definite political agenda behind much of this, and yes, there are changes, but we've moved from ' global warming' to 'climate change'… all in a few short decades…
20c Global Warming was considered linear, now it's evident it's exponential and the Planet is transitioning ( Abrupt Climate change) to a new hot state. Refer Michael Mann's hockey stick analogy.
Michael Mann: The Hockey Stick in His Own Words
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya1OZ_WJzPA
Yeah well smog, space junk , and plastic bags killing marine life are all bad.
But if we are to believe the evolutionists ,they say this earth is 'old' and has gone through many heating and cooling events. From Gwondala land ( and every other permutation on the theme ) and its break up and the volcano/mountain building process to the Carboniferous , Mezazoic, Cretaceous and a whole bunch of other 'zoics' and convenient eras they care to label.
Think of it,… the 'Carboniferous' period… tons and tons of carbon locked up in trees, when they say the worlds atmosphere was far warmer than it is at present and there were no ice caps and the sea levels were much higher than now. So now we release a small percentage of that carbon in the form of oil and coal into the atmosphere again… so , voila!- instead of a return to the Carboniferous conditions and accepting it , – all of a sudden we get something different entirely… whereby certain groups ( read ' Bilderbergers' ) of this world can impose carbon taxes and gain control… seems a bit human – centric to me ,mate… with a fair few of those humans seeing a golden opportunity to make a fast buck and gain power more than any real concern ' for the planet'.
And this is where we have the orthodox geologists and evolutionists by the short and curly's yet again, – by asking the question exactly WHY should we expect any difference between the Carboniferous period for example and now?
You cant destroy matter as we've been led to believe, – and what goes up, must come down, – so they say. So now we release a very small portion of that former Carboniferous period carbon into the atmosphere in the form of oil and coal and now all of a sudden its 'anthropomorphic climate change'.
It raised the alarm when Al Gore stood to gain millions of dollars in carbon tax shares along with the Bilderberger society ( the originators and pay roll guys of the theory originally ).
There's no doubt there's change, but its a far cry from what the doomsayers are trying to make us believe. There's just no way conditions are going to approach anywhere close to the conditions that the orthodox geologists , climatologists and evolutionist's are leading us to believe. No way at all.
You, your children and your grandchildren will still be here in 100 years time. Yes , Australia will grow hotter, yes the polar caps will shrink – as many of the glaciers have,… and yes, we will see more cataclysmic events regards typhoons and hurricanes …but that is supposedly a trifle compared to what changes this planet has undergone before – WITHOUT anthropogenic interference.
As I've said before … you have far more to fear from THIS :
What Happens When a Nuclear Bomb Hits – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChLpK8kQr4
Than climate change in the next 100 years.
"I cannot escape the suspicion theres a definite political agenda behind much of this…"
Oh yes, there certainly is. And there is huge money to be made from this great bandwagon. But the bigger problem is that the kind of hysterical alarmism now so common is actually turning people off taking real action to address the issue.
If it's nothing more than alarmism, then the issue is not real, is it, Shadrach.
Not at all. The issue can be real and yet have it's credibility/believability harmed by gross exaggeration.
Not at all. The issue can be real and yet have it's credibility/believability harmed by gross exaggeration.
I think the issue is when people keep repeating themselves.
You do have a point re: doomsayers. But we must allow for the grieving process people go though when they realise the world and life as they know is under threat. Hell, I'd rather dream of a rosy future full of robots and hover boards than worry about how to deal with survival through rapid change.
It does cause a period of histrionics in many as grief is a real bitch.
As for making money… You really think there's some leftie conspiracy going on for cash? You don't understand lefties at all do you. There might be a few opportunists on the bandwagon but most aint in it for money at all, they're trying to save our asses.
Some of them trying to save our asses seem kinda shrill. The intention is largely honorable and sometimes it's a PITA.
You're a big boy now aren't you. You'll figure it out.
"You really think there's some leftie conspiracy going on for cash?"
Heck no. The exploiters come from all points of the political spectrum.
If there's one thing that galls me is humankinds rank stupidity in clearing the worlds forests ,- those massive 'purifiers' that are the real 'lungs' of the earth. The natural flora in any environment is there for a reason because it is the flora designed for that region. They are the filters of the planet.
We replace it with monocrops such as pine , or worse ,… put it into pasture,… in NZ , I think there is less than 17% left of our lowland forests. Appalling.
We collectively destroy those forests and the fauna which derives sustenance from them. We truly are wreckers. We create deserts. And the worst thing?- it is totally preventable.
I wonder if more effort was put into simple revegetation ,… along with developing alternative, cheap sources of energy ( and they exist – one only has to read the huge amounts of data online ) whether we would see a far more balanced environment. I'm sure we would. One only has to look at documentary's on Chernobyl and the return of the mega wild life including Deer, Moose , Bears and Wolves – all totally unharmed by any 'radiation' to see the punyness of mankinds endeavors.
Nature has a way of cancelling out anything we ever do once left alone.
It is a comfort to see how rapidly the forest has again taken over and is covering the 'once city' of Chernobyl in a mere 30 years.
In a study of the Toltecs, Mayans, Aztecs and Incas ,.. it is amazing how those society's not only created vast land areas from swamps and islands, – massive city's – ( 20 million populace in both the Aztec and Incas empires) but how they managed by not managing their surrounds barring what they needed for horticulture/agriculture. We cannot go back to that era but it is food for thought.
An example of good planning are those farms in NZ who revege on riparian areas or provide natural areas for stock to shelter under… small increments such as that help to provide habitat, food sources, shelter – and in the case of riparian areas, – a natural filter for excess nitrates and the like.
Our problem is our method of governing,.. with successive govt's not seeing the environment as being more important long term than pandering to human profit interests in the short term.
Indeed,… it would be interesting to see if the 'lungs' of this earth were again increased to even a portion of what they once were,… if that would create a more stable atmospheric system and negate this mad hysteria of 'anthropomorphic climate change' and the carbon tax whereby nothing changes globally in an environmental sense , – barring certain elite individuals becoming even more obscenely powerful and wealthy.
An interesting view. I found this article after recently watching the Chernobyl series. It backs a lot of what you say about wildlife in the area. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/060418-chernobyl-wildlife-thirty-year-anniversary-science/
And we still promote tourism as a growth industry. So we can "tax" those with a few $$ considered rich BUT should there be an industry that would have large negative impact on our well being better not touch !!
And as for calling for an emergency ?? Hopeless without meaningful action , and in most cases meaningful action has a price to pay as those US civil rights activists killed .
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/113946213/more-than-50-of-new-zealands-top-scientists-call-on-government-to-declare-climate-emergency
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/110618125/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-international-tourism-in-nz
https://www.carbonbrief.org/tourism-responsible-for-8-of-global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-study-finds
Climate Crisis Disasters Now Occur Weekly, UN Warns
https://truthout.org/articles/un-warning-that-climate-crisis-disasters-now-occur-weekly-provokes-calls-to-act/
“staggering” new warning from a top United Nations official that climate crisis-related disasters are now occurring at the rate of one per week, with developing nations disproportionately at risk, provoked calls for immediate global action to combat the human-caused climate emergency.
The warning came in an interview with The Guardian, which reported Sunday:
The great mountain pine beetle outbreak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSIEzq0fofk
Our heating Planet has enabled this miniscule beatle to kill millions of trees in N.America
If anyone was ever curious about Artificial Intelligence this is an excellent primer based around the question 'what are machines so smart, yet at the same time so dumb'?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcfVRkC3Dp0&t=309s
One in five children are living in households where putting food on the table is a struggle, according to a new report from the Ministry of Health.
Queues of people lining up at the Manurewa MSD office to get emergency assistance.
Auckland City Mission general manager of social services Helen Robinson said they have seen a 40 percent increase in demand for food this financial year, compared to last year.
The number of hardship grants provided by this Government has increased 60 per cent year on year.
If this was a National Government one would be asking where is the brighter future? But in this case it's a Labour one promising wellbeing as it proudly spends $20 billion on defence
How much does the NZ Government spend on Defence each year and how much on Social Welfare, for example?
I'm sure you already have some idea that it is far more. Yet, evidently not near enough.
But it would be interesting to know how much is spent on the bureaucracy opposed to the recipients.
I am concerned as to how many concerns you have. A concerted effort to contemplate concerning concerns of the concerned should be co-opted.
Doesn't look good for the government. Concerning in fact.
Without the Chairman's relentless and heartfelt expressions of concern for the Government's behaviour, this site would be nothing more than a riotous, bacchanalic festival of gloating and showboating by irresponsible, boastful lefties, drunk on power and sherry (is that what Socialists drink?Milk-stout maybe?Ena Sharples and Minnie Caldwell were never a Tories, were they?).
We have a great deal to thank the Chairman for; he brings dignity to a blog that would otherwise be nothing more than a great night at the Rovers.
Back-slapping echo chambers are excessively dull. Though, some find comfort in them.
Yay! Oh damn. I'll go for Yay! I love that florid description Robert – I wait in anticipation of being drunk on power, and sherry or kambucha (once I get used to it. We have a firm that has started making it in Nelson.)
Kambucha, grewarshark, is easy to make with basic brewing skills and gear. Cheap, tasty, even in smaller doses healthy. Doesn't have to be strongly alcoholic either. My brew is about 1% abv and made from mostly black tea with some flavoured tea bag additions. All you need is a SCOBY, tea, sugar and a brewing vessel. Mine's under an airlock in a 5 litre bottle. 3 litres every three weeks. My daughters reckon I'm an original hipster- though I'm of hippy age.Cheers!
@ WeTheBleeple
Don't be concerned for me, be concerned for those the Government are failing.
It costs far less to pay a decent benefit rate than it does to keep someone in hospital.
The Auditor-General's latest report into DHBs points to years of underinvestment combined with an ageing and increasingly impoverished population.
"be concerned for those the Government are failing"
Are the Range Rover owners all getting crook off the plastics? Have the homeowners been dropping from exhaustion trying to make their rentals liveable? What about Farmers, cleaning up shit can't be good for them?
I understand how the lack of CGT has affected the poor dears leaving much less ammo to back up their claims the sky is falling while they continue to live off the sweat of real men.
I suggest an army of folks with umbrellas to symbolise the danger of said sky falling, and perhaps a Range Rover parade, to commemorate the death of the free market.
It is good the Auditor General is able to illustrate the gross failings and mismanagement of the previous government. Have we managed to link it all to the current government yet? Those PR boys need to earn money too.
It may be the government lack the perfection of execution required to clean a complete shit show up overnight. Let alone the convergence of many life threatening phenomena at once.
I do hope you'll send them a terse letter compiling your concerns.
One letter of concern has little to no impact. Whereas, if the so-called left all spoke out publicly, I'm sure we would have a larger impact.
Going off the distraction you just posted, I'm sure we can't count on your support.
Love your use of "we", toryboy. You have the impact of soggy bogroll.
This government were left a mountain of shit. Well, they're shovelling it out the door. What are you doing, other than complaining about the smell?
He's trying to push the door closed while complaining the shovelers are lazy and the shovels too small!".
It doesn’t matter whether I “already have some idea that it is far more” or not. The point is that others who read TS may not know. You drew the comparison with the Defence spending budget yet failed to show the other side of the ledger. A persistent failure, I may add.
I assume you mean the bureaucracy to run the social welfare system? In what way would it be interesting? Do you have a benchmark in mind? Would you like to propose a more efficient and effective system? Are you in favour of small government?
Again, you ask leading questions but fail to offer anything constructive. Is it merely negative criticism or anti-government propaganda? Despite your repeated protestations and claims of being “more left than most” it is often impossible to tell. By your comments we know you.
The comparison drawn was to highlight we have a welfare system that is largely unfit for purpose, resulting in widespread hardship. Yet, the Government prioritises a massive military spend over increasing core benefit rates in its so-called Wellbeing Budget.
If this wasn't so dire it would be a joke.
Thus, of course this is negative criticism. Labour can't pull crap like this and not expect to be criticised. The left I know are fuming. Yet, here, one can't point out such things without coming under fire.
Exactly as I stated. To see how much of the welfare spend actually goes to those that require it. What's the CEO on now days?
I'm not advocating for smaller Government but I'm confident efficiencies could be found at MSD.
There you go again, with emphasis added where you clearly show your prejudice:
There is no comparison if you do not give the actual figures. It is just disingenuous innuendo and almost looks like a smear campaign.
I’m also sure efficiencies can be found at MSD, which is an operational matter. Let’s cut the CEO’s salary by 50% and see whether that will solve “widespread hardship”. What is your benchmark for how much should go to those who require it?
So, Labour, NZ First, and the Greens should stop to “pull crap like this” and you and your lefty buddies can stop fuming, no less. To me this sounds it is all about you and might explain the angry emotive language that has become your trademark for criticising Labour in particular rather than the CoL Government as a whole.
And you do wonder why you come under fire here …
I think the paradox of who pays for the military and how is limited by a population that is surplus to requirements, Y'know disposable.
I don't think that is Ron Marks fault for successfully getting his budget priorities through. I think it is rather more telling that the rest of the cabinet ministers didn't.
This is not about the Defence budget.
Last time you commented it was to inform me that I wasn't Trump. Now this pathetic contribution.
Both times you were missing the point. Going for the trifecta?
I don't think so. If you were to construct a budget right now based on your desperate attempts to protect your little theoretical model of a government budget it would produced a CEO salary half what it is now, fewer bureaucrags so a smaller cheaper government and more stupid.
Congratulations! You won the Trifecta and a Bonus Ticket.
Well Y'know Chairmen and I have discussed this welfare thing a few different ways before and I thought he was correct on a few things. The public just has to get used to these billion dollar unicorns. A billion dollar budget blow out used to be a very rare event. Now practically every ministry is experiencing these budget unicorns and we just have to mornalize them.
Telling in what way?
That the international support for Ron successfully getting his budget had more sway?
Well I listened to Ron Marks budget speech. In it he congratulated the former minister of defence Gerry Brownly for showing a little bit of interest in his portfolio at the time, something he criticized Mark Mitchel for lacking, Y'know interest, self drive, a bit of knowledge of the issues.
If I go down the list of priorities out lined in the Defence Capability Plan released a couple of weeks ago, an extra LHD, an extra patrol vessel, basically $20 billion in stuff. No one thought Ron Marks could get all that past the Greens.
More significant is that the $20 billion dollar plan has so far crossed 2 successive governments. In my humble opinion I think the public should embrace such spending and more of it as a natural part of running a government.
Clearly, it wasn't a dollar for dollar comparison. It was a moral one. Highlighting a massive military spend was prioritises over increasing core benefit rates of kiwis most in need.
The Welfare Expert Advisory Group gives some good indication.
Well that clearly highlights you live in a bubble if you genuinely believe that to be true.
It's not my bubble that's burst
Do you see your
disingenuous smear campaigncriticism of Labour as some kind of moral crusade? I mean $20 billion and the CEO’s salary combined obviously show howevilout of touch Labour is, and without a moral compass. There is no comparison necessary about dollars or how taxpayers’ money is spent, it’s just plainly and clearly wrong.You don’t have a benchmark except for some vague reference to a group of others. Did they give benchmark for how much of the total MSD spent should go to those who require it? You brought it up so it is a valid question to ask you. But you keep ducking for cover and not answering the question.
Yes, I live in my personal sphere. What do you live in? When do you stop drawing attention to yourself and when will you start using your skills in a more effective and productive way here?
It's somewhat moral but more so a political need. And I'll explain why. Unfortunately, despite all their rhetoric, Labour's representation of the left is vastly lacking. National lite is the most common description. Therefore, they only tend to act in the interest of the left when they are publicly pressured to do so (and even then they largely fall short). I'm one of many helping to apply that public pressure.
The need is somewhat exacerbated in the current political environment due to the Greens heading down the same path since the political demise of Metiria Turei.
Prioritising such a massive military spend up over better addressing the more pressing issue of poverty suffering and hardship in a so-called Wellbeing Budget is a kick in the face for those who believed their campaign rhetoric and voted for them as a result.
When Little was leader he talked of cutting back this military spend. Yet, evidently, that quickly went out the window once they achieved power.
If Labour no longer want to represent the left, then fine. But they must make that publicly clear. Don't try to appeal to us only to turn around and shit on us. A least with National, the left know where they stand. No expectations, no let downs. With National we know we are screwed.
Re the bureaucracy opposed to the recipients, as I don't have a total overview, I don't currently have a benchmark in mind. I just thought it would be interesting to see the actual breakdown of where the money all goes.
I appreciate your considered comment, I really do.
It leaves a number of questions unanswered. For example, is the Defence spending really “massive” compared to social welfare or health or poverty reduction? How can we tell without actual figures? Another way of putting it is to suggest how much less should be spent on Defence IYO and where and more importantly how should that money be spent elsewhere? It is easy enough to gesticulate wildly with your hands and arms but given that you don’t know what those who are in charge know I think this comes across as ignorant and arrogant.
Another question that remains is why Labour should be held to account for things they said and promised in the past, which they are allegedly not delivering on in the current Coalition Government? Can Jacinda Ardern be held to everything Andrew Little said when he was Labour Leader? Even when the parties are not delivering on past promises, it might mean that they are doing as much as they can under the circumstances.
The Defence spend is massive in a historical sense.
Little was speaking as Labour Party leader months out from the election, they changed leader but made no suggestion they were going to change their stance on this military spend. So of course they will be pulled up on this and called to account. Are you on planet Key? What were you expecting? Everybody to lay down and take it?
Labour's failure to deliver largely comes down to them tying their own hands (BRR, income tax, CGT etc) when it came to funding their rhetoric.
What on Earth does this mean? What kind of answer is this, I ask you. BTW, astronomical sounds even better than massive.
Apart from the $20 billion figure, you’ve provided absolutely nothing of any substance, nada, zilch, rien, niente …
What are you suggesting? That they rip up the Coalition Agreement?
If Labour’s hand are tied down they cannot really do what you want them to do, can they?
Why did they tie down their own hands IYO? Should they have told NZF to go with National? Were you part of the coalition negotiations? Thought not.
Are you angry, or “fuming” rather, that Labour is leading this Coalition Government because you really come across that way.
I'd look at cutting it in half. And spend the money on welfare, housing and health. But I don’t have a full overview. Nevertheless, whatever the case I wouldn't be spending that much on Defence with the current shit that's going down locally.
Moreover, that massive expenditure will largely head offshore. Whereas, if we spend it locally now, it will not only stimulate the local economy but will also save us money (by improving social ills) going forward. Putting us in a better position to re look at it (the military spend) further down the road.
Ok, are you talking about cutting in half the Government's $20 billion Defence Capability Plan 2019 for the next 11 years?
What would be the known consequences of that cut?
Is that the only source of money or are there other areas you would cut too? Or was Defence spending just a rhetorical tool and a weapon to use against Labour? More like you’re ideologically opposed to Labour rather than ideologically supportive of more social welfare? I really cannot tell because once you start lashing out at Labour it doesn’t seem to matter what it is/was about.
You would “spend the money on welfare, housing and health”. Sounds good but what specifically would you do with the $10 billion? Build more social housing? Increase PHARMAC funding more? Increase benefits more? More support for mental health?
“What on Earth does this mean?”
It’s the largest Defence procurement ever announced. Albeit it was initially announced by National.
Don't be silly. I was highlighting why they are failing to deliver.
Could they have avoided this? Yes, I'm confident they could of. They didn't have to make the BRR so stringent from the onset.
Just as Jacinda could have done more to secure a CGT (as I've highlighted here before) And she further dropped the ball completely dropping it. Polls showed support for a CGT. Especially when combined with tax cuts. She could have at least put it up for referendum come next election.
It was only going to be tax neutral for the first 5 years and it would have become a massive revenue source, which Jacinda has unnecessarily thrown away without batting an eyelid. And to make matter worse, they have no B plan as yet. And it will be a hard loss of revenue to compensate for.
They wouldn't have lost any votes taxing the top 1 percent (they may have even got away with taxing the top 10%) yet nada. Another lost form of revenue.
The tourist entry tax was another area they fell short. Another potential revenue stream cut far short.
They have a lot to deliver but are fiscally boxing themselves in.
I like your minimizing tactic and the way you continue to pretend it's just me that wants them to do more. Have you seen the People's Budget. Heard of CPAG? AAAP? I don't stand alone in my wants.
I'm not angry Labour are leading the coalition, I'm (along with many others) disappointed they are failing to deliver. Moreover, they seem intent on making matter worse. Why do they keep doing that?
The Coalition Agreement is probably more of a ‘roadmap’ but also a ‘rulebook’ that loosely (?) defines the boundaries of what’s possible and what’s not from the Coalition’s perspective. Then there are, of course, the usual constraints on what the Government can do. In the end, Governments makes policy, they don’t perform miracles.
Yet, in your eyes, they systematically and continuously fall short and fail to deliver.
With the wisdom of hindsight, with different cards dealt to them by the voters, and under different political and economic circumstances we would and we will have a different outcome. Until then, they play with the cards they were dealt, to their best ability.
But you always claim to know better. Yet, you’re not an insider but more likely just another armChair critic.
I like your evading tactic and never provide straight answers, hard figures, or actual facts. Just your negative views of and attitude towards Labour. Didn’t you vote Green Party??
Good for you that don’t feel alone in your “wants”; is that supposed to show that it’s not all about you? Others here on TS are not exactly blown away by this Government either but at least they put up well supported arguments for debate and not just negative bias towards Labour.
This captures your enormous bias in one. Firstly, it is intentional on (again) Labour’s behalf. Secondly, (all) things are getting worse. Thirdly, doubt and suspicion again of their motives and wilful actions.
In short, you don’t seem to comment here in good faith and this is starting to concern me. In fact, you’ve been repeatedly called out about your behaviour here but there’s no hint of acknowledgement, that you take these things on board. Why do we have to put with your comments that demand change from
Labourthe Government in such an uncompromising way and whilst you show that you’re utterly unwilling to take our criticism on board? Your demands are therefore irreconcilable with your behaviour here and to me show a rigid angry person lashing out at Labour, time after time.Are you that blind and committed to Labour that you can't see this failure?
So, for example. When they only took 3 recommendations from the The Welfare Expert Advisory Group and not one of them was lifting core benefit rates (which by the massive increase in emergency benefits being issued coupled with the fact we know benefits were slashed, thus no longer fit for purpose showing an increase is long overdue) you didn't see that as them falling short in any way?
Especially with all their campaigning on poverty and giving Kiwis a fair go and a so-called Wellbeing Budget on the horizon?
You see no failure and are totally shocked anybody else would?
Moreover, I'm "a rigid angry person lashing out at Labour" for even suggesting so. Oh and I'm supposedly the only one in NZ even thinking so? Yeah right.
If you don't like what am saying, move on to the next comment.
Don't play stand over games with me. I don't fear you.
It is not about being blind, it is about willing to see and focus. You seem to focus only on Labour’s failures. It is the only thing you want to see, expect to see, and focus on. Thus, you are wilfully blind. You cannot or do not want to see things in perspective. That is a very ‘limited’ way of discussing politics and trying to further progressive ideas IMHO.
You claim to be “more left than most”, which should mean you and I are in the same political ‘camp’ for all intents and purposes. However, your anti-Labour bias, which often borders on smearing them IMO, is more hinder than help. To mitigate, I call you out.
Well, that’s a new tactic to make another commenter stop challenging you on your anti-Labour bias. I tell you what, as long as you are making these unrealistic demands of Labour here, I will be challenging you on your comments. If you don’t like what I am saying, move on to the next comment. Don’t play silly games with me. I don’t fear you either.
Failure is everywhere. It's puzzling that a self-professed "lefty" who is "more left than most", such as The Chairman, remains stubbornly silent (on this left-leaning blog) about the manifold failings of the National party, both in government and in opposition.
No let-up, however, in their "relentlessly soggy" criticism of left leaning politicians/government, so that's a ‘blind in one eye’ fail for The Chairman. As the (now searchable) evidence here continues to pile up, one begins to suspect they were never a friend of the left.
@Drowsy M. Kram
Labour haven't been left since the 80s
Muldoon was probably more left than this Labour lot.
Agree that 30+ years of neoliberalism as moved political parties towards the right on the NZ political 'Left – Right axis'. Nevertheless:
LEFT Greens (yeah) Labour NZ1st National ACT RIGHT
Relentlessy soggy criticism Deafening silence The Chair
Does The Chairman disagree?
Yes, neoliberalism has moved political parties towards the right which has resulted in Labour becoming National lite, thus no longer really a friend of the left.
And the Greens have shown themselves to be a toothless kowtower to Labour as they are also moving with the neoliberal tide.
So the choice for the left is to either push them back to the left and regain our political representation or look elsewhere for it. Sadly, a good number have just opted out and no longer vote as they see no hope of change.
And when people lose hope, that is where we risk things becoming dangerous.
Chair, don't lose hope. Simon & Seymour ‘lead’ NZ’s ‘right’.
Here is an example of what happens when youth lose hope
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/114105329/gang-activity-forces-stokes-valley-mums-to-keep-their-kids-inside
Are the youth losing hope, or are they "pretty damn hopeless"?
Do you recall your criticism of the Finance Minister at the time.
The Chairman is highly selective when choosing targets for their relentless sogginess. Only The Chairman knows why.
What does English have to do with what I'm telling you.
Did you bring that up because you think the youth of today are"pretty damn hopeless". Cause that's not what I said.
"pretty damn hopeless" unemployable young Kiwis – Bill English
"when youth lose hope" – The Chairman @3:36 pm
I submit that the current coalition government, led by PM Ardern, gives most young NZers more cause for hope than English or his hair fondling predecessor ever did. Feel free to disagree, loudly & often.
The "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman deplores the inadequacies of NZ's current government, loudly and often, but couldn't manage a bad word about the efforts and outcomes of the previous National government, preferring instead to highlight the manifold shortcomings of Labour, the Greens and even NZ1st in opposition.
The Chairman is "an enigma wrapped in a riddle" – a conundrum. The Hair-man’s deceits, on the other hand, were lauded as examples of integrity and honesty in National party circles.
At least English was being honest in his opinion of young unemployed NZers.
@Incognito
What you clearly fail to see and evidently fail to understand is, Labour's achievements are largely tied to their failures. So it's not that I don't see them, it's just they are not worth raving about.
Take the new tourist entry tax/levy, that was an good achievement which also fell well short.
Medicinal cannabis is another achievement but also another fall short. And again, nothing really positive to rave about.
GP fees, another good move, but again they promised $8 GP visits but only dropped the fees to $18. So of course, the jumps for joy aren't going to be forthcoming.
I can go on but surely you must be starting to see and understand.
What gripes me and others is the lost opportunity, we don't have time to mess about, things are really bad out there and getting worse, hence we need far more done now.
I 100% agree with your last sentence.
Have you ever seen me rave about Labour or this Government for that matter?
The way I see it is that constructive criticism is about balance and finding the sweet spot between the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’. Everything happens on a scale, a spectrum if you like. Actually, more in a multi-dimensional and multi-factorial continuum. Simplism and reductionism only get you so far, and binary thinking and dualism are not much help either.
I am optimistic that you and I and many others here are contributing to a better future, whatever that means, and not just for ourselves but also, and more importantly, for others. And we all do this in our own ways, starting with ourselves and our natality (cue Hannah Arendt).
That’s all I have to say for now.
Have a good night.
"What you clearly fail to see and evidently fail to understand…"
It's clearly illogical to expect me to understand that which I "clearly fail to see."
Nevertheless, I see well enough to see through your carefully choreographed pas de deux.
I'm personally disappointed by the scale and speed of progress the Labour-led coalition has made thus far in rolling back some of the more egregious ills perpetrated during nine LONG years of self-serving National party 'rule', but IMHO is a bit too soon to panic. Carry on.
"Softly, softly, catchee monkey."
You too. Catch you up next time, ta-ta.
Really? Come on, you're not that ignorant are you? Surely you must know there will be a number of them. Mainly, our defence capability will take longer to rebuild and the wider impact of that. However, it will be $10 billion better off than it currently is now going forward.
It's going to disappoint the international interests that are going to cash in on this. And those that want us to carry more weight. But again, $10 billion will make improvements to our current capability.
No. I would make other cuts and changes too.
I'm ideologically opposed to war. Moreover, historically our military spending has largely been atrociously wasteful. With cost blowouts and purchases not fit for purpose. Which, I'm sure we will see more of with this massive spend up. As they say, watch this space.
I am ideologically supportive of more social welfare spending. It's not only morally correct, it's fiscally astute.
I don't generally lash out at Labour, I just tell it how it is, yet some here take it as a lashing. I guess its a case of the truth hurting some of the more sensitive ones.
Yes, yes and yes. In health, more preventative and diagnostic investment to better catch things early. Speaking of which, where are those $8 GP visits that Labour promised but have yet to deliver?
Social housing is where the need is worse and is not being met, which in turn will slow private investment in rental property as rents slow as supply increases. Resulting in less demand for housing, thus slowing house price growth going forward.
Indeed, I’m ignorant of the cuts you demand and their consequences. It is for you to show the impact of these cuts and whether and how the claimed benefits outweigh the negative consequences. This not a simple Excel exercise, you know. Yet again, you fail to provide a satisfactory answer. In fact, you don’t even make a genuine attempt. For example, tell us what you’d cut, why, and what the consequences would be. Be specific. You can use the Defence Capability Plan 2019 as your guide.
I am also opposed to war. Yet paradoxically, spending on Defence can help to avoid war.
Nice adjectives. Care to give some examples? You do realise that cost blowouts and purchase not fit for purposes are part and parcel of governing and are really operational matters and not specific to Defence, don’t you?
I am also in favour of more or rather better social welfare spending. I agree, it is good economics.
Uhhmmm, no. You just tell it how you see it and how you want it. Unless you have all the facts and the complete picture, which you obviously do not, you have just an opinion.
You know that GP visits are not paid for or subsidised by PHARMAC, don’t you? Yes, very good point about prevention and early diagnosis with the only proviso that early diagnosis can have the unwanted consequence of too much and/or too early intervention. Along these lines, pregnancy appears to be more and more treated as a health risk and there are way too many C-sections performed IMHO, at great cost (and with their own health risks).
I agree that the Government should ramp up social housing. I don’t necessarily agree that this should come from the Defence budget but I’m awaiting a compelling argument to convince me otherwise.
Q.1: How long has NZ had "a welfare system that is largely unfit for purpose"?
Q.2: How long has The "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman been criticising the Government charged with formulating and delivering that welfare system?
Honest answers could set The Chairman free.
Blast! He’ll be forever chained to TS; our own poltergeist.
Our welfare system hasn’t been fit for purpose since at least 1991. Some would argue before that when benefit rates ceased to be tagged to the cost of living.
Ingcognito, Is defence not also welfare though?
China without any doubt whatsoever is a threat to our future way of life and standard and quality of living. Ergo, welfare for our countries future security is also social welfare.
Have we so soon forgotten the lessons of the creeping danger as in the appeasement policies of the 1930s, or the appeasement policies of the US towards the sick North Korean regime?
Have you reviewed the WW2 studies where it was pointed out that Chamberlain's period of appeasement enabled Britain to hurriedly prepare for war.
Earlier they would have had insufficient organisation, infrastructure, weaponry, training, planning, manpower etc. to withstand Germany's superior organisation. Winston could and no doubt, did, advise them on that as it had been an interest of his for probably a decade, and he organised regular reports to him on such matters.
The obvious was useful, everyone thought Britain was backing off, and no doubt if they had caught one of their diplomats leaking the truth about their unreadiness, he would have been quickly dealt with; faster than Trump.
Here is a Timeline of the interwar years from Wikipedia. What turbulent times. Whats that French saying – 'plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose' Karr from 1849 – proven correct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_events_preceding_World_War_II#1930
This is a very interesting excerpt from a book about Edward VIII who abdicated in 1936. It seems to give a thoroughly researched picture of the man and his approach to his country and royal duties. He seems admirable to an extent which I had not realised, with enough detail to substantiate and explain any faults that could have been found.
(King Edward VIII: An American Life by Ted Powell is available now (Oxford University Press, £25).
This article was first published on History Extra in September 2018.)
https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/real-edward-viii-nazi-sympathiser-reformer-soldier/
' Have you reviewed the WW2 studies where it was pointed out that Chamberlain's period of appeasement enabled Britain to hurriedly prepare for war.'
Or it was a giant fudge that ended when a forest was found to be not a very effective fighter against the relatively most advanced & mobile technological war society of the time & probably since
Much of its equipment having been captured from the Czechs.
No forests and fudge didn't appear in the information I was reading.
I thought i was talking about Britain and Germany and France all facing off around 1938-39, and I put a timeline showing earlier years. Was Britain all ready at the time Chamberlain was having talks – they had a phony war too for a while – that must have helped in giving time to get defences ready and plan for attack?
How much on the elect Shane Jones northland fund you mean?
Not quite.
Getting a bit off the track SHG. Do you know where you are and the date? People might have to ask you these questions soon I think.
Why would The Chairman, who is "more left than most", chose to propagate such a scurrilous out-and-out 'citation-free' lie? Steven Joyce, or John Key (god, weren’t they just stinkers) I could understand, but a "lefty" such as The Chairman? Why, it fair beggars belief – who does The Chairman get their facts from, Stacey Kirk?!!
Here are the annual increases (to Sept each year) in the number of hardship grants provided for the last three years. The increase to Sept 2018 is not dramatically higher than the previous two years under a National-led government, and is presumably needs-based. Possibly, just possibly, an unmet need developed under the ‘careful watch’ of National party MPs that is only now being addressed.
213,167 (Sept 2015) – 247,641 (Sept 2016): + 16.2 %
248,641 (Sept 2016) – 290,683 (Sept 2018): + 16.9 %
290,683 (Sept 2017) – 344,731 (Sept 2018): + 18.6 %
https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2018/benefit-fact-sheets-september-2018.pdf
Yet The Chairman was curiously silent about the year-on-year increases that occurred under the National-led government, curious at least for a self-described "lefty".
The Chairman, "as transparent as a transparent thing" – maybe it's all Jacinda's fault, but I don't trust The Chairman's motives, nor anything they say.
A lie was it? Yet it was reported as a quote by Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni, in response to claims it was turning away people in need at Manurewa.
Blowing Labour's own trumpet a bit hard perhaps in the ass covering process?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114070792/this-government-promised-a-war-on-poverty–is-it-gaining-any-ground#comments
So your information source is Stacey Kirk – quelle surprise.
So glad we at last have a NZ government that is attempting to address this previously unmet need so that folks who were struggling under National's 'blighted future' policies have a better chance of life with dignity – don't you agree?
Even for The “lefty” “more left than most” Chairman, this is a bit rich. Maybe, just maybe, they are finally transistioning from their ‘friend of the left’ charade – not a second too soon, IMHO.
She was merely one of a number of journalists that reported it.
The attempts of this Government have fallen well short. Their response to the Welfare Expert Advisory Group was absolutely dismal.
Is Stacey Kirk one of the left you know is fuming?
When I was a child in the 1960's, a significant portion of my neighbourhood struggled to put food on the table. The difference was that people made sacrifices to make it happen, they didn't think the state was the first port of call for help, and they beat down every door looking for work. We have grown soft, massaged into submission by an overly generous welfare system and an unwillingness to make personal sacrifices to take care of those we have had a hand in creating.
Do you want to be called trash as well do you?
thats a rubbish comment you made. The welfare state didn't spawn dependant children. That's like saying F1 racing causes drink driving.
No TV adverts selling children GI Joe and Barby over decades made them soft you nutter.
"The welfare state didn't spawn dependant children. "
No, but it's expansion and abuse created the environment for intergenerational dependence.
Oh the timing. Here's the sort of bs that just encourages irresponsibility: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2019/07/parents-angry-after-government-scraps-unpaid-ncea-fees.html
So you're scared angry at a double tax?
Being concerned about how people die rather than some mythical welfare queen eating caviar between meals, popping out kids for less money than the government gives while having to prove they’re looking for work is a fantasy. It’s not a real concern.
It’s the signal. Do the right thing, pay what you owe, and then watch others who didn’t get rewarded. Or, keep you hands in your pockets, live frugally and independently, and watch others live off the state. It’s not all recipients, but there is enough to be of concern.
What others?
The 'others' who didn't pay the NCEA fees and had the debt forgiven. The 'others' who cheated the taxpayer and then become Green Party MP's. There are plenty of examples.
Plenty of examples of dishonesty crime (fraud, corruption, etc.) in NZ. https://teara.govt.nz/en/dishonesty-crime
It's important that they are all addressed, but resources are limited.
If you actually wanted the biggest bang for taxpayer buck, which area(s) would you prioritise, i.e. allocate the greatest resources?
Burglary and theft?
Fraud?
White-collar crime?
Copyright crime and tax evasion?
When we allow our political leaders to get away with stealing form the taxpayer, we are sending a signal that that is ok. All of what you mention is wrong, but maybe if we made an example of some high profile miscreants (and not just ex Green party leaders btw) the rest of our bad behavers might get the message.
Oh piss off Mr Realestate. Y'know thousands have lost there jobs in the last 10 years through offshoring jobs. Employers just make people redundant and you want to blame Labour, The Greens or the Welfare state. Classic really, conservatives and hard left all in denial.
Like the ones who made their money shorting the NZ dollar, for example?
How much did that, cost every individual New Zealander.
But. That theft was legal, so it was OK.
Hey not every forex trader assumes sovereign risk. Sometimes they just get lucky. Nah but the Reserve Bank now has tools to fight against currency manipulation and I think they are exercising there duties as well as could be expected. Y'know the she'll be right attitude is just the wrong one to have. It's crazy to assume that poor people are the reason the economy is soft.
A reasonable strategy might be to allocate publicly-funded investigative and prosecutorial resources roughly on a pro rata basis, i.e. estimate the total cost (to victims and wider society) of each major category of offending, then allocate taxpayer funds accordingly, starting (as Shadrach suggests) with high-profile alleged offenders.
Don't know exactly how much Metiria Turei's self-confessed offending (~10 years before she was elected to parliament in 2002) cost the taxpayer, but the courts have determined that another former politician (an ex-PM, no less), is liable for $6,000,000 – no small sum. I wouldn't hold my breath that reparations will be forthcoming in either case.
And I couldn't begin to speculate on whether one, or the other, or both offended for love of money, although if personal wealth is any measure then their love of money is not shared equally
Then there's the super dupery tough conservative policy of handing out tax cuts for the "poor" people, of course.
Apparently, there are prevalant myths that the state relationship is reversed: that the poor taxes support rich infrastructure and whatnot.
So I'm gonna go with yeah, nah. They don't, and yes, it's both concerning and painfully eye-rolley.
The ones who, couldn't, pay the NCEA fees, which should never have been levied in the first place.
Education costs. Some have paid, so have bludged. This government has just given in to the bludgers. Expect more of them as a result.
Some have paid, so [sic] have bludged.
What do you call Bill English then, Shadrach?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/2910957/Bill-English-buckles-over-housing-allowance
Shadrach – You conveniently forget that when you were growing up, people who found work were paid a decent wage relative to the cost of living. It was worth the effort to work.
No longer so: the minimum wage is now an insult to anybody's dignity.
I blame the Rogernomes. I am old enough to remember Roger Douglas earnestly expounding how his theories had to work, and how NZ should avoid becoming a low-wage economy. With a high-wage economy, we would thrive incredibly..
What a bloody liar. He and his ilk then put in policies that could only plunge NZ into a low-wage economy.
When you were young, people got decent wages when they worked. They don't now, and that changes everything. You reminiscences are invalid and downright stupid.
"When you were young, people got decent wages when they worked."
Did they? And yet my dad worked two jobs at times just to pay the bills. I don't know whether it's easier to live on the average wage today or not. All I know is that I see a lot of people with one hand out and the other spending it on stuff we used to call luxuries.
You're not, by any chance, thinking of David Hisco, Nigel Murray, Jenny Shipley or Peter Whittall? Best not to bother wealthy 'players'; focus instead on real crims.
“Only the poor break laws – the rich evade them.” – T-Bone Slim
When did I mention breaking the law?
@Shadrach
In the early 60's, New Zealand enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world.
One main income earner was able to cover the bills, put food on the table and pay off the family home. Jobs were plentiful and double time and time and a half for working overtime and weekends were common practice. This allowed many low skilled workers the opportunity to put in some extra hours and be nicely rewarded come payday. Unions were strong and workers enjoyed the benefits of that.
Moreover, the cost of renting or owning a home was far less relative to incomes then than it is now. It was a totally different era, thus as In Vino (above) points out, your comparison, in a general sense is far from valid.
In the 1960's we owed our standard of living entirely to mother England. Those days of gone, and we have had to grow up. Some people haven't, and the rest of us are picking up the tab.
We didn't "grow up" we created an unsustainable mess.
Jobs were lost, unions weakened, and benefits were severely slashed. Labours share of the economy was reduced. House prices have soared and households debt is at record high levels. The most lucrative means of production are largely in foreign hands/ownership and the rich have become richer while more commoners are living in cars and our jails are at near full capacity.
We grew up. Yes jobs were lost, but far more were created. Our economy went from being a basket case to being described in rock star terms. NZ today employs more people than ever before.
We have benefitted enormously from technological advance which has seen us enjoy a standard of living my parents only dreamed of. We have access to inexpensive goods and services far beyond those of the 1960's. And all of that is sustainable if we have government’s that manage the country with skill, which fortunately we have had. Until, arguably, the current government. Time will tell.
What we aren't is dependent on mother England for our standard of living. We have forged an independent economic pathway that has delivered benefits to all who work to enjoy it. That you see the weakening of unions (by workers voting with their feet) and the 'slashing' of benefits as somehow bad things is indicative of a mindset that is stuck in the 1970's. Thankfully the country has moved on.
Apart from technological advancements that, as time moved on, would have largely occurred regardless, our standard of living has fallen since the 60s – not improved.
The rock star label was a sham. Built on a house of cards, namely soaring household debt and an opening of the floodgates (immigration). Both of which are unsustainable in their current trajectory. Our infrastructure is failing to cope, and our growing debt is of concern to our creditors.
As for our indebtedness, local Government is up to its eyeballs. With Auckland for example, hitting their debt ceiling.
Jobs have largely become low paid and insecure, it's now called the gig economy. And the stats used classes one hour of work as being employed, thus there is a growing number that can get the hours of work they require.
Stats NZ data shows that in the year to June last year, there were 2.14 million people in New Zealand who had annual income from wages and salaries.
Of them, 50 per cent took home less than $45,673 a year.
Only 23 per cent of people had income of more than $70,000.
Our impoverishment is now straining our health system.
Having access to inexpensive imported goods such as big flat screens is of little help when people can't afford a flat/home to put them in.
The New Zealand economy would have been 10 per cent larger in 2010 were it not for the steep rise in income inequality which occurred between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, OECD economists have found.
Drawing on data from across the OECD over the past 30 years their econometric analysis finds that income inequality has a negative and statistically significant impact on subsequent growth.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11371860
Yes, we have come a long way from dependence on mother England. We were the first to do a trade deal with China and have a number of others under our belt. But while we have come a long way and had sustained GDP growth, our standard of living (bar from technological advancements) hasn't improved and we could have done better (as highlighted above) if we didn't slash benefits widening our inequality. Moreover, our income stats above highlight only a very small number are doing well. The love isn't being shared and it is costing us all apart from a small number at the top.
So instead of pointing the blame at those on the bottom, start looking at what's going on up top.
As I've clearly shown, my perspective is fine. It's yours that needs adjusting
“Apart from technological advancements that, as time moved on, would have largely occurred regardless, our standard of living has fallen since the 60s – not improved.”
That’s nonsense. NZ’ers have been in the position to enjoy new technologies because of the economic liberalisation of the 1980’s and beyond. Without those changes the new technologies would have remained beyond most people due to duties, quote etc. Today even the most modest of households enjoys a lifestyle my parents could only have dreamed of.
“The rock star label was a sham. Built on a house of cards, namely soaring household debt and an opening of the floodgates (immigration).”
Again, nonsense. Our economy is diverse. We have enjoyed growth in a range fo sectors beyond property, including tourism and technology.
“Jobs have largely become low paid and insecure, it's now called the gig economy.”
That is little more than a mantra to satisfy those who have been left behind in a modern economy. We compete on the world stage across a raft of different industry sectors, something we were incapable of in the ‘60’s.
“Our impoverishment is now straining our health system.”
No, they aren’t. Our health system is exceptional by world standards. The stresses on it are largely the result of the availability of new procedures and technologies, and the pressure of an aging population.
“Having access to inexpensive imported goods such as big flat screens is of little help when people can't afford a flat/home to put them in.”
Very few people cannot. I rent to low income families. All have the latest TV’s phones, etc.
“Moreover, our income stats above highlight only a very small number are doing well. The love isn't being shared and it is costing us all apart from a small number at the top.”
You are conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. For every economist you cite who claims we could have been better off with less inequality I’ll quote you one who disagrees. Just because my wealth hasn’t increased as much as my neighbours doesn’t mean mine hasn’t increased. Indeed mine may have increased BECAUSE my neighbours has increased by more. Our economy today provides the opportunities for far more people to prosper, but today it is far more about choice than it was in the 1960′. Some choose to live off the rest of us (and that is the fault of an overly generous welfare system), when it really isn’t necessary. Back to my original point.
Not if the love was better shared and people were earning more as a result. As it stands, most of those items are put on tick as they continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessaries (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.
While our economy has diversified somewhat, GDP growth is still largely coming from soaring debt and immigration. Tourism is another area that is becoming unsustainable in its current trajectory, hitting capacity constraints in our infrastructure and accommodation.
A large chunk of tourism income goes towards accommodation, which is vastly offshore owned.
The gig economy isn't merely a mantra, there is a growing number of part time work and a growing number of workers that are underemployed. A job for life has become a thing of the past.
The Auditor-General's latest report into DHBs points to years of underinvestment combined with an ageing and increasingly impoverished population putting strain on our health system.
While low income families may have the latest TV’s phones, etc, a good number still struggle to buy food and pay their bills. These largely one off items (opposed to ongoing daily expenses) don't offset the hardship they face. And you'll find most get into debt to buy them anyway.
I wasn't conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. I was highlighting the returns from GDP growth aren't being widely shared. The rich are getting richer as the majority are ending up with less of a share.
You sound like John Key. The IMF and OECD not only acknowledge this but understand how it contributes to the boom and bust cycle. A more equal economy not only fosters growth it is also a more long lasting sustainable economy.
You go on to say "our economy today provides the opportunities for far more people to prosper".
Yet, evidently, more aren't. Home ownership is in decline, Household debt is soaring. Food bank queues are growing. Jails are at full capacity. But that's OK for you as most have the latest phone and a big TV.
Even Phil O’Reilly gets the welfare system in NZ is not fit for purpose and is not overly generous.
https://youtu.be/Cdo_Pz6ez5w
“Not if the love was better shared and people were earning more as a result.”
So go live in a communist country, but you’ll pass masses leaving for market economies, that are providing much higher standards of living.
“As it stands, most of those items are put on tick as they continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessaries (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.”
No-one is forced to buy anything. That’s the beauty of a free society.
“While our economy has diversified somewhat, GDP growth is still largely coming from soaring debt and immigration.”
Now you’re saying ‘largely’. That’s a climb down, but you’ve still got some way to go.
“The Auditor-General's latest report into DHBs points to years of underinvestment combined with an ageing and increasingly impoverished population putting strain on our health system. “
We don’t have an increasingly impoverished population. You’re just making this up.
“While low income families may have the latest TV’s phones, etc, a good number still struggle to buy food and pay their bills. “
Maybe these are connected?
“I wasn't conflating income inequality with whether people are generally better off. I was highlighting the returns from GDP growth aren't being widely shared. The rich are getting richer as the majority are ending up with less of a share.”
So what? If my 10% share is worth ore than my old 15%, I’m better off.
“ A more equal economy not only fosters growth it is also a more long lasting sustainable economy.”
There is absolutely no evidence for that. In fact the failure of just about every socialist economy proves you are wrong.
“Home ownership is in decline”
Again, so what? Home ownership is in decline globally, and many immigrants to NZ come from countries with no specific culture of home ownership.
“Food bank queues are growing. Jails are at full capacity. But that's OK for you as most have the latest phone and a big TV.”
The prison population is the result of individual decisions to commit crime. Not colonisation. Not economic policy. Bad personal choices.
“Even Phil O’Reilly gets the welfare system in NZ is not fit for purpose and is not overly generous.”
Our welfare system is a disincentive to SOME to better themselves by their own effort. As a last resort, I fully endorse the welfare state, but it has become the first port of call for too many, and that as been actively encouraged by successive governments. The extensive reach of Working for Families is an excellent example. Middle class welfare is socialism by stealth. And yes, that is John Key.
Why would I want to do that when more socialist countries like Norway are doing so well? I'm a modern day Keynesian not a communist.
I didn't claim people were forced to buy. Was highlighting these items continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessities (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.
Stating largely wasn't a climb down from my initial comment where I stated namely. Nor does it change the point made.
I'm not making shit up. You are just poorly informed.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12245927
Purchasing a TV etc is generally a one off expense albeit spread out over time if ticked up. So while purchases like this will have an impact on household budgets, it won't be the main driver of fiscal hardship. Therefore, the interconnection would be small.
If your new 10% share is now worth more than your old 15% share then your new 15% share would be worth more than your new 10% share, hence you are losing out dropping to 10%.
There is indeed evidence. Economic inclusion is a high priority issue for the IMF. High inequality is negatively associated with macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth—core to the Fund’s mandate in promoting systemic, balance of payments, and domestic stability.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/Policy-Papers/Issues/2018/06/13/pp060118howto-note-on-inequality
You state home ownership is in decline globally as if it's a good thing.
The ability of less people to afford a home is an indication all is not well in an economy, and you are right, this isn't limited to NZ. But that is not a good thing.
While the prison population is the result of individual decisions, it's the wider circumstances that influences and helps shape the decision process. As a society, we can't turn a blind eye to the wider role we play (fiscally and politically) in people's personal choices as it will prevent the right solutions from being found.
The unemployment benefit pays little and has high churn. It's no longer enough to live off so is far from a disincentive. And if you fall ill and can no longer work, you are destine to a life of poverty as the supported living benefit is also no longer enough to live off. Hence, the massive increase of emergency benefits being issued.
The welfare state has become the first port of call for too many due to low incomes (remember your declining share) and the increase of the working poor. WFF is an employer subsidy taking pressure off wage demands and fails to give enough or any to the poor that aren't actually working. Which Key himself admitted and which is why he kept it on the National party agenda.
“Why would I want to do that when more socialist countries like Norway are doing so well?”
Except that Norway is not socialist. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffreydorfman/2018/07/08/sorry-bernie-bros-but-nordic-countries-are-not-socialist/#3d5058bd74ad
“I didn't claim people were forced to buy. Was highlighting these items continue to be beyond the salaries and wages of the majority as the cost of life's necessities (like housing) are robbing them of their discretionary income.”
You said they were purchased ‘on tick’. If they are beyond their income, why are they buying them?
“Purchasing a TV etc is generally a one off expense albeit spread out over time if ticked up. So while purchases like this will have an impact on household budgets, it won't be the main driver of fiscal hardship. Therefore, the interconnection would be small.”
But you claimed the funds are borrowed, meaning there is a close connection. You’re dancing across a number of contradictory arguments.
“There is indeed evidence. Economic inclusion is a high priority issue for the IMF. High inequality is negatively associated with macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth—core to the Fund’s mandate in promoting systemic, balance of payments, and domestic stability.”
That’s debatable. Very debatable. The evidence of actual economies is that the free market is reducing poverty while increasing inequality.
“You state home ownership is in decline globally as if it's a good thing.”
No, I state it to put your saying it is a bad thing in a global perspective. Home ownership is not a right.
“The ability of less people to afford a home is an indication all is not well in an economy, and you are right, this isn't limited to NZ. But that is not a good thing.”
In the UK, home ownership has not been an indication of how well the economy is doing. The idea of home ownership has been an unattainable notion for many for a very long time, and yet people live comfortably.
“While the prison population is the result of individual decisions, it's the wider circumstances that influences and helps shape the decision process.”
Not really. To end up in jail requires a particularly serious misdemeanour. That misdemeanor takes a particularly bad set of choices by the individual that most of us don’t take.
“The unemployment benefit…”
…is just one of a raft of welfare measures available in NZ.
“ It's no longer enough to live off so is far from a disincentive.”
And yet some do.
“The welfare state has become the first port of call for too many due to low incomes (remember your declining share) and the increase of the working poor.”
You’re doing it again. A declining share doesn’t mean lower income people get less.
“WFF is an employer subsidy taking pressure off wage demands and fails to give enough or any to the poor that aren't actually working.”
No it’s an income redistribution. Employers pay market rates. They don’t pay less simply because of WFF. WFF should be replaced with a tax free threshold, targeted at genuinely low income families, not middle class welfare.
FWIW, that was a great exchange between Shadrach and you, and I applaud you for that. Credit where and when credit is due.
I said a "more" socialist country opposed to your suggestion I move to a Communist country. And Norway is (albeit not fully) a more socialist country than a Communist country. Additionally, socialist countries tend to be based on a mixed economy, which Norway is.
I said the reason people were putting such items on tick is because it was beyond their discretionary income. And because they are not everyday items there impact on household budgets would be limited, and not the main driver of fiscal hardship such as the high and ongoing weekly cost of accommodation. Therefore, you are either trying to intentionally spin my words for the sake of scoring a point or it could be you genuinely misunderstood.
While the free market may have lifted people in developing countries out of 'extreme' poverty, the same can't be said for developments here in NZ. For example, the number of children living in poverty increased from 12% in 1986 peaking to 24% in 2001. It declined somewhat (with the impact of WFF and and the global boom) but is now (latest data, 2018) sitting at 23%. So not only has inequality worsen, poverty in NZ has almost doubled since 1986. Not improved.
Home ownership is not a legal right, but accommodation is a necessity. Moreover, increasing home ownership is a sign of growing and widely shared prosperity, hence is a good thing. Thus, its decline is not.
Child poverty in the UK is almost at record highs, sitting at over 30%. Clearly, their economy is not as "comfortable" as you claim.
Wider circumstances do indeed influences and shape the decision making process. It impacts us in all manners of ways. From our investment choices right through to whether or not someone will commit suicide or being put into a position they need to break the law. Activism being merely one example. Moreover, wider circumstances such as the poor being more likely to go to jail than an executive also comes into play.
Not only is declining share Of GDP a lower income (as clearly explained above with your new 10% share equating to less than a new 15% share you missed out on by dropping to 10%) it also has wider negative, macro and political impacts.
Again from the IMF:
Equality, like fairness, is an important value in most societies. Irrespective of ideology, culture, and religion, people care about inequality. Inequality can be a signal of lack of income mobility and opportunity – a reflection of persistent disadvantage for particular segments of the society. Widening inequality also has significant implications for growth and macroeconomic stability, it can concentrate political and decision making power in the hands of a few, lead to a suboptimal use of human resources, cause investment-reducing political and economic instability, and raise crisis risk.
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1513.pdf
As for WFF being a employer subsidy, even Matthew Hooton gets it.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12091904
@Incognito
Re your comment 14 July at 10:39 pm
rump is horrific self serving bullshitter …. People who claim to like him are sucked in by what he says …. as just like every other bullshitter .. he is a con artist who does not deliver on what he said.
Racists love his dog whistles, especially the ‘build a wall to keep out the invaders’, These idiots deserve to be deceived, and so it is ,,,Their nasty stupidity is being milked by dangerous fool smart enough to say the moronic things their dumb bad ears love to hear….
Trump is totally unable to ' seal the border' …. Unless he wants the usa to have a great depression again.
Unfortunately and just like our own dirty mucksters, the national party ,,,, Trump goes after the racist vote, and flames their ugly paranoid delusions ,,, That means he will probably ramp up the cruelty towards migrants and refugees …A consolation prize to his angry inbreed voter base.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AryaeW54g8
Trying to get my head around how this good-news puff about Rwanda:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/114036137/rwanda-is-a-shining-example-of-good-news-from-africa
– can be reconciled with what we're being told here about backers of ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/08/warlord-bosco-ntaganda-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-congolese
Microsoft are rolling out new Service Agreements and Privacy Statements. I'd really appreciate a lawyer type taking a look for we who lack sufficient legalese.
I'm putting up a link to this Aussie doco on our very very preventable christchurch mass murder tragedy …… it is very well made, and any Aussie who has watched it is way more informed than the NZ public.
We've got a whole lot of less than honest misdirection and filtering acting against us here in NZ ,, with our 'lone wolf media ' ,,,,, Arse covering secret investigations ,,,, Not to mention all the politicians and media people keeping quiet and hoping we all forget the smears and negative stereotypes they have pumped out since the 9/11 blow back,,,,,
Blowback that was motivated by the 'crusader' killings of 500,000 Iraq children ,,, who died quietly,,,, starved and poisoned with the old traditional crusaders weapon of siege warfare ,,, renamed as sanctions nowadays ,,,in a modern feel good touch.
Our indifference to the ethnic cleaning and land theft ,,, still going on till this day ,,, of the Palestinian People … was also mentioned as motivation … as reported on by Robert Fisk.
Anyway if you wish to be better informed it is a much watch …. Its quite emotional and I got really fucked off at the scope of the failings revealed … the sub-human and white disgrace / trash was posting and displaying red flags ,,, to eyes that were blind … if red was on white.
Also ….. who knew that apart from having " Turk Slayer" written on one of his weapons … He also called for the assassination of Erdogin …
Don't get me wrong …. Erdogin is a war criminal and Kurd killer etc etc …. But our media kept us in the dark when everyone was dumping on him for his ANZACs in coffins comments. However given the context of a networking white sub-supreme terrorist visiting his country twice…. and with the turk slayer message … and kill Erdogin directive.,
,,Tells me Once more NZ has been kept ignorant and manipulated … putting us in the wrong ,,, morally wrong against a creep like Erdogin …. ffs
*The doco does off course give us the name and face of sub supreme …
And it is emotionally upsetting … both from the tragic interviews of survivors …. and the huge red swatzstickers this killer clown was all but draped in when posting online at fascist facebook pages and other extreme right muck hole meeting points .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUVychuUnPk&t=253s
Ok, but why did you not mention the Chinese 'crusade' in Xinjiang against the Uighurs?
This is happening in real time. A repeat of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Yet fee care.
Sorry peter … I did not see your reply post sooner.
Osama Bin Laden …. who was one of the main planners and leaders behind 9/11 was quoted using the 'crusader' label, which he attached and used to describe the crime of 500,000 dead Iraq children killed as a result of the western nation siege / sanctions.
So I'm quoting the motivation for the 9/11 terrorists ,,,,
9/11 spurred on a big increase in anti-muslim language smears and stereotypes worldwide ,,,, and gave the excuse for the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, Libya.
These wars have been endless with huge destruction …. Causing tens of millions of refugees to flee from the bombs and the war.
The refugees from our bombs and wars have created a ' Invaders ' fear into the dumb insecure and paranoid white Europeans. … Trump and others fan their fears by using their language and agreeing with them ….
I hope this explains it a bit better for you …. 'Cruesader' crimes was the language used and excuse given at the start of a chain of events ….. leading up to the christchurch 'killer …. and his 'invaders' excuse.
None of the excuses given by all the terrorists involved ,,,, and I include the lies / excuses given for invading and going to war in Iraq or Afghanistan were valid.
Bush, Blair . Clinton and Cameron ….. should have all ended up where the christchurch shooter now is … getting locked away for ever/
Trump is having a major fit of the sulks over the British Ambassador emails. He's not gonna work with him anymore even though he and the Ambassador have never met. He's also lashing out at Theresa May and proclaiming his pleasure she will no longer be PM soon:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/08/donald-trump-we-will-no-longer-deal-with-the-british-ambassador
I'm still trying to figure out why the leaker (whoever it was) leaked the emails in the first place. Was it because he/she was wanting to embarrass the govt., or did he/she think it important for the public to hear the truth from a top diplomat?
The Ambassador's emails could well be the least of tRump's worries.
https://twitter.com/ShimonPro/status/1148286297267671041
Q. Have you ever socialized with Donald Trump in the presence of females under the age of 18?
A: Though I'd like to answer that question, at least today I'm going to have to assert my Fifth, Sixth, and 14th Amendment rights, sir.
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/j59vm8/the-salacious-ammo-even-donald-trump-wont-use-in-a-fight-against-hillary-clinton-bill-clinton
Oh boy..
https://twitter.com/PSheppardTV/status/1148298544526159872
The leaked emails might insert a wrecking bar in the united USA – UK deal that Brexiters seem to want?
activate!
a great activist song and I've put some explanation of the lyrics up too 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=252&v=SodcIExQiCQ
Thanks, Marty. The timing of your post was exquisite and I hope I can share why that was with you someday soon. You'll be thrilled. Can't say more at this time.
Racism. We are all racists. As we can all attribute to someone's virtues based on racial origin. Maori are some of the strongest advocates of positive racism, attributing positive virtues to Maori. Well no, surely examples are needed, otherwise this is well, bad racism, racism that is unevidenced, its like heckling badly. Fair dealing would be some form of accomadation between racists where they evidance each others virtues, but no this isnt common. Since talk of racism immediate brings up one's racial divisions most people avoid the notion as it's rather dumb. Racism is dumb.
Evolution shows us that we are all superbeings having hundreds of million of years of successful ancestors, the idea that we are dissimilar in some way significant way as to require being enslaved, mistreated, denied equality, is absurd as it is an abuse of logic.
Religion, wealth, skin pigmentation, height, etc are continuing to be used in debates to push control of each other. As a society, rule of law isnt about denying people the opportunity of warning us who is making a special pleading, since it's nice to know who to deny jobs, to keep distance from, for good reasons, that bigots come in all forms, closed minded bad for business.
It is wrong what happen to many, it's inevitable societies make mistakes, advancing some, it's necessary that efforts are made to rectify them. The rich are failing to deal with growing inequality.
Racists do not want to address racism ….. sodden
Did a Iwi / Kiwi racist National electioneering board fall on your head hard, giving you amnesia, makeing you numerically illiterate and unable to see our … racist …. society….
While not committing the aggressive genocide which cleansed murdered and starved the indigenous Native Americans and Aboriginals in Australia … We did lie cheat and steal through 'legal' means …. wage war to take land ….and generally try really hard to break their culture.
We're still attacking their well being ……
Who do we think bears the brunt of our predatory speculation housing bubble ….
Or our Alcohol abuse problem …. that the nats did a Dirty Politics side-step to avoid any meaningful measures to address
Someone like Judith Collins will shit all over Maori in our Justice system … But as pointed out by the corruption exposing reporter who ended up bringing down the criminal ruling Malaysian PM and his Govt …. Judith Collins is saying things that are untrue and unbeleviable …. as she defended the biggest criminals in the world … and Nationals non-fix, of their sneaky corruption enabling tax legislation.
Where greed combined with rich racists … shows the absolute worst about our culture.
New Zealand has vulture investors …. ie the billionaire chandler Bro s
http://100photos.time.com/photos/kevin-carter-starving-child-vulture
Αντιο σας, Syriza. And good riddance.
https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah/status/1148341706418470912
Too right, traitorous is the only word to describe Syriza, it's too bad Tsipras wasn't removed by some sort of popular uprising earlier.
Though I am sure Deutsche Bank would have taken good care of him had that happened.
The British, usa and Israel diplomats … should all be told to piss off out of NZ until they reform and stop their warmongering,,,, their stealing,,, and acting like a weaponized lynch mob.
What a depraved disgrace they all are …. The christchurch sick fuck shooter praised both trump and Israel …. it's easy to see why.
The Poms are boozey has been pirates …. only good for stealing, starving children to death in Yemen…. and killing civilians with their military.
We should get out of the five eyes lynch club …. grubby mobsters.
Which reminds me …… Did double dipper Wayne Mapp ever state or show ,,,,, that he made an apology or compensation,,,For the killings of children and civilians …. that he involved all of us in ?.
I'm still waiting for the slightest bit of real proof …. that he has any remorse for the pain and suffering and death and maiming that he walked himself …. and us into.
Some people think he's remorsefull …. He's had a long time to say sorry to the victims ,,, and offer something for the lives he's destroyed.
Because I'd like to get really rude ,,,, and tell him to fuck off and live in Israel .. a flabby but hard right wing Uber-gentile, living among uber-zionists … A kiwi war criminal living in the war criminal Apartheid state of Israel.
Maybe he can show that he did care enough to do the two token gestures towards his …. and our victims.
Or does he have the old white slave-masters complex ????
racist do not want to address racism. duh. So why box them in as racists, let them be humans like you who have feelings. You assume that all racism is racist, it's not some people have turrets? some people just mimic and don't get that it's offensive. most just want a easy life and thought being a jerk gets them what they want. If a boulder is rolling uncontrollably down a hill, you don't argue with the boulder, you point out how the smashing hurts, how the waste costs us, how the simple life…
Anyway, Romans invaded Briton and changed Britons, Britons interbred and are much more diverse, coloured pinkies, and are as a rule unlikely to sign a treaty with Maori if they were racists. rather they knew better by then.
By saying let racists be ……. your passively participating.
And even passive actions speak louder than fine words of how equal we all are when speaking to non-racists. ….
Its like bad behavior from a child ,,, we teach them good behavior ,,,, and everybody ends up more happy .
Racism is also a lie ,,,,, it can make some people so sick they will kill Women, children and old people ……. Christchurch.
I doubt you put up with other types of lies being told to you … if you know the truth you'll go 'hang on a sec, that aint right ' … and explain why.
Racists are a bit like wife beaters … they sick on the inside, with this ugly anger that robs them of the good emotions, those which make us content, happy, satisfied and relaxed.
So step up , its better for all .
God when are we going to grow up and realise that we play other sports and not just bloody rugby!!!
Maybe then when we get good at cricket they will get their own tv channel.
Yes a tax on the gas guzzling big vehicle.
https://youtu.be/Xo7WjnC8ekQ
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/cEXhZ8PwM-Y
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/9XaS93WMRQQ
Kia kaha to the youth for fighting for their future environment.
Let the neanderthal who run this Papatuanuku your future is so special to Eco Maori
New Plymouth students organising climate conference
For two New Plymouth students, climate change boils down to whether or not they will have a planet on which to live out their lives.
Jezza Vivian and Nikita Taiapa, both 17, are organising a climate conference to help the next generation get actively involved, as well as providing rangatahi with a platform to have their voices heard.
Many of their friends don't even want to have children because of uncertainty over the future environment, Nikita said
Ka kite ano link below
https://i.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/114105263/new-plymouth-students-organising-climate-conference
Kia ora Newshub
Coach Stevie I know how you feel with people taking your words and making a moanga out of a mole hill of course there are some women who beat men I have seen it as well.
All you people who are complaining about tamariki getting there qualifications even if they could not afford to pay their fees are just not very nice people you should be feeling sorry for all the tamariki in hardship muppets.
There you go trump is a brat full stop that was a conversation that should not have gotten leaked is trump spying on him ???????????.
Sir David Attenborough ka pai for your highlighting the harm that climate change is going to do to our mokopuna futures. If we don't stop burning carbon the common person future looks very bleak.
Jensen you're art is making the place better and beautiful we should be encouraging people who have great art not suppressing them kia kaha m8.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
I it is a step in the correct position on medical marijuana it can revleave a lot of pain that people are suffering.
Biddle I thought I new the feachers I know some Biddles from Te taiwhiti.
The ass has dropped out of the log markets thanks to trump.
Like I have said the returns the Maori land owners get is crap if the logs have to be carted more than 2 hours only the forestry company's are making cream good money there needs to be a port on te taiwhiti coast to cut costs. I reckon that the forest company's short change Maori forest owners and pay their Pakaiha m8 more I see that behavior has been happening for hundreds of years the same can be said for stock agents ripping off Maori farmers and paying their m8 more money.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The Am Show.
Lloyd you look like you're enjoying yourself in Britain.
Ryan we need to invest in mass transport not roads we need more Railways. The line to Gisborne Te taiwhiti needs to be fixed so Ngati Porou can get more value out of our exports. Is it a coincidence that the 2 place with high Maori populations have had next to no investment in the roads or railroad. ?????.
I heard that the tenants gave Jensen permission to paint the building with his street art it's all good Ryan the Eco Maori effect is in play Jensen art will get heaps of publicity NOW .
The neanderthals running Our Papatuanuku to the dirt at the minute can not even listen to Wahine concerns let alone listening to our rangitahi concerns with the Papatuanuku and their futures. The 30 under 30 is a great campaign kia kaha. Rangitahi are intelligent people some can see the big picture on Humanity's reality that is we can not keep SHITTING in our own backyard in reality it's full of shit that needs cleaning up right NOW.
I agree Sir Graham we need to nurture our rangitahi not put them down.
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/5Yj4j_lZMBo
Good parenting Reason. Isn't calling your kid a racist when they say something racist, it's far more than that. Kids learn hate from those who teach hate towards racism and racists. Racism is just shallow thinking, as all vulgarity, yet of course has wider effects.
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/tgVVG5EknuI
Eco Maori goes to Jaycars Rotorua and Harvey Norman's and what do you know they don't sell satellite dishes for sky or other tv satellites YEA RIGHT The sandflys are playing there stupid game the Muppets
Eco Maori thanks France for putting a Eco tax on there Air travelers all countrys need to follow there lead but use the tax to subsidize clean energy transportation. Ka pai.
France to slap new 'ecotax' on plane tickets from 2020
France will introduce a new charge on plane tickets from next year, with revenue used to fund environment-friendly alternatives, the country's transport minister has said.
The "ecotax'' costing between €1.50 (NZ$2.50) and €18 euros (NZ$30.50) will apply to most flights departing in France, Elisabeth Borne said.
The only exceptions will be for domestic flights to Corsica and France's overseas territories, and connecting flights that pass through France. It will not apply to flights arriving in France
Murphy said the French move could boost efforts to introduce a Europe-wide tax on aviation to reflect plane travel's environmental impact Germany, Italy and some Nordics nations also have ticket taxes. Several European countries are meanwhile pushing for the VAT exemption that airline fuel enjoys in Europe to be dropped
Germany's Environment Ministry said Tuesday it supports discussions on additional CO2-based pricing systems for air travel to reduce the industry's contribution to man-made greenhouse gas emissions, currently estimated at more than 2 per cent but forecast to grow significantly in coming decadesWhat's more, the conditions for competition between air, road and rail travel need to be made fairer,'' the ministry said in a statement. "This is something we in Europe need to achieve together ka kite ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/114118704/france-to-slap-new-ecotax-on-plane-tickets-from-2020
Kia ora Newshub.
Ka pai to Meng Foon for his new mahi as race relations Commissioner a great choice for that job.
The Americas couple whose IV babies got mixed up looked unhappy about the time of the mix up happened the hospital tried to sweep it under the carpet tipical don't give a stuff about the people feeling both parents.
Its is great that Middlemore hospital is getting a big money injection so that the hospital can lower the operating list its good that there is more investment going into treatment for Maori and Pacific health problems.
Kia kaha Angela Merkel Mana Wahine .
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te ao Maori News.
Condolences to Hone Ngati Whanau I like his DJ on The Code on Maori TV.
I agree stop the war on the poor one good thing is we now have a government that is trying its best to serve the tangata needs .It's tuff trying to live in Auckland when you are poor.
Meng foon deserves his new mahi.
With the James Cook not comments but Eco Maori has to let the Whanau know what is actually happening so that they can counter the bias discriminatory ways . Maori must keep trying harder when the system throws US heaps of underarm bowls kia kaha.
Tea puia marae is preforming a excellent service for te tangata.
I,,, you can't beat a traditional Hangi the last hakari was reka.
I think wakakura flax pepi cots will be excellent for Maori pepi living in the . It will be a lot safer than pepi sleeping in the same bed as te Wahine.
Ka kite ano