Excellent project. Ive beeen watching the demolition and wondering if reconstruction was really going to happen !! Only 10% of staff to be apprentices though? Considering the skills shortage and the age of many tradesmen these days I think it should be much more than this. As an aside, the oldfashoined "railways" and also the "post office" were great sponges of surplus labour. Economically inefficient but socially efficient. Which would you rather have ? Take your pick.
Well, for my sins, I just sat through 49 minutes of corporate babble from Chrissie Luxon! I think I needed a babble-fish in my ear to interpret for me!
I don't recommend anyone else doing so, except from the point of self-flagellation!
But at about 10 mins to 15 mins he disses this country (what a contrast to Jacinda) and at about 35 mins he tells his audience what he thinks should be done here – deregulation!
Honestly, the man has learned nothing from 40 years of letting the market decide – leaky homes, cattle viral diseases and so on.
The context is important. Policy Exchange is a think tank that seeks to influence public policy. Luxon was a bit 'wooden', but he certainly didn't diss NZ, and the contents of the speech were mostly on point.
This man is Labour's saviour. Why would you want Labour to win the next election? Every social and economic indicator for a healthy country is, or is about to, go South. Do you want Labour burdened with another three years of trying to rule with a caucus that's tired, discredited and out of ideas? And a public that is increasingly over this government?
Listening to Luxon's speech, people who think he'll be a pushover in the leaders debates, may have to think again. Luxon is gaining more of that glib political-speak politicians are famous for. The way he weighted his talk straight away gives voters a clear demarcation of where his priorities will lie.
[please provide some back up for this statement: “Every social and economic indicator for a healthy country is, or is about to, go South.” – weka]
''As many as half the country's GP clinics are not enrolling new patients, and others are asking people to wait weeks for an appointment.''
That's just one area of our health system. Others are just as bad. That's an emergency situation in my opinion. If ordinary people are feeling the pressure, what of those from the lower socio-economic demographic of society?
“It’s a sad indictment of our country that even as 25-30,000 people are trapped living in temporary and transitional housing, the government is selling state houses to private developers,” Bernie says. “I understand they are selling it to fund long-term intensification plans, but this worsens the current problem, which is already at crisis levels, in the hopes of catching up later. The impact will be felt for generations in Health, Education and Justice outcomes.''
While National has contributed to housing problems, the fact is National aren't in government. Transitional housing has destroyed areas of Rotorua's CBD. The problem is now out of control, and I can't see the incoming National government improving matters. I have previously offered my solution to this problem.
What the boffins forecast and state is usually of no interest to the ordinary person. Economists can't even agree amongst themselves for a simple reason – they don't know. The vagaries of global events are always a sword above national economies across the globe. For an average person such as myself, what I do know is my local dairy has closed. My favourite cafe is now operating 5 days a week. Businesses I have dealt with for years are no more. Empty shops are a dime a dozen in my town. People I know are leaving our shores for good. And I break out in a sweat whenever I shop at my local supermarket. A supermarket claiming to have NZs lowest prices.
Sure our economy is still in reasonable shape. But if this is reasonable, what's it going to be like next year as our government continues to strangle our biggest export earner with red tape, while global forecasts look more dire?
Problems related to Maori. Perceptions about Maori. Maori funding. Reverse racism. These issues will be a major reason why Labour is heading back to the opposition benches. In my opinion they have been hamstrung by their Maori caucus. How else can you explain weird decisions like making Nanaia Mahuta Foreign Affairs Minister? What did Labour and NZ receive in return for such an appointment…perceptions of impropriety.
Now, I understand most people on this blog don't have a problem with this incessant focus and lush funding by Labour on things Maori. Even as their European culture is being cancelled right under their noses. What needs to be understood is many others outside of their ideological bubble do have a problem with Maori and the perceived wasted taxpayer dollars supporting them.
And let's not forget this guy below. Mikey (ZB 5.56 am 6th July 2022) said they had never had a problem getting Tukaki to appear on his show. But calls asking him to front went unanswered. Was his CV not checked because he was Maori and everything would be kapai?
[ok, I think we’re done now. The mod request wasn’t for yet another round of your anti-Labour rhetoric. You made a claim, I asked for back up. If you want to know why this sat all day on a Sunday before being released, it’s because it was going to take so much of my time reading and parsing what you said. I’m sick of the racism in your comments, sick of the trolling, sick of the continual anti-Labour reckons, and referencing vague talk back. You’ve been warned about nearly all of that multiple times and I don’t want to be spending any more of my time on this. 6 month ban – weka]
Could we have a more up to date photo?/photos? The man has gained weight and a rather belligerent expression. This pearly whites version flatters him.
He is not harmless and holds dangerous challenging views of us, to the point he could never be “representative”.
I think she must be talking about the MP for my electorate.
It is Wellingto Central and the sentences from the second one on all seem to be appropriate. A bit harsh perhaps but kindness doesn't always appear to be the norm for comments does it?
Thanks Weka, I forgot to preface those comments to the video speech by Christopher Luxon which was provided by Tony Veitch (not…). For some reason it did not connect as a reply?
“One thing I have learned is to keep our market share below 5%, and don’t undercut Gib prices. As long as we do both of those things we are OK. But as soon as we step over that line, then we have hell to pay.”
It's made in Thailand. I've used it and the only way I can fault it is the paper finish can be a bit shitty, but nothing the final skim coat won't fix.
You may have an issue if it's for work consented with Gib bracing calculations, too, but otherwise, it's a good product.
Listen carefully, young, single mothers. It's not because you are young, single mothers, it's because you are filthy and have no money.
Canterbury Property Investors Association president Shirley Berryman was surprised to hear young single mothers felt they were being discriminated against when applying for private rentals.
Beneficiaries could guarantee consistent rent payments, she said.
Landlords could not be blamed for being picky, due to current laws that made removing difficult tenants much harder, Berryman said.
“You’ll choose the ones you think will put less wear and tear on your property… some people might rank higher than others, but I can’t imagine that young solo mums are being actively avoided.”
She clearly rules out the money side by saying that beneficiaries have guaranteed income.
And she doesn't say single mums are dirty, she points out that wear and tear is an issue from an investment pov. It's not hard to understand that households with children have more wear and tear (same with dogs).
The problem here is landlord culture in NZ is weighted towards seeing housing as stock rather than homes. Landlord associations should be giving support to landlords on how to manage wear and tear, that is is a normal part of tenancy, and how to account for that in their financial management.
Underlying that is the shortage of homes, although BUILD MOAR HOUSES isn't a solution in the short and medium term if those houses are largely part of the investment market, because rents will go up. Plus the issues of opening the borders and more people coming to live here. We need whole system design changes.
She rules out a lot, but not convincingly because the problem does exist despite her denials. It's too easy for landlord advocates to dismiss reality.
Ruling out the money side is disturbing on two counts. If discrimination is not because of benefit status, it must be about cleanliness/poor parenting…and race.
Also, the Canterbury Property Investors Association appears to have a policy which encourages benefit dependency (if you are not on a benefit it we won't rent to you) which runs counter to their members' cries there are too many dole bludgers.
Property Investors Associations insist on a light touch so excepting them to provide such support is wishful thinking, and whenever there are regulatory moves from government, the shrieks to leave us alone grow louder and louder.
Benefits are a really stable form of income in low income people. If you have a rental aimed at low income people, then many beneficiaries make good tenants.
Ruling out the money side is disturbing on two counts. If discrimination is not because of benefit status, it must be about cleanliness/poor parenting…and race.
this presumes bigotry is the reason for not renting. It could also or instead be wear and tear. As I pointed out.
But sure, some landlords are bigots.
Also, the Canterbury Property Investors Association appears to have a policy which encourages benefit dependency (if you are not on a benefit it we won't rent to you)
where are you getting that from?
which runs counter to their members' cries there are too many dole bludgers.
I dunno, perhaps it is the unmarried status which is the icky thing. Seems to be a real issue for conservatives.
Berryman states, "beneficiaries could guarantee consistent rent payments". I'm sure this is the advice she gives her members and so they might like to select a beneficiary over a working single mother.
This might discourage young, single mothers in North Canterbury from looking for work.
This runs counter to prevailing right wing thought (North Canterbury landlords) that there are too many people on a benefit and not enough working.
The issues for tenants in this country, highlighted by this piece, have been going on for decades. The root of it is the amateur landlord culture which has been encouraged and allowed to become normal, Mum & Dad investors feted as beneficial providers of accomodation and morals in equal measure.
The truth is, capital gain is the only motivation, the landlord part is inconvenient and annoying. Time to drag the residential tenancy sector into the 20th, then the 21st century by ensuring it is more secure and professionally run.
"The truth is, capital gain is the only motivation, the landlord part is inconvenient and annoying. Time to drag the residential tenancy sector into the 20th, then the 21st century by ensuring it is more secure and professionally run."
What are property management companies if not professionals?
There can be no dispute they are 'professional'….and some of the worst offenders. And unfortunately also inflationary, both by their fees and incentive….all ultimately carried by the renter.
There is no one solution, and professionalism is way down the list of causes imo.
I know families who have both parents working are also struggling to find rental accommodation.
It seems understandable (note I'n not saying right or commendable) that private landlords are going to look for the lowest risk option. They'll be looking for stable income (which, as pointed out, beneficiaries have), but also looking for low-risk of damage.
Solo-parents (making a crashing generalization here) as a group have two strikes against them in the eyes of landlords: They have young kids – higher risk of both damage and general wear and tear; they may have undesirable associations (previous partner, new partner/s)
The reality is that any damage is going to come out of the landlord's pocket (even if covered by insurance, it's going to mean higher premiums) – the tenants won't have any ability to pay, even if there's a tribunal order against them.
If it's harder for families with young children to get rentals (one strike against them), then it's even more difficult for solo-parents with young children to get a rental (two strikes against them)
In a tight rental market, most landlords don't have to take the risk.
That is certainly the explanation. But it doesn't touch on a solution.
The residential tenancy sector needs to be moved away from amateur landlords, ‘at risk’ as you call them towards a much more robust and regulated industry, bigger players, economies of scale, spread risk, etc.
The solution has always been for the government to take the risk of renting to the 'higher risk' sector.
I understand that the government are working as fast as possible to increase the supply of housing, both in the state sector, and (by freeing up building practices) in the private sector as well.
More housing (both state and private), means more options for tenants, and less ability for landlords to either hike rental prices, or exclude medium-risk tenants.
Risk still exists – and needs to be managed, even by larger landlords (the bigger players, as you call them). And, indeed, the larger landlords are the ones much less likely to take a punt on a solo-mum, than a mum-and-dad operator. No personal connection, work entirely by risk profiles.
I don't see how more regulation is going to improve this further. Amateur landlords will always exist – if you make it too hard for them, they'll simply switch to Air BnB – and take their properties out of the housing market altogether.
Fairly sure plenty of multiple house owners switched to Airbnb when it was a thing, and before changes to tenancy rules. They'll return to this when the tourists come back I am sure.
One difference between larger landlords and amateur landlords is that tenanted accomodation is their thing. It's not primarily a nest egg to provide for round the world cruises later in life and deposit loans for young Johnny.
And larger landlords are more likely to provide long term tenants security of tenure rather than, as you say, switching to Airbnb on a whim.
There always will be a certain number of houses that will be tenanted for relatively short periods – for all sorts of reasons For example a deceased property might take a family or trust some years to decide what to do with it, or a family working overseas might retain a home in NZ to return to, are two common reasons that come to mind. There will be many other circumstance that arise.
In all of these cases are you advocating that the house should remain empty rather than be tenanted without long term security of tenure?
A certain number, what number is that? The collection of data on the circumstances you describe has never been done well.
These circumstances you describe do not seem like a good reason to not have long term security of tenure for the increasing number of lifetime tenants.
OK so if a rental house can only be offered with lifetime security of tenure, does this mean the landlord can never sell it?
Or more interestingly – will tenants be willing to sign up for leases with unlimited terms? Or were you imagining the contract would be entirely one sided – such that the owner of the property would be locked in for a 'lifetime' term, but the tenant could walk away whenever they liked?
Incidentally I think you would find the that big corporate landlords that we could never sell their asset would be forced to generate all of their cash flow from rents. You might find them a great deal more hard nosed about the kind of return on investment their shareholders would demand – than the ordinary mum and dad 'amateur' landlords you so despise for wanting a bit of a nest egg.
The reality is that any damage is going to come out of the landlord's pocket (even if covered by insurance, it's going to mean higher premiums
This is a sure sign they're not managing the property as a business properly. It shouldn't be out of the landlord's pocket, it should be something accounted for as an overhead/expense.
Repair and maintenance costs of a rental property are tax deductible, but this doesn’t cover the full cost, obviously, it only partially off-sets that.
I’m not aware of contingency budgets being a formal part of the business set-up of rental property. It comes down to the owner’s pocket/wallet. The best ‘contingency plan’ is to avoid negative gearing and to create a wide(r) margin between profit & loss. Insurance is wise (a must) but doesn’t cover everything.
When there’s a sudden major cost to a rental property the owner will have to finance this, either from their own pocket or through a(nother) bank loan against the property. If the mortgage against the property is already maxed out then this will severely restrict refinancing.
Why would those all be factored in but not the last one? If it’s not taken into account isn’t there a risk of the landlord not being able to afford the repair?
Ordinary wear-and-tear maintenance, yes (e.g. budget for carpet replacement every 10-15 years). Heavy soiling and/or deliberate destruction, no.
But even with usual wear-and-tear, some tenants are harder on a property than others. It makes commercial sense for the landlord to pick the ones s/he feels are going to cost less.
yes, that's what I said, landlords may be avoiding solo parents, because kids cause more wear and tear (and perhaps solo parent families are perceived as causing more than double parents families, but I'd find that weird).
However, it's not out of the landlord's pocket if they are running a business well. Wear and tear is expected, and should be budgeted for. One offs/unexpected damage are what a contingency fund is for.
From a business perspective, if you have to use your contingency funds (e.g. carpet needs to be replaced because of heavy soiling or insect damage – e.g. cockroach infestation) – then you have to build this fund up again. That money is coming from what would otherwise be profit on the investment – i.e. the landlord's pocket.
Landlords, very naturally, want to minimize both the one-off damage (hitting the contingency funds) and the wear and tear (if it takes 15 years instead of the budgeted 10 for the carpet to need replacing, then the landlord has greater profit for 5 of those years).
Young families are harder on the fittings – so, if the landlord has a choice, they they're motivated *not* to choose a family.
As I said above – for the solo-parent families – it's not the 'family' that's the added risk, it's the 'solo'.
Landlords are very rightly worried (from a business perspective) about ex and/or future partners and the baggage of violence or criminal activity they may bring. Especially as they are not allowed to ask about ex-partners (privacy) during the interview/application stage. [An ex-partner who died of cancer after a blameless life, is a very different risk to one who's in jail for violent spouse abuse and gets out in 6 months].
That's not to say that solo-parents with violent ex-partners don't deserve housing – but the added risk makes the State (or other housing charities) the appropriate landlord.
Most likely she is being economical with the truth – because of laws about discrimination.
Many beneficiaries can only afford the private market rent if they have part-time work (the others are in motels) – and they cannot do this work if they or their children are sick. A lot of the part-time work does not cover days off sick.
Johnny Ramone must have known something when he piddled in Johnny Rotten’s beer.
Former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon is surprisingly backing Tory toff Jacob Rees-Mogg to be the new Prime Minister following Boris Johnson’s resignation.
The 66-year-old punk – also known as Johnny Rotten – may have once wished for Anarchy in the UK and claimed Queen Elizabeth was presiding over a “fascist regime” but he is backing super posh Mogg, the MP for North East Somerset, to be Britain’s next political leader.
John likes Mogg, 53, because he has a “World War II put Britain first” mentality which he thinks could only be good for the nation.
"I think Ronald Reagan was the best President of my lifetime."
Johnny is quoted by The Observer as saying: “People drift towards liberalism at a young age, and I always hope they change when they see how the world really is.
One can see how the multiple property owning caucus is hurting now that the market has lost a third of the 33% pandemic gain (loose monetary policy).
There is an on message campaign by its media team to claim more immigration is required.
Janet Wilson (Stuff) claims the nursing shortage is one of the governments own making (it requires migrant nurses to wait two years before claiming residency) – ignoring the fact we have had a shortage for decades caused by DHB's not being able to afford the cost of fully staff wards and local training involving tertiary debt (only half qualify the population qualify for student allowances etc).
The poor working conditions model driving Kiwis offshore fixed by immigration is what got us into this mess. They should stop digging.
I should add, Oz Canada and the USA are also suffering their worst nursing shortages ever. So portraying migrant nurses as a solution for what is a global problem (aging western population and a pandemic virus undermining of the populations health) is bordering on the nonsensical.
There needs to be student allowances to those training as nurses (only half the population qualify) and no need to repay training debt.
Nurses have versatile jobs, but how many (have to) do (a lot of) stuff for which they have not studied & trained at all? How many do a core nursing job without other duties & responsibilities that are distracting and a waste of their skills? Sometimes they’re perceived as magical social workers that can and must fix everything & all and these sorts of expectations are misleading and frustrating.
Looking at the re-infection rates with Covid in NZ.
Not very high, as yet – but we've only had it actively circulating for less than 6 months.
The ministry said about two-thirds of the reinfections happened between one and three months after a first infection.
That's particularly concerning, as it looks as though even catching Covid doesn't give anything like even medium-term protection – and we know that vaccination is much the same.
Although it would be helpful to have a statistical analysis of the re-infections (is it predominantly groups with high levels of contact? or groups with high levels of risk? or just random members of the population!) If it's the last, it's most worrying at the societal level (e.g. you can take precautions for high levels of exposure or risk)
Recommending a 4th booster seems to be a fairly ineffective strategy (better than nothing, if you're highly vulnerable, I suppose).
The boosters are all against the original strain (not even Delta, let alone Omicron and the new variants – which have evolved a long way) – it's dubious that they'll give much (if any) new levels of protection.
And, of course, you can't even take the booster until 3 months after a Covid infection – by which time, you may well have become infected again.
I really, really want some good quality studies on long Covid (or lingering symptoms) – surely they should have some strong indications of the real numbers, rather than just projections, by now.
I especially want to know the relative risk of Long Covid from the original variants, compared to the most recent (circulating now) ones. I get the impression that it's higher – but impressions aren't data!
Unreviewed pre-print reckons it could be the presence of the spike protein long after initial infection.
Strikingly, we detect SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen in a majority of [long COVID] patients up to 12 months post-diagnosis, suggesting the presence of an active persistent SARSCoV-2 viral reservoir.
Considering that much more than 1% of the population have immune systems that are compromised in some way, numbers like this show that vaccination and/ or immunity acquired from infection, is currently working, to keep re-infection and infection rates down
It's working is it? Thank goodness our health care system isn't currently under unprecedented stress and that covid infection rates and flu rates are some of the lowest in the world! Yeah right..
"It doesn’t matter how you voted or your current political persuasion, the PM has made bold strides on the International stage that are good for NZ. If you are still hating on her despite her success, you may be a tribal right wing Troll who probably needs to get out a bit more."
I believe there are Lefties who’d also consider Ardern’s overseas ‘junkets’ as avoiding putting her own house in order first, as if it is some kinda zero-sum game and this Government is some kinda one-woman show (on the road). Particularly when Labour is slipping in the polls and they’re getting anxious about 2023. Maybe some of these are tribal left wing Trolls who probably need to get out a bit more often too and mix & mingle with the other tribal trolls out there, a meeting of tribes, if you like.
As you know, I’m not a fan at all of binary thinking. Not for one minute would I argue that the dynamics are the same across the board spectrum. It has very little to do with tribalism and describing it in such stereotypical terms, as Bradbury does, is quite telling. Unfortunately, I think, it that the unhelpful ‘comments’ coming from both sides could and probably will lead to the same outcome. As long as our story-telling stays one-dimensional, and thus our thinking and actions flowing from these, nothing much will change. I’d not label that as progressive politics …
I don't imagine a lot of the anti-vaxxers, anti-ID pols, mental health advocates, art people concerned about the lack of policy etc etc would necessarily consider themselves right wing at all. That would be a convenient fiction. There are a lot of lefties who have turned against Labour because their own individual ideological Rubicons have been crossed.
You’re right, of course, but ideology is way too big a concept for the often relatively small personal gripes & grudges that people hold, usually against something or somebody. In my book, ideology should stand for something.
Interesting piece by Tim Hayward who's professor of environmental political theory at university of Edinburgh .talks about BBC' s participation in a smear campaign against him and other academics , mentions alleged misinformation by elements of OPCW under Washingtons instruction ,considers basic understandings of what is meant by democracy and what is state propaganda , even Paul Mason gets a mention if that rings anyones bells ?!
I assume that I will be accused of being an Ardern fan boi but truth is this strategy has been developed by a very competent team of senior diplomats. She is just the deliverer of the message, and she does that very well.
Nats tend to show up how shallow they are ideologically by not grudgingly conceding that she has achieved a lot of the things in this tour that they wanted.
The assassination of Shinzo Abe has attracted condolences from many, including our own PM. But there is another side to the former Japanese PM, whose signals were not dissimilar to neo-nazi or KKK material in support of Japanese actions in WWII.
The use of the number 731 is, in the context of Asia, as plain as neo-nazi’s use of 88.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
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1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
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Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
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Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
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I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
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Fantastic ! Cmon Labour…more of this ! Ignore Nact…and just get with the Positive Action.. I’m so pleased about it. : )
Excellent project. Ive beeen watching the demolition and wondering if reconstruction was really going to happen !! Only 10% of staff to be apprentices though? Considering the skills shortage and the age of many tradesmen these days I think it should be much more than this. As an aside, the oldfashoined "railways" and also the "post office" were great sponges of surplus labour. Economically inefficient but socially efficient. Which would you rather have ? Take your pick.
Hi, absolutely MORE Apprentices ! Labour should be going for it…to put a stake through the neolib rogernomics (I was gonna say heart but …No heart )
I am ever hopeful : )
Just watch the trucking lobby PR hirelings spring into action as a result of that announcement.
Of course, it's only talk from Dr Clark; we'll have to wait and see if anything actually gets done to revive rail.
Hi, yea the Truckers lobby def have the BIG voice. However I have seen some new spine from David Clark….so I'll be watching…with Interest : )
Also…Michael Wood…is Involved. Gives me more confidence too. !
Well, for my sins, I just sat through 49 minutes of corporate babble from Chrissie Luxon! I think I needed a babble-fish in my ear to interpret for me!
I don't recommend anyone else doing so, except from the point of self-flagellation!
But at about 10 mins to 15 mins he disses this country (what a contrast to Jacinda) and at about 35 mins he tells his audience what he thinks should be done here – deregulation!
Honestly, the man has learned nothing from 40 years of letting the market decide – leaky homes, cattle viral diseases and so on.
So, you've been warned:
The context is important. Policy Exchange is a think tank that seeks to influence public policy. Luxon was a bit 'wooden', but he certainly didn't diss NZ, and the contents of the speech were mostly on point.
This man is Labour's saviour. Why would you want Labour to win the next election? Every social and economic indicator for a healthy country is, or is about to, go South. Do you want Labour burdened with another three years of trying to rule with a caucus that's tired, discredited and out of ideas? And a public that is increasingly over this government?
Listening to Luxon's speech, people who think he'll be a pushover in the leaders debates, may have to think again. Luxon is gaining more of that glib political-speak politicians are famous for. The way he weighted his talk straight away gives voters a clear demarcation of where his priorities will lie.
[please provide some back up for this statement: “Every social and economic indicator for a healthy country is, or is about to, go South.” – weka]
mod note
Backup was provided early Sunday morning, Weka. But my post wasn't published.
Health:
Quote:
''As many as half the country's GP clinics are not enrolling new patients, and others are asking people to wait weeks for an appointment.''
That's just one area of our health system. Others are just as bad. That's an emergency situation in my opinion. If ordinary people are feeling the pressure, what of those from the lower socio-economic demographic of society?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018845827/gp-crisis-about-half-nz-s-clinics-not-taking-new-patients
Housing:
Quote:
“It’s a sad indictment of our country that even as 25-30,000 people are trapped living in temporary and transitional housing, the government is selling state houses to private developers,” Bernie says. “I understand they are selling it to fund long-term intensification plans, but this worsens the current problem, which is already at crisis levels, in the hopes of catching up later. The impact will be felt for generations in Health, Education and Justice outcomes.''
While National has contributed to housing problems, the fact is National aren't in government. Transitional housing has destroyed areas of Rotorua's CBD. The problem is now out of control, and I can't see the incoming National government improving matters. I have previously offered my solution to this problem.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2206/S00076/housing-crisis-no-time-to-be-selling-public-housing-stock-monte-cecilia-housing-trust-ceo-bernie-smith-says.htm
Economy:
What the boffins forecast and state is usually of no interest to the ordinary person. Economists can't even agree amongst themselves for a simple reason – they don't know. The vagaries of global events are always a sword above national economies across the globe. For an average person such as myself, what I do know is my local dairy has closed. My favourite cafe is now operating 5 days a week. Businesses I have dealt with for years are no more. Empty shops are a dime a dozen in my town. People I know are leaving our shores for good. And I break out in a sweat whenever I shop at my local supermarket. A supermarket claiming to have NZs lowest prices.
Sure our economy is still in reasonable shape. But if this is reasonable, what's it going to be like next year as our government continues to strangle our biggest export earner with red tape, while global forecasts look more dire?
https://economics.rabobank.com/publications/2022/march/new-zealand-two-sides-of-the-same-coin/
Crime:
I've covered that ad nauseum. Enough said.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/counting-crime/
Maori:
Problems related to Maori. Perceptions about Maori. Maori funding. Reverse racism. These issues will be a major reason why Labour is heading back to the opposition benches. In my opinion they have been hamstrung by their Maori caucus. How else can you explain weird decisions like making Nanaia Mahuta Foreign Affairs Minister? What did Labour and NZ receive in return for such an appointment…perceptions of impropriety.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nanaia-mahuta-family-member-appointments-officials-launch-review-into-working-group-positions/OOJNOICEGOD724N6SZ6JW2BL7I/
Now, I understand most people on this blog don't have a problem with this incessant focus and lush funding by Labour on things Maori. Even as their European culture is being cancelled right under their noses. What needs to be understood is many others outside of their ideological bubble do have a problem with Maori and the perceived wasted taxpayer dollars supporting them.
And let's not forget this guy below. Mikey (ZB 5.56 am 6th July 2022) said they had never had a problem getting Tukaki to appear on his show. But calls asking him to front went unanswered. Was his CV not checked because he was Maori and everything would be kapai?
https://dailytelegraph.co.nz/news/investigation-reveals-matthew-tukakis-cv-wasnt-checked-before-appointment-to-top-government-job/
[ok, I think we’re done now. The mod request wasn’t for yet another round of your anti-Labour rhetoric. You made a claim, I asked for back up. If you want to know why this sat all day on a Sunday before being released, it’s because it was going to take so much of my time reading and parsing what you said. I’m sick of the racism in your comments, sick of the trolling, sick of the continual anti-Labour reckons, and referencing vague talk back. You’ve been warned about nearly all of that multiple times and I don’t want to be spending any more of my time on this. 6 month ban – weka]
mod note.
Could we have a more up to date photo?/photos? The man has gained weight and a rather belligerent expression. This pearly whites version flatters him.
He is not harmless and holds dangerous challenging views of us, to the point he could never be “representative”.
Who are you talking about?
I think she must be talking about the MP for my electorate.
It is Wellingto Central and the sentences from the second one on all seem to be appropriate. A bit harsh perhaps but kindness doesn't always appear to be the norm for comments does it?
Alwyn, this is not about kindness.
It is about an ego driven man who thinks he has all the answers.
His religious beliefs do not align with the bulk of Kiwis.
He talked several times as though he believes we are "bottom feeders" and now he says "business is soft looking to Government " Wow.
Then he says we need to open up. OK. We get HE is over covid… never gave that or the war a mention.
He has no grasp of the world complexities. He thinks trade and open borders will solve all . Tui.
Thanks Weka, I forgot to preface those comments to the video speech by Christopher Luxon which was provided by Tony Veitch (not…). For some reason it did not connect as a reply?![blush blush](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/embarrassed_smile.png?x42494)
looks like the reply function might be acting up again. What device were you using? (and if on a mobile was it the Mobile or Desktop version?)
Leveno laptop, it may have been my oversight?
other people's comments aren't in reply either, I'll let Lprent know.
The wielding of power….
“One thing I have learned is to keep our market share below 5%, and don’t undercut Gib prices. As long as we do both of those things we are OK. But as soon as we step over that line, then we have hell to pay.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129088441/how-to-build-a-plasterboard-monopoly
The article didn't say where the competing plasterboard comes from.
Gib is reliably consistent in quality. Which is why builders like it, despite cost and supply issues.
Can't say the same for some of the imported competing products. Found plasterboard with voids, rocks and rubbish inside.
It may be a case of "be careful what you wish for".
Replacing locally manufactured quality products, with cheaper imported junk. Where have we seen that before?
Thailand…and monopolies are detrimental no matter their country of origin
It's made in Thailand. I've used it and the only way I can fault it is the paper finish can be a bit shitty, but nothing the final skim coat won't fix.
You may have an issue if it's for work consented with Gib bracing calculations, too, but otherwise, it's a good product.
Costs more to skim coat.
Predatory behaviour is rife in the NZ building supply industry.
Which is why NZ building materials are often cheaper in Oz.
Replacing with imported products is not good for our balance of trade, and we often see quality control issues.
There are other ways of addressing it.
A couple of poor sheets in a house load. Not really.
https://www.savewomenssport.com/opinion
great article by Candice Riley, a former elite athlete, debunking Shane Te Pou,s article about trans women in woman's sport
This is an excellent response – thanks for posting. When it appeared in the Herald it was behind a paywall
.
Cracking job, Poots.
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1545462827720269825
Listen carefully, young, single mothers. It's not because you are young, single mothers, it's because you are filthy and have no money.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/129201897/forced-to-raise-a-baby-in-motel-room-due-to-double-whammy-of-singlemum-judgment-and-racism
She clearly rules out the money side by saying that beneficiaries have guaranteed income.
And she doesn't say single mums are dirty, she points out that wear and tear is an issue from an investment pov. It's not hard to understand that households with children have more wear and tear (same with dogs).
The problem here is landlord culture in NZ is weighted towards seeing housing as stock rather than homes. Landlord associations should be giving support to landlords on how to manage wear and tear, that is is a normal part of tenancy, and how to account for that in their financial management.
Underlying that is the shortage of homes, although BUILD MOAR HOUSES isn't a solution in the short and medium term if those houses are largely part of the investment market, because rents will go up. Plus the issues of opening the borders and more people coming to live here. We need whole system design changes.
She rules out a lot, but not convincingly because the problem does exist despite her denials. It's too easy for landlord advocates to dismiss reality.
Ruling out the money side is disturbing on two counts. If discrimination is not because of benefit status, it must be about cleanliness/poor parenting…and race.
Also, the Canterbury Property Investors Association appears to have a policy which encourages benefit dependency (if you are not on a benefit it we won't rent to you) which runs counter to their members' cries there are too many dole bludgers.
Property Investors Associations insist on a light touch so excepting them to provide such support is wishful thinking, and whenever there are regulatory moves from government, the shrieks to leave us alone grow louder and louder.
Benefits are a really stable form of income in low income people. If you have a rental aimed at low income people, then many beneficiaries make good tenants.
this presumes bigotry is the reason for not renting. It could also or instead be wear and tear. As I pointed out.
But sure, some landlords are bigots.
where are you getting that from?
and that?
I dunno, perhaps it is the unmarried status which is the icky thing. Seems to be a real issue for conservatives.
Berryman states, "beneficiaries could guarantee consistent rent payments". I'm sure this is the advice she gives her members and so they might like to select a beneficiary over a working single mother.
This might discourage young, single mothers in North Canterbury from looking for work.
This runs counter to prevailing right wing thought (North Canterbury landlords) that there are too many people on a benefit and not enough working.
The issues for tenants in this country, highlighted by this piece, have been going on for decades. The root of it is the amateur landlord culture which has been encouraged and allowed to become normal, Mum & Dad investors feted as beneficial providers of accomodation and morals in equal measure.
The truth is, capital gain is the only motivation, the landlord part is inconvenient and annoying. Time to drag the residential tenancy sector into the 20th, then the 21st century by ensuring it is more secure and professionally run.
what I'm seeing there is a number of long bows being drawn and some random reckons about the rental crisis.
I’ve set out my argument. Take it or leave it.
"The truth is, capital gain is the only motivation, the landlord part is inconvenient and annoying. Time to drag the residential tenancy sector into the 20th, then the 21st century by ensuring it is more secure and professionally run."
What are property management companies if not professionals?
Not professional enough, in my opinion, by definition working solely for the benefit of the landlord and the maximising of their income.
There can be no dispute they are 'professional'….and some of the worst offenders. And unfortunately also inflationary, both by their fees and incentive….all ultimately carried by the renter.
There is no one solution, and professionalism is way down the list of causes imo.
What's a rental aimed at low income people?
Do landlords really seek out tenants who can least afford to pay rent in an era where there are minimum standards for such property?
Not professional or even the much derided amateur ones.
The only landlords deliberately renting to the higher risk groups are either the State or specific trusts (e.g. Monte Cecilia).
A rental with rent at a price that low income people can afford. Surely this was self evident in my comment.
I know families who have both parents working are also struggling to find rental accommodation.
It seems understandable (note I'n not saying right or commendable) that private landlords are going to look for the lowest risk option. They'll be looking for stable income (which, as pointed out, beneficiaries have), but also looking for low-risk of damage.
Solo-parents (making a crashing generalization here) as a group have two strikes against them in the eyes of landlords: They have young kids – higher risk of both damage and general wear and tear; they may have undesirable associations (previous partner, new partner/s)
The reality is that any damage is going to come out of the landlord's pocket (even if covered by insurance, it's going to mean higher premiums) – the tenants won't have any ability to pay, even if there's a tribunal order against them.
If it's harder for families with young children to get rentals (one strike against them), then it's even more difficult for solo-parents with young children to get a rental (two strikes against them)
In a tight rental market, most landlords don't have to take the risk.
That is certainly the explanation. But it doesn't touch on a solution.
The residential tenancy sector needs to be moved away from amateur landlords, ‘at risk’ as you call them towards a much more robust and regulated industry, bigger players, economies of scale, spread risk, etc.
The solution has always been for the government to take the risk of renting to the 'higher risk' sector.
I understand that the government are working as fast as possible to increase the supply of housing, both in the state sector, and (by freeing up building practices) in the private sector as well.
More housing (both state and private), means more options for tenants, and less ability for landlords to either hike rental prices, or exclude medium-risk tenants.
Risk still exists – and needs to be managed, even by larger landlords (the bigger players, as you call them). And, indeed, the larger landlords are the ones much less likely to take a punt on a solo-mum, than a mum-and-dad operator. No personal connection, work entirely by risk profiles.
I don't see how more regulation is going to improve this further. Amateur landlords will always exist – if you make it too hard for them, they'll simply switch to Air BnB – and take their properties out of the housing market altogether.
Fairly sure plenty of multiple house owners switched to Airbnb when it was a thing, and before changes to tenancy rules. They'll return to this when the tourists come back I am sure.
One difference between larger landlords and amateur landlords is that tenanted accomodation is their thing. It's not primarily a nest egg to provide for round the world cruises later in life and deposit loans for young Johnny.
And larger landlords are more likely to provide long term tenants security of tenure rather than, as you say, switching to Airbnb on a whim.
There always will be a certain number of houses that will be tenanted for relatively short periods – for all sorts of reasons For example a deceased property might take a family or trust some years to decide what to do with it, or a family working overseas might retain a home in NZ to return to, are two common reasons that come to mind. There will be many other circumstance that arise.
In all of these cases are you advocating that the house should remain empty rather than be tenanted without long term security of tenure?
A certain number, what number is that? The collection of data on the circumstances you describe has never been done well.
These circumstances you describe do not seem like a good reason to not have long term security of tenure for the increasing number of lifetime tenants.
OK so if a rental house can only be offered with lifetime security of tenure, does this mean the landlord can never sell it?
Or more interestingly – will tenants be willing to sign up for leases with unlimited terms? Or were you imagining the contract would be entirely one sided – such that the owner of the property would be locked in for a 'lifetime' term, but the tenant could walk away whenever they liked?
Incidentally I think you would find the that big corporate landlords that we could never sell their asset would be forced to generate all of their cash flow from rents. You might find them a great deal more hard nosed about the kind of return on investment their shareholders would demand – than the ordinary mum and dad 'amateur' landlords you so despise for wanting a bit of a nest egg.
They have young kids – higher risk of both damage and general wear and tear; they may have undesirable associations (previous partner, new partner/s)
Yup. The second biggest insurance claim we ever had was after an an ex smashed his way through a rather expensive set of double glazed French doors.
This is a sure sign they're not managing the property as a business properly. It shouldn't be out of the landlord's pocket, it should be something accounted for as an overhead/expense.
Repair and maintenance costs of a rental property are tax deductible, but this doesn’t cover the full cost, obviously, it only partially off-sets that.
repair and maintenance costs are an overhead that should be covered by the rent as well (or capital gains I guess).
I guess they’re generally considered one-off costs, repairs, that is.
repainting inside and carpets are periodic and expected. But unexpected costs still need contingency budgeting.
I’m not aware of contingency budgets being a formal part of the business set-up of rental property. It comes down to the owner’s pocket/wallet. The best ‘contingency plan’ is to avoid negative gearing and to create a wide(r) margin between profit & loss. Insurance is wise (a must) but doesn’t cover everything.
what do you mean the owner's wallet? Do you mean the rental is being run through their personal bank account?
When there’s a sudden major cost to a rental property the owner will have to finance this, either from their own pocket or through a(nother) bank loan against the property. If the mortgage against the property is already maxed out then this will severely restrict refinancing.
Costs:
mortgage
rates
insurance
property maintenance/agent fees
maintenance (house/yard)
repairs
etc
unexpected repairs
Why would those all be factored in but not the last one? If it’s not taken into account isn’t there a risk of the landlord not being able to afford the repair?
Ordinary wear-and-tear maintenance, yes (e.g. budget for carpet replacement every 10-15 years). Heavy soiling and/or deliberate destruction, no.
But even with usual wear-and-tear, some tenants are harder on a property than others. It makes commercial sense for the landlord to pick the ones s/he feels are going to cost less.
yes, that's what I said, landlords may be avoiding solo parents, because kids cause more wear and tear (and perhaps solo parent families are perceived as causing more than double parents families, but I'd find that weird).
However, it's not out of the landlord's pocket if they are running a business well. Wear and tear is expected, and should be budgeted for. One offs/unexpected damage are what a contingency fund is for.
From a business perspective, if you have to use your contingency funds (e.g. carpet needs to be replaced because of heavy soiling or insect damage – e.g. cockroach infestation) – then you have to build this fund up again. That money is coming from what would otherwise be profit on the investment – i.e. the landlord's pocket.
Landlords, very naturally, want to minimize both the one-off damage (hitting the contingency funds) and the wear and tear (if it takes 15 years instead of the budgeted 10 for the carpet to need replacing, then the landlord has greater profit for 5 of those years).
Young families are harder on the fittings – so, if the landlord has a choice, they they're motivated *not* to choose a family.
As I said above – for the solo-parent families – it's not the 'family' that's the added risk, it's the 'solo'.
Landlords are very rightly worried (from a business perspective) about ex and/or future partners and the baggage of violence or criminal activity they may bring. Especially as they are not allowed to ask about ex-partners (privacy) during the interview/application stage. [An ex-partner who died of cancer after a blameless life, is a very different risk to one who's in jail for violent spouse abuse and gets out in 6 months].
That's not to say that solo-parents with violent ex-partners don't deserve housing – but the added risk makes the State (or other housing charities) the appropriate landlord.
Most likely she is being economical with the truth – because of laws about discrimination.
Many beneficiaries can only afford the private market rent if they have part-time work (the others are in motels) – and they cannot do this work if they or their children are sick. A lot of the part-time work does not cover days off sick.
The new UK education minister sets the tone.
https://twitter.com/clewlow_alex/status/1545151488548290560
Rishi Sunak wants to be PM so he can rebuild the economy he was in charge of up until a few days ago …
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/former-uk-finance-minister-rishi-sunak-declares-bid-to-replace-boris-johnson/8uigy5u00
Johnny Ramone must have known something when he piddled in Johnny Rotten’s beer.
Former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon is surprisingly backing Tory toff Jacob Rees-Mogg to be the new Prime Minister following Boris Johnson’s resignation.
The 66-year-old punk – also known as Johnny Rotten – may have once wished for Anarchy in the UK and claimed Queen Elizabeth was presiding over a “fascist regime” but he is backing super posh Mogg, the MP for North East Somerset, to be Britain’s next political leader.
John likes Mogg, 53, because he has a “World War II put Britain first” mentality which he thinks could only be good for the nation.
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/showbiz/sex-pistols-icon-johnny-rotten-27435937
yea…well JOHNNY Ramone always was a right wing asshole….so maybe he could see….
If Joey had pissed in his beer would have been better
One can see how the multiple property owning caucus is hurting now that the market has lost a third of the 33% pandemic gain (loose monetary policy).
There is an on message campaign by its media team to claim more immigration is required.
Janet Wilson (Stuff) claims the nursing shortage is one of the governments own making (it requires migrant nurses to wait two years before claiming residency) – ignoring the fact we have had a shortage for decades caused by DHB's not being able to afford the cost of fully staff wards and local training involving tertiary debt (only half qualify the population qualify for student allowances etc).
The poor working conditions model driving Kiwis offshore fixed by immigration is what got us into this mess. They should stop digging.
I should add, Oz Canada and the USA are also suffering their worst nursing shortages ever. So portraying migrant nurses as a solution for what is a global problem (aging western population and a pandemic virus undermining of the populations health) is bordering on the nonsensical.
There needs to be student allowances to those training as nurses (only half the population qualify) and no need to repay training debt.
Nurses have versatile jobs, but how many (have to) do (a lot of) stuff for which they have not studied & trained at all? How many do a core nursing job without other duties & responsibilities that are distracting and a waste of their skills? Sometimes they’re perceived as magical social workers that can and must fix everything & all and these sorts of expectations are misleading and frustrating.
Looking at the re-infection rates with Covid in NZ.
Not very high, as yet – but we've only had it actively circulating for less than 6 months.
That's particularly concerning, as it looks as though even catching Covid doesn't give anything like even medium-term protection – and we know that vaccination is much the same.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-reinfections-14000-people-have-had-virus-twice-183-people-three-times/VLCWZSNFA2MPT2MS2NWUOMWL3Q/?c_id=1&objectid=12536749&ref=rss
Although it would be helpful to have a statistical analysis of the re-infections (is it predominantly groups with high levels of contact? or groups with high levels of risk? or just random members of the population!) If it's the last, it's most worrying at the societal level (e.g. you can take precautions for high levels of exposure or risk)
Recommending a 4th booster seems to be a fairly ineffective strategy (better than nothing, if you're highly vulnerable, I suppose).
The boosters are all against the original strain (not even Delta, let alone Omicron and the new variants – which have evolved a long way) – it's dubious that they'll give much (if any) new levels of protection.
And, of course, you can't even take the booster until 3 months after a Covid infection – by which time, you may well have become infected again.
I really, really want some good quality studies on long Covid (or lingering symptoms) – surely they should have some strong indications of the real numbers, rather than just projections, by now.
I especially want to know the relative risk of Long Covid from the original variants, compared to the most recent (circulating now) ones. I get the impression that it's higher – but impressions aren't data!
Unreviewed pre-print reckons it could be the presence of the spike protein long after initial infection.
Strikingly, we detect SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen in a majority of [long COVID] patients up to 12 months post-diagnosis, suggesting the presence of an active persistent SARSCoV-2 viral reservoir.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.14.22276401v1.full.pdf
Around 14 000 reported re-infections, over 1.4 million plus reported infections, 1%, , is hardly a "High rate of re-infection".
Which shows that immunity against re-infection after infection and/or vaccination, is working for the majority, so far anyway.
We can consider the proportions of re-infections would remain a similar order of magnitude, amongst those who don't report positive results.
14000 re-infections.
Shock horror! "immunity isn't working".
In fact numbers like this show the opposite.
Considering that much more than 1% of the population have immune systems that are compromised in some way, numbers like this show that vaccination and/ or immunity acquired from infection, is currently working, to keep re-infection and infection rates down
It's working is it? Thank goodness our health care system isn't currently under unprecedented stress and that covid infection rates and flu rates are some of the lowest in the world! Yeah right..
Do you live in a binary world?
What planet are you on.
BTW. Our health system was under stress long before covid.
Adding lots of people without adding corresponding health funding tends to do that.
Meanwhile we have ample examples around the world, of what would have happened here without lockdowns and high vaccination rates.
"It doesn’t matter how you voted or your current political persuasion, the PM has made bold strides on the International stage that are good for NZ. If you are still hating on her despite her success, you may be a tribal right wing Troll who probably needs to get out a bit more."
Bomber
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2022/07/09/jacindas-aotearoa-new-zealand-vs-john-keys-smug-hermit-kingdom/
I believe there are Lefties who’d also consider Ardern’s overseas ‘junkets’ as avoiding putting her own house in order first, as if it is some kinda zero-sum game and this Government is some kinda one-woman show (on the road). Particularly when Labour is slipping in the polls and they’re getting anxious about 2023. Maybe some of these are tribal left wing Trolls who probably need to get out a bit more often too and mix & mingle with the other tribal trolls out there, a meeting of tribes, if you like.
probably, but there's a whole political dynamic going on that's from the right and specific to being anti-Ardern.
As you know, I’m not a fan at all of binary thinking. Not for one minute would I argue that the dynamics are the same across the
boardspectrum. It has very little to do with tribalism and describing it in such stereotypical terms, as Bradbury does, is quite telling. Unfortunately, I think, it that the unhelpful ‘comments’ coming from both sides could and probably will lead to the same outcome. As long as our story-telling stays one-dimensional, and thus our thinking and actions flowing from these, nothing much will change. I’d not label that as progressive politics …fair enough. Tbh, I didn't read the piece, because, you know.
I was also pointing to the left and right having different dynamics, not just polar opposite ones of different degrees.
Got you!
Didn’t read the piece either![laugh laugh](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png?x42494)
I don't imagine a lot of the anti-vaxxers, anti-ID pols, mental health advocates, art people concerned about the lack of policy etc etc would necessarily consider themselves right wing at all. That would be a convenient fiction. There are a lot of lefties who have turned against Labour because their own individual ideological Rubicons have been crossed.
You’re right, of course, but ideology is way too big a concept for the often relatively small personal gripes & grudges that people hold, usually against something or somebody. In my book, ideology should stand for something.
Indeed – there is a modicum of "What does (name) stand for?
…. well then I am against it!"
Interesting piece by Tim Hayward who's professor of environmental political theory at university of Edinburgh .talks about BBC' s participation in a smear campaign against him and other academics , mentions alleged misinformation by elements of OPCW under Washingtons instruction ,considers basic understandings of what is meant by democracy and what is state propaganda , even Paul Mason gets a mention if that rings anyones bells ?!
https://propagandainfocus.com/whose-disinformation-is-it-anyway-bbc-vs-critical-academics/
Pablo commented under his own very good piece Countering coercive politics (https://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/07/countering-coercive-politics/):
Nats tend to show up how shallow they are ideologically by not grudgingly conceding that she has achieved a lot of the things in this tour that they wanted.
The assassination of Shinzo Abe has attracted condolences from many, including our own PM. But there is another side to the former Japanese PM, whose signals were not dissimilar to neo-nazi or KKK material in support of Japanese actions in WWII.
The use of the number 731 is, in the context of Asia, as plain as neo-nazi’s use of 88.
A Korean paper explains: Abe’s pose resurrects horrors of Unit 731 (joins.com)
Chinese netizens are celebrating his passing – there is more to this story than the braindead morons on TVOne are likely to tell NZ.
More on Abe's revisionism and denial of Japanese war crimes.
https://apjjf.org/2013/11/1/Narusawa-Muneo/3879/article.html
Thanks – a better link than mine.
Damn sad how little commentary there is on the interwebs about Abe and his party's efforts to rehabilitate Japan's brutal martial past.
heh
Sri Lanka bankrupt.
https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1545473240637792259
Rioting starts in Colombo,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62104268
Nope…not an insurrection…
/
https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1545540246607118336