My pick is that no-one will correct the systemic failures that give rise to a country with 90% renewable energy having to subsidise its citizens’ power bills.
And that’s not just the latest crowd, that’s your beloved lefty parties too.
All the power for three years, but not an ounce of courage amongst them.
That is the beauteous thing about sell offs of state owned organisations to make them privately owned "for profit" companies, which have as their primary aim to make profits for shareholders. Make it a small group of companies and there should be competition between them – "Right" Chess Player? Well actually they of course act independently, but since that watching isn't too hard, nobody needs to work too hard to keep the price escalator moving up step by step with different companies leading or trailing from time to time. But they are even better than that – the prices are now so bound up with sign up bonuses and loyalty bonusses and free hours and other complications that many can no longer determine who is cheapest this month . . .
So what can be done – well of course they should be bought back – we have all that money raised from the sales, shouldn't that be available? Well actually no; it disappeared very quickly into other government priorities of the day. With recent other priorities of dealing with Covid and just a few extreme weather events, what do you think should have been done by the last government, Chess Player? Or what do you think should be now done by the current government?
But to give just a little suggestion, it should be possible to require providers to accept power fed back to the system to be received at the average price of electricity charged to that customer on that day, or perhaps an average for the billing period. Perhaps that may make a marginal difference to get a few more people to invest in generation through their own resources (wind, solar or water).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that a “gap” remains between Israel’s stated intent of protecting civilians in the Gaza Strip and what has unfolded over the past week as fighting has resumed.
At a news conference alongside Britain’s foreign minister, former prime minister David Cameron, Blinken was asked whether the Israelis have “disregarded” what he requested last week when he announced that they had agreed to the Biden administration’s “imperative” to mitigate civilian casualties after restarting the offensive in Gaza. In response, Blinken listed what the administration considers several positive developments.
For instance, he said the Israelis now are evacuating neighborhoods instead of entire cities. He also highlighted Israel’s creation of “deconfliction areas” where people can “be safe” from surrounding violence and said its military operation is being conducted in a “more narrowly focused area.”
“Having said that,” Blinken added, “as we stand here almost a week into this campaign in the south after the humanitarian pause ended, it is imperative — it remains imperative — that Israel put a premium on civilian protection. And there does remain a gap between exactly what I said when I was there — the intent to protect civilians — and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground.”
Israeli forces should focus on “a number of things,” Blinken said. The administration wants them to tell civilians where to go and when so they can be safe. Israel should also make “very clear” when it’s safe to move, he said. Israeli leaders must ensure that these “daily pauses” apply to a broad area, not just a single neighborhood, so people “have confidence to know that they can move out of harm’s way.”
They should also pledge to “fully” supply the safe zones with food, medicine and water, Blinken said.
I would have thought the recent American statement an expression of concern about past civilian deaths and expectations about IDF procedures. Which includes improved guarantees of safe passage from areas under attack.
In the instance in the above report – there was a time for leaving the hospital, but no ambulances arrived because the only body supplying them said it was not safe.
And the addition of US expectation of full supply to the safe zones (given another truce including aid hostages swaps is not likely in the short term) is because of both lack of amount being processed through the border (and the claims of lack of safety for UN workers moving it – some deaths in the recent past).
Why the UN is not talking about shipping in aid to the safe zone by the coast is beyond me.
The ability to spew death of Gaza are based on a simple premise, the USA Empire is providing arms and more importantly, cover – in the way of forward naval projection.
So sure distract with nice words if you want.
But the bottom line is the IDF lied, they have been caught out, once again, and all we get is misdirection and obfuscation. While Palestinian Jews, Christians and Muslims die in droves.
In theory demand for oil should begin to fall as EV's take over.
However, EV's are predicted to be less than 30% of the stock of light vehicles in use in the world in 2035. This is way too slow. There need to be much stronger incentives and regulations forcing the switch to EV's.
Luxon took the government's EV discount for himself (his Tesla) and then dumped it. He has ended the ban on offshore oil and gas prospecting and production. He has committed to building 13 massive roading projects but has dumped light rail and is scaling back bike trails….and so on.
We already have a Green Party with considerable economic nous-take a look at their clever Wealth Tax proposal in their manifesto under "Ending Poverty".
Well, the Greens and National worked together on the home insulation improvements, so collaboration is definitely possible.
Collaboration on specific policies is a far better way to achieve improvements than having to wait until Labour gets its occasional turn in government.
But I do realise that most on this blog are too highly principled to be pragmatic.
Imagine if we had a large right-wing party that said it "cared deeply" about getting GHG emissions down, but clearly intended to do nothing effective about it – and on top of that pretended that the reason it wasn't going to do anything about it was because it had economic 'nous' and 'knew' that only market-led solutions were acceptable?
And if imagine if that economically-illiterate, large right-wing party insisted that a well established environment party, which really did have economic 'nous' and a record of commitment, support them in whatever f*ckwittery the large party wanted to do?
Imagine if wishes were horses. It's at least a reasonable expectation of Labour, given the Greens tend to be their natural coalition party, although the environment seems to becoming increasingly less important to the Green back benchers.
I don't know what you're smoking, but I hope you brought enough for everyone. I don't care how big you try to make the centre – National is on the right of it.
Na my principles don't matter, national don't give a fuck about the environment, remember wadable rivers are good enough for them , they've started oil and Gas exploration again , ypu either a dreamer or a shit stirrer,
$16B to provide for dry years and protect us from the market – I guess National plans to finance their future tax cut plans out of the profits in the power companies (rising charges to the public for powering up their cars).
Little wonder they seek to maintain the car addiction.
The alternative is power companies have surplus carrying capacity to cover dry years. Expensive and thus higher costs every year.
The battery storage development would be more likely to cover variability in wind generation, or seasonal cold, as it is not on this scale.
The government owns 49% of most power companies. FACT.
So far it earns more from 49% ownership than from 100% in the past. Thus offload of a nice earner to those looking to diversify their investment portfolio – the profiteering off historic government assets to a minority of the people.
There is a growth in power demand coming from EV's. FACT
An investment in dry year management is advantageous for consumers, including business. And hydro stuff lasts decades.
It would also allow more flexibility on the power currently going to the smelter.
It is much sounder strategically.
But then NZ Inc, is not how National think.
No need to be in the dark. This information is freely available by using google – Onslow dam.
Where will we put the next dam, once the current and planned ones feed the growth economy and we need more?
South Island people aren't keen on damming more rivers, which is why the two attempts on the Clutha and one on the Waitaki in recent decades have failed.
People like Onslow because its in the back of beyond and most people don't understand what is there and think it's just a nothing space, Terra Nullius.
it's moving us to a steady state or degrowth economy
It would only be there as a reserve for dry years (when hydro dams are not providing the usual power generation). It would not add to normal year capacity.
Really? Is the government planning to tell people they can’t have more power?
Obviously there is a relationship between demand and low hydro lake levels and the need for more power.
Steady state in this context means we build the storage and we reduce demand for power. Not build the storage and pretend we don’t live in an economy that is increasing demand.
Surely not the same power companies of which large stakes were flogged off by John Key and his merry band? I wonder who the current shareholders are and how they voted in GE-2023.
You asserted that these investors can be found in the respective Annual Reports, which is misleading, at best, so you may want to correct your faux pas and apologise. And while you’re at it, you may want to include information on how the(se) shareholders voted in the latest General Election.
I suggest it’s you who need to apologise. But you won’t. Shareholder disclosures for the electricity companies are required and have been for decades under the Companies Act 1993. It’s also a requirement under the NZX listing rules.
You want to know how the voted at the last election? The largest shareholder is the government. Ask the Labour minister then responsible how the voted.
If you call talking if fact rather than ignorance trolling , I plead guilty your high reverence.
[Where is your link to a list of individual shareholders?
Despite several clear warnings, incl. a Mod note on 19 Oct, you continue trolling and showing blatant disrespect for others on this site. Since you’re pleading guilty, don’t act surprised when I hand down your sentence – Incognito]
See my comment at 7:33 pm. A list from any of those companies will do if you wish to keep your commenting privileges here at all. You claimed it’s easy to find because of legal disclosure requirements and all that. I’d suggest that you won’t be providing anything, because you can’t – you’re talking out of your arse aka you’re trolling. You may want to refresh your obviously short memory and go back to my rhetorical question (for your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-12-2023/#comment-1980275).
Bradford's reforms were a bloody stupid idea back in 1998 and all the evidence was against it. But National ploughed ahead anyway with their ideological fantasies, and the Kiwi consumer got shafted. SOP for the Gnats.
Asset sales cost hits $1 billion [24 Feb 2016]
“Every year since National’s asset sales, New Zealanders are losing out on millions of dollars that are going to private investors instead,” Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes said.
“With the cost of asset sales tipping over a billion dollars, it’ll only be a few more years before the total cost is more than the asset sales raised – after that, there will be an ongoing net loss to New Zealand.
we can't triple our energy production, and there's not much point given the limits of growth and nature. We live on a finite planet, best we get used to it now while we still have some choices.
Fortunately we have alternatives. Public transpower, relocalising economies, creating urban villaged, relocalising food and many other things.
We don't need to use the amount of energy we do, we are just habituated to it.
“A historic Waitangi Tribunal report expected to call for the return of all Crown-owned land across much of Northland will be handed over to the country's largest iwi this morning.
The almost 2000-page stage 2 report of Te Paparahi o Te Raki, also known as the Northland Inquiry, details land loss, military conflict and Treaty breaches suffered by Ngāpuhi between 1840 and 1900.”
This is an interesting statement about the Labour Party, from its own leader. That it will not be driven to the left by the election defeat in 2023.
The Labour Party will not be driven to the left by October's election loss, leader Chris Hipkins says.
Hipkins said the election result came about because of the mood that "people were looking for a change" and it "wasn't necessarily a policy-driven vibe".
"I think it was a reflection of the fact New Zealanders have had a tough time with COVID and cost of living and a whole lot of other things and were just looking for something different."
The other things that are not to be named are Labour being seen as pro Maori and the Kiwi not iwi 2005 reprise this time came to bite.
But that is because the "left wing" impulse is to confront inequality and injustice and seek to do better. However the three headed hydra managed to create a climate of fear and insecurity around "Maori privilege" and this added to a post COVID cloud exacerbated by rising costs.
I suspect what he has overlooked, both before and now after the election, is the necessity to provide hope.
Agreeing with the Greens 3% rent increase cap and placing 5% windfall profits tax on major banks to finance an increase to IETC would have given more working class people confidence they would get by.
It might have made for a close contest. Probably still a losing one given the NZF role as conduit for majoritarian conservatives.
In that sense there is a positive in not losing because of the captains call on the modest wealth tax proposal (as per DP and GR). Only losing left wing votes to Greens and TPM.
But the future of Labour is in stating the obvious, 35 of 36 OECD nations have either a CGT or estate tax or both. That is not left wing, that is the mainstream of the first world.
A modest wealth tax is a CGT and estate tax in one – where it only applies in the top 10% level of wealth in the society.
The other things that are not to be named are Labour being seen as pro Maori and the Kiwi not iwi 2005 reprise this time came to bite.
I suspect Labour is well aware of those other 'unnamed' causes but have chosen to say nothing about them.
What Hipkins did say about two weeks ago is that everything is back on the table. I think we can safely assume that a "modest" CGT type tax is going to be back on the table – iirc ten years after it was first mooted under the Cunliffe leadership.
So Cunliffe just might end up having the last laugh.
Another bad captains call. Kiwis wanted change, Chippy stopped it. Kiwis were tired of identity politics and the cabal of ideologues (in the vein of Dr Elizabeth Kerekere) that appeared to be running things to the detriment (and alienation) of the working class. So what does he do? Nothing. A failure to identify the actual problems, again.
Hipkins keeps pumping the brakes. We need a few basic reforms to make Aotearoa a "kinder" place again, instead of its current sorry state as a playground for the 1% and screw the rest.
One tax that had potential to make a real difference was Robbo's "Closing the loophole" tax on negatively geared property investments. That was one of the first things on the Nats' chopping block.
What to do when the lower rate of nicotine results in less use and lower tax revenues?
Germany to grow local: Germany’s centre-Green coalition government has also agreed on several changes to their cannabis legislation. The proposals are now expected to be enacted in two parts: legalisation of adult use and home growing from March or April 2024, and the licensing of cultivation associations in July.
USA
Martha Stewart “I was an early adopter of CBD and have become an advocate because I’ve experienced first-hand the benefits of adding it to my health and wellness routine”
Where cannabis has been made legal, the biggest growth in use has been with seniors. Some have rediscovered cannabis they long ago stopped using, while others have been turned on to the wellness benefits of CBD and THC. Latest figures show more than ten percent of older Americans have used cannabis in the past year.
A legalisation or full on decriminalisation would generate revenue
cannabis legalisation would generate $1 billion in tax revenue and 3000 legit jobs.
In addition to the existing medicinal marijuana regime, legal possession (up to maximum amounts) and licensed growing of low THC product product for personal use and commercial supply.
The best cup of "tea" I've ever had was a THC infused honey and herbal mixture – was buzzing for a few days and actually felt good about myself for once.
5 councillors claim the finding that they were in breach of their code of practice was only because the Mayor and Council hired a partisan lawyer/shark.
The review's findings were councillors Calvert, Young, Chung and Pannett breached the code by failing to observe confidentiality when they responded to media inquiries.
Randle and Young breached the code by failing to show respect to other councillors when they made comments casting aspersions on the actions and motivations of fellow councillors who could not speak out in reply.
Chung, Calvert and Young breached the code by criticising council staff in public statements.
As surprising number of these (but not any of the others) made comments about the Mayor's drinking and suggested she resign.
The Epsom seat deal where ACT got a free pass from National for years. I started thinking, what benefit have the voters of that electorate got from the deal having Seymour as their MP over Paul Goldsmith. Goldsmith being told he cannot campaign for the seat but instead he has to sit back and pretend he is fine with Seymour taking what would naturally be his seat. Must privately be quite humiliating for him to watch Seymour suck John Key even if he publicly says he is ok with it. That aside though, the benefits to Epsom voters. Someone feel free to add if I have overlooked anything.
Charter schools – which made little if any difference to education but added costs to the education system
3 strikes law – which made little if any difference to crime rates but added extra costs
A euthanasia law – which might be beneficial for people who want to do so, but very very very very very very minute in comparison to big issues the country is facing.
plus the tens of thousands of dollars payable to Seymour as ACT leader, and often only MP, and his party leaders budget over paying Goldsmith as an MP.
Seems like Epsom got a pretty crap deal and frankly it has cost NZ millions more dollars than it could have. A case it seems, with ACT wanting to cut government costs, of doing what I say not what I do.
Olivia and Noah and Hana are going to the library!It is fun to go to the library. It has books and songs and mat time and people who smile at you and say, Hello Olivia, what have you been doing this morning?The library is more fun than the mall. At ...
New World Orders: The challenge facing Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins is how to keep their small and vulnerable nation safe and stable in a world whose economic and political climate the forty-seventh American president is changing so profoundly.IT IS, SURELY, the ultimate Millennial revenge fantasy. Calling senior Baby-Boomer and Gen-X ...
“This might surprise you, Laurie, but I reckon Trump’s putting on a bloody impressive performance.”“GOODNESS ME, HANNAH, just look at all those Valentine’s Day cards!”“Occupational hazard, Laurie, the more beer I serve, the more my customers declare their undying love!”“Crikey! I had no idea business was so good.” Laurie squinted ...
In 2005, Labour repealed the long-standing principle of birthright citizenship in Aotearoa. Why? As with everything else Labour does, it all came down to austerity: "foreign mothers" were supposedly "coming to this country to give birth", and this was "put[ting] pressure on hospitals". Then-Immigration Minister George Hawkins explicitly gave this ...
And I just hope that you can forgive usBut everything must goAnd if you need an explanation, nationThen everything must goSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Today, I’d like to talk about a couple of things that happened over the weekend:Brian Tamaki’s Library Invasion and ...
New reporting highlights how Brooke van Velden refuses to meet with the CTU but is happy to meet with fringe Australian-based unions. Van Velden is pursuing reckless changes to undermine the personal grievance system against the advice of her own officials. Engineering New Zealand are saying that hundreds of engineers ...
The NZCTU strongly supports the Employment Relations (Employee Remuneration Disclosure) Amendment Bill. This Bill represents a positive step towards addressing serious issues around unlawful disparities in pay by protecting workers’ rights to discuss their pay and conditions. This Bill also provides welcome support for helping tackle the prevalent gender and ...
Years of hard work finally paid off last week as the country’s biggest and most important transport project, the City Rail Link reached a major milestone with the first test train making its way slowly though the tunnels for the first time. This is a fantastic achievement and it is ...
Engineers are pleading for the Government to free up funds to restart stalled projects. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, February 17 are:Engineering New Zealand CEO Richard Templer said yesterday hundreds of ...
It’s one of New Zealand’s great sustaining myths: the spirit of ANZAC, our mates across the ditch, the spirit of Earl’s Court, Antipodeans united against the world. It is also a myth; it is not reality. That much was clear from a series of speakers, including a former Australian Prime ...
Many people have been unsatisfied for years that things have not improved for them, some as individuals, many more however because their families are clearly putting in more work, for less money – and certainly far less purchase on society. This general discontent has grown exponentially since the GFC. ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 9, 2025 thru Sat, February 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report shows worsening food poverty and housing shortages mean more than 400,000 people now need welfare support, the highest level since the 1990s. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and ...
You're just too too obscure for meOh you don't really get through to meAnd there's no need for you to talk that wayIs there any less pessimistic things to say?Songwriters: Graeme DownesToday, I thought we’d take a look at some of the most cringe-inducing moments from last week, but don’t ...
Please note: I’ve delayed my “What can we do?” article for this video.The video above shows Destiny Church members assaulting staff and librarians as they pushed through to a room of terrified parents and young children.It was posted to social media last night.But if you read Sinead Boucher’s Stuff, you ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is sea level rise exaggerated? Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, not stagnating or decreasing. Warming global temperatures cause land ice ...
Here is a scenario, but first a historical parallel. Hitler and the Nazis could well have accomplished everything that they wanted to do within German borders, including exterminating Jews, so long as they confined their ambitious to Germany itself. After all, the world pretty much sat and watched as the ...
I’ve spent the last couple of days in Hamilton covering Waikato University’s annual NZ Economics Forum, where (arguably) three of the most influential people in our political economy right now laid out their thinking in major speeches about the size and role of Government, their views on for spending, tax ...
Simeon Brown’s Ideology BentSimeon Brown once told Kiwis he tries to represent his deep sense of faith by interacting “with integrity”.“It’s important that there’s Christians in Parliament…and from my perspective, it’s great to be a Christian in Parliament and to bring that perspective to [laws, conversations and policies].”And with ...
Severe geological and financial earthquakes are inevitable. We just don’t know how soon and how they will play out. Are we putting the right effort into preparing for them?Every decade or so the international economy has a major financial crisis. We cannot predict exactly when or exactly how it will ...
Questions1. How did Old Mate Grabaseat describe his soon-to-be-Deputy-PM’s letter to police advocating for Philip Polkinghorne?a.Ill-advisedb.A perfect letterc.A letter that will live in infamyd.He had me at hello2. What did Seymour say in response?a.What’s ill-advised is commenting when you don’t know all the facts and ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff has called on OJI Fibre Solutions to work with the government, unions, and the community before closing the Kinleith Paper Mill. “OJI has today announced 230 job losses in what will be a devastating blow for the community. OJI needs to work with ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff is sounding the alarm about the latest attack on workers from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden, who is ignoring her own officials to pursue reckless changes that would completely undermine the personal grievance system. “Brooke van Velden’s changes will ...
Hi,When I started writing Webworm in 2020, I wrote a lot about the conspiracy theories that were suddenly invading our Twitter timelines and Facebook feeds. Four years ago a reader, John, left this feedback under one of my essays:It’s a never ending labyrinth of lunacy which, as you have pointed ...
And if you said this life ain't good enoughI would give my world to lift you upI could change my life to better suit your moodBecause you're so smoothAnd it's just like the ocean under the moonOh, it's the same as the emotion that I get from youYou got the ...
Aotearoa remains the minority’s birthright, New Zealand the majority’s possession. WAITANGI DAY commentary see-saws manically between the warmly positive and the coldly negative. Many New Zealanders consider this a good thing. They point to the unexamined patriotism of July Fourth and Bastille Day celebrations, and applaud the fact that the ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: and on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump’s administration over Gaza and Ukraine; on the ...
Up until now, the prevailing coalition view of public servants was that there were simply too many of them. But yesterday the new Public Service Commissioner, handpicked by the Luxon Government, said it was not so much numbers but what they did and the value they produced that mattered. Sir ...
In a moment we explore the question: What is Andrew Bayly wanting to tell ACC, and will it involve enjoying a small wine tasting and then telling someone to fuck off? But first, for context, a broader one: What do we look for in a government?Imagine for a moment, you ...
As expected, Donald Trump just threw Ukraine under the bus, demanding that it accept Russia's illegal theft of land, while ruling out any future membership of NATO. Its a colossal betrayal, which effectively legitimises Russia's invasion, while laying the groundwork for the next one. But Trump is apparently fine with ...
A ballot for a single member's bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Employment Relations (Collective Agreements in Triangular Relationships) Amendment Bill (Adrian Rurawhe) The bill would extend union rights to employees in triangular relationships, where they are (nominally) employed by one party, but ...
This is a guest post by George Weeks, reviewing a book called ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin AshtonBook review: ‘How to Fly a Horse’ by Kevin Ashton (2015) – and what it means for Auckland. The title of this article might unnerve any Greater Auckland ...
This story was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Within just a week, the sheer devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires has pushed to the fore fundamental questions about the impact of the climate crisis that have been ...
In this world, it's just usYou know it's not the same as it wasSongwriters: Harry Edward Styles / Thomas Edward Percy Hull / Tyler Sam JohnsonYesterday, I received a lovely message from Caty, a reader of Nick’s Kōrero, that got me thinking. So I thought I’d share it with you, ...
In past times a person was considered “unserious” or “not a serious” person if they failed to grasp, behave and speak according to the solemnity of the context in which they were located. For example a serious person does not audibly pass gas at Church, or yell “gun” at a ...
Long stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Thursday, February 13 are:The coalition Government’s early 2024 ‘fiscal emergency’ freeze on funding, planning and building houses, schools, local roads and hospitals helped extend and deepen the economic and jobs recession through calendar ...
For obvious reasons, people feel uneasy when the right to be a citizen is sold off to wealthy foreigners. Even selling the right to residency seems a bit dubious, when so many migrants who are not millionaires get turned away or are made to jump through innumerable hoops – simply ...
A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
The Government’s newly announced funding for biodiversity and tourism of $30-million over three years is a small fraction of what is required for conservation in this country. ...
The Government's sudden cancellation of the tertiary education funding increase is a reckless move that risks widespread job losses and service reductions across New Zealand's universities. ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sonia R. Grover, Clinical Professor of Gynaecology, The University of Melbourne Polina Zimmerman/Pexels Menstruation, or a period, is the bleeding that occurs about monthly in healthy people born with a uterus, from puberty to menopause. This happens when the endometrium, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ella Barclay, Senior Lecturer, School of Art and Design, Australian National University Despite the perceived outrage at Khaled Sabsabi’s depiction of Hassan Nasrallah in his 2007 work You, Australian art has long made subjects of outlaws and questionable figures. And it is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Louise Pryke, Honorary Research Associate, Department of Classics and Ancient History, University of Sydney Lisa Tomasetti/Opera Australia “It’s an old song”, Hermes (Christine Anu) sings at the opening of Hadestown, but “we’re gonna sing it again and again”. Based on a ...
An additional $13 million will be invested in tourism infrastructure, including upgrading huts and resolving the backlog in Milford Sound concessions. ...
The reality is that we have no obligation to tolerate the intolerant. They are using violence to shut down and silence others. The result of tolerating intolerant views is the loss of everyone’s freedom of speech except for the one who most effectively ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Davis, Associate Professor in Conservation, Edith Cowan University Adwo/Shutterstock Humans have been poisoning rodents for centuries. But fast-breeding rats and mice have evolved resistance to earlier poisons. In response, manufacturers have produced second generation anticoagulant rodenticides such as bromadiolone, widely ...
Alex Casey unearths Simon Court’s full sales pitch for how menstrual cups could end poverty. On Friday last week, Act MP Simon Court was accused of “mansplaining” during a parliamentary committee hearing about benefit sanctions. After submitter Rachel Dibble shared her concerns about period poverty and the impact that sanctions ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato It’s an unfortunate fact that bad people sometimes want guns. And while laws are designed to prevent guns falling into the wrong hands, the determined criminal can be highly resourceful. There are three main ...
Asia Pacific Report Two independent Jewish Voices groups in Aotearoa New Zealand have written an open letter to the government condemning the Zionist “colonisation” project leading to genocide and criticising the role of the NZ Jewish Council for its “unelected” and “uncritical support” for Israel. The groups, Alternative Jewish Voices ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Newspoll, conducted February 10–14 from a sample of 1,244, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead, unchanged from the previous Newspoll, ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you enjoy whip-smart satire: The White Lotus (Neon, February 17) HBO’s award-winning The White Lotus is back for what critics are calling “an absolutely exquisite third ...
NZPF called for a slowdown of the curriculum change, asking for one subject at a time, so that teachers and principals could be fully trained and feel confident and competent to implement the changes, New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) President ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By T.J. Thomson, Senior Lecturer in Visual Communication & Digital Media, RMIT University Indonesia’s TVOne launched an AI news presenter in 2023.T.J. Thomson Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken off at lightning speed in the past couple of years, creating disruption in ...
Many of the young vapers interviewed by a team of public health researchers said they felt unable to resist the pro-vaping environment that surrounded them. New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree ...
Analysis: While most Wellingtonians enjoyed a rare but unbeatable sunny day on Saturday, some New Zealand diplomats will have been briefly shocked by a screenshot making the rounds on social media showing US President Donald Trump calling us a “third world country”.The image, it appears, was a fake – certainly a ...
ActionStation Director, Kassie Hartendorp says that the Treaty Principles Bill has galvanised the biggest movement in support of Te Tiriti in modern history. ...
While it is in the interests of Wellington ratepayers to sell off this subsidy for the rich, it is unfortunate that it has come to this point. The council should have never spent a penny on this programme, and the $3.4 million spent is a flagrant abuse ...
A search for the person behind a social media account ridiculing Māori.Last week, while scrolling Facebook, I came across a post shared to the New Zealand Centre for Political Research group. The post began, “From Matua Kahurangi on X”, before pasting his critique of iwi leadership – particularly Ngāpuhi ...
On the heels of The White Lotus season three, Tara Ward travels to Koh Samui, Thailand, to live her best life as a five-star wannabe. I’ve never been one for luxury travel. Despite religiously watching TV shows like Luxury Escapes: World’s Best Holidays and harbouring grand dreams of one day ...
The Treaty Principles Bill submission hearings continue at Parliament today with a range of submitters expected including councils, iwi, community organisations and individuals. ...
It’s become of one of Christchurch’s most famous landmarks online, but why? Alex Casey steps through the portal of the brutalist Timezone. Ask anyone what Christchurch’s most iconic building is and you might expect to hear some of the dusty old classics like the Cathedral, or the Town Hall, or ...
New Zealand’s alignment with the White House is further underscored by its refusal to oppose Trump’s sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus Professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a serious blow to the soft power of the United States and disastrous for many poor countries ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Hoek, Professor in Public Health, University of Otago Shutterstock/Aliaksandr Barouski New Zealand’s smokefree law was hailed around the world for creating a smokefree generation that would have lifelong protection from smoking’s harms. The smokefree generation would have ended sales of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By George Disney, Research Fellow, Social Epidemiology, The University of Melbourne Edwin Tan/Getty Images When the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was established in 2013, one of its driving aims was to make disability services and support systems fairer. However, our new ...
The resignation of the director general of health is the latest departure in what Labour is calling a ‘purge’ of health leadership. Another day, another health resignation It’s a dangerous time to be a top health executive. On Friday, Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation as director general of health ...
Labour and the Greens say the government should focus spending on tourism infrastructure like tracks, toilets and protection of nature instead of more advertising. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
Hundreds of people called the former prime minister vile and dehumanising things online. Internet safety agencies did nothing - then called in the lawyers. ...
After a morning spent calf marking, Flock Hill Station manager Richard Hill headed up Bridge Hill – about 100km from Christchurch on the way to the West Coast – to check on a fire near the station’s boundary.It was December 5 last year, and the Craigieburn area had experienced three ...
It can’t be much of a surprise that a relatively inexperienced Act MP, handed the workplace relations portfolio, doesn’t want to entertain the country’s biggest union in her office.But it still astonishes the head of that union, the CTU’s president, Richard Wagstaff.After all, he’s met regularly with ministers of all ...
What's your pick over the "Winter warmth allowance"?
1 Cancelled
2 Cancelled for beneficiaries but not superannuants
3 Untouched
My pick is number 3 because Winston won't allow 1 and 2 would be to damaging – but I guess the RW does love its raw meat so…?
ACT's policy was to make it targeted
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2305/S00003/act-would-end-winter-energy-payment-money-go-round.htm
Would be good to know if anyone has done the costing on that.
I believe Act? did not want it for all.
My pick is that no-one will correct the systemic failures that give rise to a country with 90% renewable energy having to subsidise its citizens’ power bills.
And that’s not just the latest crowd, that’s your beloved lefty parties too.
All the power for three years, but not an ounce of courage amongst them.
That is the beauteous thing about sell offs of state owned organisations to make them privately owned "for profit" companies, which have as their primary aim to make profits for shareholders. Make it a small group of companies and there should be competition between them – "Right" Chess Player? Well actually they of course act independently, but since that watching isn't too hard, nobody needs to work too hard to keep the price escalator moving up step by step with different companies leading or trailing from time to time. But they are even better than that – the prices are now so bound up with sign up bonuses and loyalty bonusses and free hours and other complications that many can no longer determine who is cheapest this month . . .
So what can be done – well of course they should be bought back – we have all that money raised from the sales, shouldn't that be available? Well actually no; it disappeared very quickly into other government priorities of the day. With recent other priorities of dealing with Covid and just a few extreme weather events, what do you think should have been done by the last government, Chess Player? Or what do you think should be now done by the current government?
But to give just a little suggestion, it should be possible to require providers to accept power fed back to the system to be received at the average price of electricity charged to that customer on that day, or perhaps an average for the billing period. Perhaps that may make a marginal difference to get a few more people to invest in generation through their own resources (wind, solar or water).
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/08/middleeast/babies-al-nasr-gaza-hospital-what-we-know-intl/index.html
I'm not sure how the IDF can manage the PR on this one. Fortunate that the staff recorded their interactions.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/12/07/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-update-palestine/
The will do what SPC did in response to your post, put out misdirection and obfuscation.
Too subtle?
I would have thought the recent American statement an expression of concern about past civilian deaths and expectations about IDF procedures. Which includes improved guarantees of safe passage from areas under attack.
In the instance in the above report – there was a time for leaving the hospital, but no ambulances arrived because the only body supplying them said it was not safe.
And the addition of US expectation of full supply to the safe zones (given another truce including aid hostages swaps is not likely in the short term) is because of both lack of amount being processed through the border (and the claims of lack of safety for UN workers moving it – some deaths in the recent past).
Why the UN is not talking about shipping in aid to the safe zone by the coast is beyond me.
Just more of it.
The ability to spew death of Gaza are based on a simple premise, the USA Empire is providing arms and more importantly, cover – in the way of forward naval projection.
So sure distract with nice words if you want.
But the bottom line is the IDF lied, they have been caught out, once again, and all we get is misdirection and obfuscation. While Palestinian Jews, Christians and Muslims die in droves.
Palestinian Jew, there have been none since 1948.
Your comment explains a lot.
So does the river to the sea terminology, mate.
Israel maintains a naval blockade
Oil is still US$75 a barrel despite war in Middle East.
OPEC's power has been broken by Russia invading Ukraine and dumping oil at massive discount.
Sure beats 1973 50 years ago.
But also underlines why NZ must achieve full energy production independence: this war suppresses both global economic growth and old alliances.
In theory demand for oil should begin to fall as EV's take over.
However, EV's are predicted to be less than 30% of the stock of light vehicles in use in the world in 2035. This is way too slow. There need to be much stronger incentives and regulations forcing the switch to EV's.
https://www.ev-volumes.com/
Imagine if we had an environment party that included people with economic nous, and would work with whatever large party was leading the government.
We’d be unstoppable.
Imagine if those 2 major parties gave the enviro/econ party you describe the influence it deserves; they'd be unstoppable.
Agreed – but can’t happen unless all parties open to a conversation
Luxon took the government's EV discount for himself (his Tesla) and then dumped it. He has ended the ban on offshore oil and gas prospecting and production. He has committed to building 13 massive roading projects but has dumped light rail and is scaling back bike trails….and so on.
We already have a Green Party with considerable economic nous-take a look at their clever Wealth Tax proposal in their manifesto under "Ending Poverty".
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSWSfQJunWVEuNIQjF4sdIy3Qa7uFoe6R6vHIk5lh9EmSH_Amf7yXFssfK9GHzu8S19NbrzPcB8Oj_o/pub
Why would a Green party ever trust Luxon on anything Chess?
Two Teslas. Got to grab a good thing when it’s going cheap.
Well, the Greens and National worked together on the home insulation improvements, so collaboration is definitely possible.
Collaboration on specific policies is a far better way to achieve improvements than having to wait until Labour gets its occasional turn in government.
But I do realise that most on this blog are too highly principled to be pragmatic.
Fair call re the insulation.
But I do think this has the look of a one term government.
Luxon and Seymour are singularly unimpressive, and Peters has partially lost it.
Imagine if we had a large right-wing party that said it "cared deeply" about getting GHG emissions down, but clearly intended to do nothing effective about it – and on top of that pretended that the reason it wasn't going to do anything about it was because it had economic 'nous' and 'knew' that only market-led solutions were acceptable?
And if imagine if that economically-illiterate, large right-wing party insisted that a well established environment party, which really did have economic 'nous' and a record of commitment, support them in whatever f*ckwittery the large party wanted to do?
That'd all be pretty bad eh?
Imagine if wishes were horses. It's at least a reasonable expectation of Labour, given the Greens tend to be their natural coalition party, although the environment seems to becoming increasingly less important to the Green back benchers.
Imagine if the right wing parties were laughing in your face at the suggestion.
There’s only one right wing party in parliament in NZ and that’s ACT.
And they’re about as far right as a mild Republican in the US, I’d say.
I don't know what you're smoking, but I hope you brought enough for everyone. I don't care how big you try to make the centre – National is on the right of it.
The greens working with a party that thinks allowing its support party to have Andrew Hoggard as associate environment minister is an impossible dream
Hoggard?
Bucolic but.
Ok, sure, while you pontificate on the perfect solution, and resist until that arrives, the world burns.
But you kept your principles intact aye, so all good.
Na my principles don't matter, national don't give a fuck about the environment, remember wadable rivers are good enough for them , they've started oil and Gas exploration again , ypu either a dreamer or a shit stirrer,
…plus passenger vehicles are only around 26% of global oil consumption…so 30% of 26% = 8% of total oil requirement.
Thanks Uncooked-interesting. And as you say puts further pressure on upping the percentage of EV's in use.
We need to triple our electricity production in order to switch our vehicle fleet to EV
Didn’t National just cancel a hydro project?
MBIE and EA could at least do us a national energy Strategy.
Or the market is going to fuck us.
Nope, they cancel a $16,000,000,000 bucket. Not generation capacity.
$16B to provide for dry years and protect us from the market – I guess National plans to finance their future tax cut plans out of the profits in the power companies (rising charges to the public for powering up their cars).
Little wonder they seek to maintain the car addiction.
Is that based on fact or reckons?
It is designed for dry years. FACT.
The alternative is power companies have surplus carrying capacity to cover dry years. Expensive and thus higher costs every year.
The battery storage development would be more likely to cover variability in wind generation, or seasonal cold, as it is not on this scale.
The government owns 49% of most power companies. FACT.
So far it earns more from 49% ownership than from 100% in the past. Thus offload of a nice earner to those looking to diversify their investment portfolio – the profiteering off historic government assets to a minority of the people.
There is a growth in power demand coming from EV's. FACT
An investment in dry year management is advantageous for consumers, including business. And hydro stuff lasts decades.
It would also allow more flexibility on the power currently going to the smelter.
It is much sounder strategically.
But then NZ Inc, is not how National think.
No need to be in the dark. This information is freely available by using google – Onslow dam.
National plans to finance their future tax cuts plans out of the profits in the power companies
Fact or reckon?
Fair call, National has proven they can deliver tax cuts without the money to afford them.
You need to wait until the budget on the 20th. Then you will have the facts.
build it and they will come.
Where will we put the next dam, once the current and planned ones feed the growth economy and we need more?
South Island people aren't keen on damming more rivers, which is why the two attempts on the Clutha and one on the Waitaki in recent decades have failed.
People like Onslow because its in the back of beyond and most people don't understand what is there and think it's just a nothing space, Terra Nullius.
I've been there, weka.
It's the most appropriate "space" imaginable for the proposed project.
I have no problem with using natural landscapes for such projects, under the following conditions.
Because there is no escaping the fact that if we keep breaking nature to grow the economy, the economy will keep growing until nature breaks us.
It would only be there as a reserve for dry years (when hydro dams are not providing the usual power generation). It would not add to normal year capacity.
Really? Is the government planning to tell people they can’t have more power?
Obviously there is a relationship between demand and low hydro lake levels and the need for more power.
Steady state in this context means we build the storage and we reduce demand for power. Not build the storage and pretend we don’t live in an economy that is increasing demand.
It is also designed to balance the grid due to increased renewables….without balance the grid goes down.
The options to balance that intermittence are limited and simply increasing capacity does not solve the problem.
All the options are expensive….though how expensive will never be known until delivery.
Surely not the same power companies of which large stakes were flogged off by John Key and his merry band? I wonder who the current shareholders are and how they voted in GE-2023.
I wonder who the current shareholders are
No need to be in the dark. This information is freely available in their annual report on each company’s website. Not hard.
Don’t be a disingenuous troll.
You asked the question. I gave you the answer. Problem?
'Twas a 2-part rhetorical question and only a dim-witted troll would take it as an excuse to troll.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3732963/SOEs-to-be-sold-to-mum-and-dad-Kiwis-says-Key
You asserted that these investors can be found in the respective Annual Reports, which is misleading, at best, so you may want to correct your faux pas and apologise. And while you’re at it, you may want to include information on how the(se) shareholders voted in the latest General Election.
I suggest it’s you who need to apologise. But you won’t. Shareholder disclosures for the electricity companies are required and have been for decades under the Companies Act 1993. It’s also a requirement under the NZX listing rules.
Cool, then you won’t have any trouble linking to a list of all the shareholders of one of those companies.
And humour me, what should I apologise for?
You want to know how the voted at the last election? The largest shareholder is the government. Ask the Labour minister then responsible how the voted.
More disingenuous trolling; a troll on a roll.
If you call talking if fact rather than ignorance trolling , I plead guilty your high reverence.
[Where is your link to a list of individual shareholders?
Despite several clear warnings, incl. a Mod note on 19 Oct, you continue trolling and showing blatant disrespect for others on this site. Since you’re pleading guilty, don’t act surprised when I hand down your sentence – Incognito]
Mod note
Sorry your fucking thick.
Ive told you how and where to get this information, including why this is legally required to be disclosed.
There are many many electricity companies in New Zealand.
Which one would you specifically like more info on?
See my comment at 7:33 pm. A list from any of those companies will do if you wish to keep your commenting privileges here at all. You claimed it’s easy to find because of legal disclosure requirements and all that. I’d suggest that you won’t be providing anything, because you can’t – you’re talking out of your arse aka you’re trolling. You may want to refresh your obviously short memory and go back to my rhetorical question (for your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-12-2023/#comment-1980275).
Bradford's reforms were a bloody stupid idea back in 1998 and all the evidence was against it. But National ploughed ahead anyway with their ideological fantasies, and the Kiwi consumer got shafted. SOP for the Gnats.
D, Kalderimis: PURE IDEOLOGY: THE "OWNERSHIP SPLIT" OF POWER COMPANIES IN THE 1998 ELECTRICITY REFORMS (wgtn.ac.nz)
I'd like to know roughly what proportion of the 51% of asset sale shares are still in Kiwi hands – see Blazer @7:43 pm. Not hard?
I voted Green. The dividends are much better, even now, than bank term deposits.
Millions of shares were sold to offshore investors.
Yes some Kiwi 'mum and dad' investors bought shares…that was part of the 'justification'.
That's funny coz it's a dam held in reserve for dry years and generates power like any other dam.
we can't triple our energy production, and there's not much point given the limits of growth and nature. We live on a finite planet, best we get used to it now while we still have some choices.
Fortunately we have alternatives. Public transpower, relocalising economies, creating urban villaged, relocalising food and many other things.
We don't need to use the amount of energy we do, we are just habituated to it.
Yes, Lake Onslow, but it wasn’t a confirmed project as such yet.
Just one of the many infrastructure projects around the country that was log jammed in consultation.
“A historic Waitangi Tribunal report expected to call for the return of all Crown-owned land across much of Northland will be handed over to the country's largest iwi this morning.
The almost 2000-page stage 2 report of Te Paparahi o Te Raki, also known as the Northland Inquiry, details land loss, military conflict and Treaty breaches suffered by Ngāpuhi between 1840 and 1900.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/504282/waitangi-tribunal-to-present-historic-report-into-land-loss-treaty-breaches-suffered-by-ngapuhi
It will be fascinating to see how the new government handles this.
Let the Games begin!
This is an interesting statement about the Labour Party, from its own leader. That it will not be driven to the left by the election defeat in 2023.
The other things that are not to be named are Labour being seen as pro Maori and the Kiwi not iwi 2005 reprise this time came to bite.
But that is because the "left wing" impulse is to confront inequality and injustice and seek to do better. However the three headed hydra managed to create a climate of fear and insecurity around "Maori privilege" and this added to a post COVID cloud exacerbated by rising costs.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/12/election-2023-labour-party-won-t-be-driven-left-after-loss-chris-hipkins-says.html
I suspect what he has overlooked, both before and now after the election, is the necessity to provide hope.
Agreeing with the Greens 3% rent increase cap and placing 5% windfall profits tax on major banks to finance an increase to IETC would have given more working class people confidence they would get by.
It might have made for a close contest. Probably still a losing one given the NZF role as conduit for majoritarian conservatives.
In that sense there is a positive in not losing because of the captains call on the modest wealth tax proposal (as per DP and GR). Only losing left wing votes to Greens and TPM.
But the future of Labour is in stating the obvious, 35 of 36 OECD nations have either a CGT or estate tax or both. That is not left wing, that is the mainstream of the first world.
A modest wealth tax is a CGT and estate tax in one – where it only applies in the top 10% level of wealth in the society.
+100 on the Wealth Tax SPC.
CGT is very complicated, slow to start working and produces an unpredictable level of tax receipts.
Hipkins has to go. I'm so sick of being not given a reason to vote Labour. I guess this means the Greens again.
Ardern was 'Tony Blair in..high heels'…Hipkins is' Tony Blair…in…hush puppies'…hopeless!
So can anyone tell what kind of country Hipkins wants?
It's not too much to ask.
Obviously one with national in government for 9 years.
I suspect Labour is well aware of those other 'unnamed' causes but have chosen to say nothing about them.
What Hipkins did say about two weeks ago is that everything is back on the table. I think we can safely assume that a "modest" CGT type tax is going to be back on the table – iirc ten years after it was first mooted under the Cunliffe leadership.
So Cunliffe just might end up having the last laugh.
Another bad captains call. Kiwis wanted change, Chippy stopped it. Kiwis were tired of identity politics and the cabal of ideologues (in the vein of Dr Elizabeth Kerekere) that appeared to be running things to the detriment (and alienation) of the working class. So what does he do? Nothing. A failure to identify the actual problems, again.
Hipkins keeps pumping the brakes. We need a few basic reforms to make Aotearoa a "kinder" place again, instead of its current sorry state as a playground for the 1% and screw the rest.
One tax that had potential to make a real difference was Robbo's "Closing the loophole" tax on negatively geared property investments. That was one of the first things on the Nats' chopping block.
Bryan Cadogan is a shining light in the darkness.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/301020851/new-governments-te-reo-demotion-pandering-to-the-perpetually-outraged
Bryan unfailingly gets it, writes about it, and stands by it. He's a good man.
Bryan Cardogan..brilliant. Thanks for that.Where does he publish?
Southland Times via Stuff.co.nz
That's brave for a Southland mayor.
Heartwarming.
Agree 100% Ad, real blue down there.
What to do when the lower rate of nicotine results in less use and lower tax revenues?
A legalisation or full on decriminalisation would generate revenue
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/12/09/marijuana-media-auckland-j-day-cannabis-taxes-and-worldwide-weed/
In addition to the existing medicinal marijuana regime, legal possession (up to maximum amounts) and licensed growing of low THC product product for personal use and commercial supply.
https://cannaflower.com/low-thc-cannabis-popular/
Big ups to the sleep drops, especially for all you retired people.
You vouch for sleep drops actually working?
The best cup of "tea" I've ever had was a THC infused honey and herbal mixture – was buzzing for a few days and actually felt good about myself for once.
It seems the country has come to the town.
5 councillors claim the finding that they were in breach of their code of practice was only because the Mayor and Council hired a partisan lawyer/shark.
As surprising number of these (but not any of the others) made comments about the Mayor's drinking and suggested she resign.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/301023940/five-wellington-councillors-breached-code-of-conduct-investigation-finds
The Epsom seat deal where ACT got a free pass from National for years. I started thinking, what benefit have the voters of that electorate got from the deal having Seymour as their MP over Paul Goldsmith. Goldsmith being told he cannot campaign for the seat but instead he has to sit back and pretend he is fine with Seymour taking what would naturally be his seat. Must privately be quite humiliating for him to watch Seymour suck John Key even if he publicly says he is ok with it. That aside though, the benefits to Epsom voters. Someone feel free to add if I have overlooked anything.
Charter schools – which made little if any difference to education but added costs to the education system
3 strikes law – which made little if any difference to crime rates but added extra costs
A euthanasia law – which might be beneficial for people who want to do so, but very very very very very very minute in comparison to big issues the country is facing.
plus the tens of thousands of dollars payable to Seymour as ACT leader, and often only MP, and his party leaders budget over paying Goldsmith as an MP.
Seems like Epsom got a pretty crap deal and frankly it has cost NZ millions more dollars than it could have. A case it seems, with ACT wanting to cut government costs, of doing what I say not what I do.
Shoutout to Sanctuary for an awesome long lunch thankyou.
I just woke up from my post lunch nap! Lovely to see you.