My wait time to get hip Xrays was seven weeks.
Now I am in the third week of waiting for the specialist to look at my Xrays and say where I am on the scale and the likely wait for an appointment.
After this wait, I might be lucky and receive a date stamp assuring me of an operation within 4 months.
Being 76 and due for an unpaid mammogram, I rang a private provider. A robotic voice asked me my name and address, and then asked me to confirm my phone number and place in the queue by pressing the hash key. Is this our future?
We contact a department an get put in a queue for a future contact?
Has been the new normal for some time patricia bremner . Especially with the so called super ministries. IRD has been like that for an age.
If I was being cynical, I’d suggest it’s so community agencies like age concern, citizens advice bureau , and community law can’t help people directly. If I was being cynical.
Best of luck with the medical professions, these days you need a bucket load of luck, just to survive the bureaucracy in the health system.
What DHB are you dealing with?
A friend of mine, in Capital and Coast went through the whole thing, from referral by his GP to having the Op in less than 3 months last year, starting in June.
My own experience from 2014 was about 4 months from referral to Op in the same DHB area. That was for both hips so it might have been a different set of priorities.
I know the DHBs vary but yours seems ridiculously long just to get through the Specialist examination.
When you do get it the main thing seems to be to complain about how painful it is. That seems to be the main criteria for how urgent it is.
Am I being unduly cynical if I suggest that things seem to have got worse, not better since the change of Government?
Hello Alwyn, Rotorua Lakes. They did have a fire in records late last year, so that may have caused a few more weeks delay. It is painful all the time, and the Xray radiologist said she could see why it was so painful. The Dr. tells me to watch weight bearing, (I now use a walker and a wheelchair for more than 20 metres as it is so painful). So apparently the hold up has to be the system. So waiting……..
Thanks for the replies.
I wish you the best of luck in getting the op soon.
I never got quite as bad as to need a wheelchair but anything over 50 metres or not being on the flat hurt like hell.
The consolation is that the pain in the joint goes immediately you have the op. You still have to get over it and rebuild the muscle but it won’t hurt the way it used to.
It is like most ailments these days I think. Everyone seems to need hip or knee replacements, or cataract operations. I suspect it is simply because our bodies were intended for the Biblical three score and ten but we are all living a lot longer.
Patrick Cockburn reports on the little known atrocities in Afrin on the Kurds by the Turkish army and its associates.
It is a story worth reading.
He concludes the report.
“I have been struck since 2011 by the unbalanced way in which the Syrian war has been reported by the media. Vast attention was given to the sufferings inflicted on the people of East Aleppo in 2016 under attack by Syrian government and Russian air strikes, but very little notice was taken of the almost complete destruction of Isis-held Raqqa, with massive civilian casualties, at the hands of the US-led coalition.
I used to attribute such uneven coverage of the war to the greater skill and resources of the Syrian opposition in recording and publicising atrocities committed by the Syrian government and its allies. Isis had no interest in the fate of civilians under its control. But in Afrin there is no shortage of film of the suffering of civilians, but it simply is not widely broadcast or printed. In many respects, the role of the international media in the Syrian war has been as partial and misleading as the warring parties inside the country or their foreign sponsors without.”
The “Free Syrian Army” was (or so we were told) defectors and rebels who weren’t Jihadists. Western governments claimed that meant they were worthy of funding and support.
Now they are openly fighting alongside ISIS (as reported by liberal western media), other head-choppers and the Turkish army against non-government forces.
How does that western government dance of explanation and justification go I wonder?
I don’t expect to see or hear anything on that front.
As Cockburn points out, the peoples of Afrin are more or less invisible. Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge any kind of ceasefire is simply “not a thing”. And East Ghouta is Aleppo re-dux in terms of western propaganda. I wonder who the new Bana will be? 👿
‘While MSM Screams About Eastern Ghouta, US Bombs Kill Over 100 Syrian Civilians’
‘During the month of February, US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 100 Syrian civilians, many of them children, in Deir Ezzor province, and the mainstream media has completely ignored the story. ’
Ever wondered why the fascists at Charlottsville wore T shirts with Assad’s image? Or why the neo-nazi white supremacist who drove his car into anti-fascist protesters posted pro-Assad propaganda on his facebook page the day before he murdered, Heather Heyer and injured 35 others?
When the neo-Nazi who smashed his Dodge Charger into a crowd of anti-Nazi demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia – killing a woman and injuring many others – was found to have posted a Facebook photo supportive of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, more than a few lay observers were left scratching their heads.
Adding to the confusion were videos from the scene showing fellow white supremacists in Charlottesville voicing sympathies for Assad (‘Assad’s the man, brother! Assad’s the man!’); one even wearing a t-shirt depicting a helicopter next to the words, ‘Bashar’s Barrel Delivery Co.’.
That the fascist mob should be enamoured of President Trump seemed comprehensible enough. But why should they be keen on a non-Aryan, non-Christian – indeed, Arab and Muslim, no less – leader with ties to such notorious Islamist entities as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Islamic Republic of Iran?
‘Syria’s Assad has become an unexpected icon of the far right in America’, declared a Washington Post headline, in a nod at the general puzzlement. This was a fine article but an unfortunate title, for it was only ‘unexpected’ for those unaware of Damascus’ open courtship of the global far-right stretching back many years now (the headline was later amended to remove the word ‘unexpected’). As this author put it in a Twitter thread:
After I tweeted the above, a number of people wrote back to ask if I might venture an explanation for what they evidently found a perplexing alliance. Why do fascists like the Assad regime? The simplest answer is that the Assad regime is a fascist regime. The brownshirts know a brother-in-arms when they see one.
Utterly hostile to democracy of any but the most flagrantly fraudulent kind, the Syrian regime plasters its führer’s face on every public square and building and murders civilians with poison gas. One of the very few political parties tolerated alongside the ruling Baathists is the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (name remind you of anything?), founded in the 1930s by a professor of German, which brandishes a swastika-inspired flag and boasts of killing ‘the Jews of the interior’ and ‘the racist Jewish enemy’, its terminology for the Syrian rebels its militia fights. In its prisons, the regime tortures opponents using methods borrowed directly from the Third Reich, such as the so-called ‘German chair’ (indeed it was said to have been the aforementioned Herr Brunner who personally passed on this expertise). One of the dungeons not far from the presidential palace, Saydnaya, where Amnesty International says dozens are exterminated every week, now even has its own crematorium on-site for added Auschwitz effect.
Does anyone remember the baby-faced billionaire of a pharmaceutical company who raised the price of a vital medicine from $13.50 to $750 a tablet? He also said he probably should have charged even more:
All those who participated in ICOs that weren’t what was claimed will join him shortly. That may include celebrities who endorsed the fake ICOs (aiding and abetting securities fraud).
Given the number of people that involves the may need a new jail.
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
The New Zealand justice systems have a bad culture of covering up there colleges bad behavior of sexual harassment and what the covering up of this behavior does .
The bad behavior becomes the norm it is acceptable to do bad things treat our ladys like a piece meat a object I certainly would not like to think anyone could treat my Mokos like that and they get away with it because it the norm.
This bad behavior within the professions of justice business management is the reason OUR ladies are not represented equally in Management theres good news
Andrew Little is going to sorte it out Ka pai ka kite ano here the link.
Te Labour Party is treating and giving the 3 member’s of the tpp 11 that have retained the right to sue New Zealand like I use to when I was young and NAIVE .
I use to have a illusion that everyone thought like me they were honest I could trust everyone they won’t lie and steal from me . Now that Im a silver back and with help from my wife I know that some people will do all of above to get more putea money.
They are leaving our mokos future to fiat that theses 3 countrys won’t end up with a person like trump running them .Or in the future these country’s running out of there resources and looking at Aotearoa New Zealand and stripping our mokos of there resources if they are blocked from doing what they want they sue come on wake up New Zealand we can not trust over countrys with our mokos future thats a fact surely we are intelligent enough to work that REALITY OUT Ana to kai ka kite ano
This is human influenced Warming of our Climate on Papatuanuku warming caused by all the carbon being spewed into Papatuanuku environment .
This is reality that some people are trying to hide from te tangata the people heres another link. Ka kite ano
Lisa Owen trump has just taken a dump on his nation and most of other nations on Papatuanuku just to try and cling to the power of the American President with his steal & aluminium tariffs
enough said ka kite ano
I got SKY connected now I can tautoko Maori TV only problem is you people make me hungry for kai moana .Kawekorero show kia kaha ka kite ano P.S I strongly agree with what Ella Henry views on Maoris reality in Aoteraroa at the minute
Kawekorero the situation we find 1/4 of OUR Mokopunas in is a direct result of suppression of a minority indigenous culture thats a fact cast your eyes around the rest of Papatuanuku and you will find the proof its in our books as well I just don’t get it why everyone is throwing there arms up in the air and saying we don’t know whats wrong the problem is right in front of OUR noses . Opra Winfrey is a great Lady whom is a excellent role modle for all the Mokopuna on Papatuanuku she knows what challange ECO MAORI wants her to take on . kia kaha ka kite ano
Actually this happens with the suppression of any culture
News Hub on 3 it was a excerlint day in Vags today I finally tidy up the paint job on my truck Eco knows the sandflys will use anything to attack my Mana at least they are giving me some space now but they are still throwing actors under the bus they are to scared to get to close to ECO MAORI Ana to kai .
Sir David Attenborough is a assume person who advocates for the well being of all Papatuanukus creatures Ka pai ka kite ano
News Hub Yes I enjoyed my time at sea it was easly one of the best times of my youth all the beautiful sites scenery and creatures I even went to the Chatham Islands digging for shark teeth the part I had a hard time with was being away from my family for 2 to 3 months Im envious of the America cup sailors .Ka kite ano
The putea price of climate change nothing about the wild life that is going to suffer good artical News room at least you good people are not scared or bribed to not mention climate change or global Warming
here the link.kia kaha ka kite ano .
‘A national disgrace’: fury over £100m aid deal between UK and Saudi Arabia
“The fact that we have the head of state of a government that has been operating such a blockade – Saudi Arabia – recently invited to Buckingham Palace and Downing Street while the military … is orchestrating what will potentially become the worst famine in the last 50 years, I think speaks volumes.”
Noting a “growing sense of impunity surrounding crimes against children”, Watkins added: “The fact that you can rape, murder, kidnap, bomb schools, bomb clinics with no consequence, speaks I think to the heart of the deeper challenge.”
“Downing Street defended Bin Salman’s visit, saying trade deals worth £65bn had been agreed.”
(I guess the take home here, is that money from trade deals is more important that human rights such as raping and starving children, and a trip to Buckingham palace is now decided by money to be made, rather than reputation.)
Britain is regressing, becoming more shoddy year by year, showing itself different to its professed nobility of standards and beliefs.
Arab money has been big investing in London for yonks. Apparently the Russians have big investment there also, just to spread their risks I suppose. International finance is a big part of Brit GDP. The USA flew out leading people from Arab countries very soon after the plane attack on the Towers. Some relationships transcend the professed country relationships that the folks on the street see, and exist despite any transgressions in the home country of the connections.
A commenter, Jonathan Jones, makes a disparaging comment on Britain in February 2017 thinking of how a fall in British visits to their museums visits can be interpreted. Visitors to Britain’s main museums were down in 2014-15 from 49 million to 47.6 and participation by the under 18’s is down by 6.9%.
The decline in school trips is surely a direct result of increasing economic and other pressures on schools under the coalition and, now, Conservative governments. You can see how financial constraints and radical curriculum reforms might make that museum trip something all too tempting to slash.
These figures reveal how Britain is failing its young people, and losing the passion for self-improvement that our free public museums used to nurture. A nation that loses interest in museums has not just lost its head. It has lost hope….
Is Brexit Britain losing brain power? Has The Great British Bake Off addled our minds even before our mental borders are permanently closed to European influence? Would a generation of screen-addicted teenagers rather play video games?
No – it is not because minds are shrinking. It is because the same economic pressures that have uprooted politics around the world are destroying the aspirations we express when we go to galleries. There is nothing more aspirational than visiting a museum or art gallery. It is an expression of hope and self-esteem. Just as lying in bed all day binge-watching TV and eating crisps is probably a mark of melancholy. Going out to an exhibition or taking your kids to the Natural History Museum is surely a symbol of belief in your family and the future. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2017/feb/02/drop-uk-museum-attendance
Britain wants to be great and do this alone. But if the world co-ordination breaks down and its every country for itself piracy will grow and become a really serious problem, instead of just a problem as now. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml
(I only had heard of slaves taken from Africa, not Britain and Ireland.)
I think Britain will drop more ethically outside the EU and without constraints will suddenly soar up on an inflated balloon from the real world as the USA did when communism was overcome in Russia.
UK defies EU over Indonesian palm oil trade, leaked papers show
UK is pushing for a deal that would boost imports linked to deforestation despite EU moves to ban unsustainable palm oil, diplomatic papers reveal
The May Govt is appalling and has no moral compass whatsoever. They are turning a blind eye to all manner of humanitarian and ecological abuses in a desperate effort to shore up the declining trade that is resulting from their stupidity over BREXIT.
28-hour week gains momentum in German unions’ push for flexible rights
Key union’s achievement of new work-time model spearheads shift in how to face challenges of 21st century workplace
While the TPP11 will drive our wages down by us having to compete in our own country with competitive countries we have now signed up to who use child labour!!!
Well done “dopey David Parker”
Why were you given the job of Environment Minister???
The mind boggles as to what harm you will bring to the Environment next!!!!!
Hi there cleangreen. The previous Labour government had already sign a FTA with a country with human rights and child labour issues. Thanks dopey helen clark.
As far as environment minister, job will be gone once TPP11 comes into it’s own. corporates are going to ride rough-shod over ecologically sensitive tracts to get that last little bit of gold/fossil fuel/coal.
I voted Labour to oust national and have ended up with Labour wearing blue.(bugger)
Greens need more voice and support as does Forest And Bird.
Maybe a vote for Green instead of Labour is a vote for a more Green Labour government of the future, who is more careful with trade deals!!!
Those unhappy with Labour can still switch to Green and then with the coalition hopefully stop National while controlling the neoliberals who have taken over Labour.
Of course people like Parker who are virtually unelectable in an electorate seat are put high up to get them into Labour , otherwise if the public had their way, he would be out there earning an ‘honest’ ha ha living being a lawyer or for agri-biotechnology industry, if he can still remember how.
Trump tweets that steel and aluminium tariffs will not affect Australia. This is the result of adult diplomacy. Petulance about refugees (which if successful will only result in drownings at sea) is the opposite of this which is why we have not seen similar overtures for NZ.
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
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My wait time to get hip Xrays was seven weeks.
Now I am in the third week of waiting for the specialist to look at my Xrays and say where I am on the scale and the likely wait for an appointment.
After this wait, I might be lucky and receive a date stamp assuring me of an operation within 4 months.
Being 76 and due for an unpaid mammogram, I rang a private provider. A robotic voice asked me my name and address, and then asked me to confirm my phone number and place in the queue by pressing the hash key. Is this our future?
We contact a department an get put in a queue for a future contact?
Is this the new normal?
Hope everything proceeds more briskly & results are good
Good Luck Patricia.
Has been the new normal for some time patricia bremner . Especially with the so called super ministries. IRD has been like that for an age.
If I was being cynical, I’d suggest it’s so community agencies like age concern, citizens advice bureau , and community law can’t help people directly. If I was being cynical.
Best of luck with the medical professions, these days you need a bucket load of luck, just to survive the bureaucracy in the health system.
What DHB are you dealing with?
A friend of mine, in Capital and Coast went through the whole thing, from referral by his GP to having the Op in less than 3 months last year, starting in June.
My own experience from 2014 was about 4 months from referral to Op in the same DHB area. That was for both hips so it might have been a different set of priorities.
I know the DHBs vary but yours seems ridiculously long just to get through the Specialist examination.
When you do get it the main thing seems to be to complain about how painful it is. That seems to be the main criteria for how urgent it is.
Am I being unduly cynical if I suggest that things seem to have got worse, not better since the change of Government?
Hello Alwyn, Rotorua Lakes. They did have a fire in records late last year, so that may have caused a few more weeks delay. It is painful all the time, and the Xray radiologist said she could see why it was so painful. The Dr. tells me to watch weight bearing, (I now use a walker and a wheelchair for more than 20 metres as it is so painful). So apparently the hold up has to be the system. So waiting……..
Thanks for the replies.
I wish you the best of luck in getting the op soon.
I never got quite as bad as to need a wheelchair but anything over 50 metres or not being on the flat hurt like hell.
The consolation is that the pain in the joint goes immediately you have the op. You still have to get over it and rebuild the muscle but it won’t hurt the way it used to.
It is like most ailments these days I think. Everyone seems to need hip or knee replacements, or cataract operations. I suspect it is simply because our bodies were intended for the Biblical three score and ten but we are all living a lot longer.
Thanks Alwyn.
Patrick Cockburn reports on the little known atrocities in Afrin on the Kurds by the Turkish army and its associates.
It is a story worth reading.
He concludes the report.
“I have been struck since 2011 by the unbalanced way in which the Syrian war has been reported by the media. Vast attention was given to the sufferings inflicted on the people of East Aleppo in 2016 under attack by Syrian government and Russian air strikes, but very little notice was taken of the almost complete destruction of Isis-held Raqqa, with massive civilian casualties, at the hands of the US-led coalition.
I used to attribute such uneven coverage of the war to the greater skill and resources of the Syrian opposition in recording and publicising atrocities committed by the Syrian government and its allies. Isis had no interest in the fate of civilians under its control. But in Afrin there is no shortage of film of the suffering of civilians, but it simply is not widely broadcast or printed. In many respects, the role of the international media in the Syrian war has been as partial and misleading as the warring parties inside the country or their foreign sponsors without.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-afrin-crisis-turkish-forces-civilians-deaths-eastern-ghouta-assad-a8247206.html
The “Free Syrian Army” was (or so we were told) defectors and rebels who weren’t Jihadists. Western governments claimed that meant they were worthy of funding and support.
Now they are openly fighting alongside ISIS (as reported by liberal western media), other head-choppers and the Turkish army against non-government forces.
How does that western government dance of explanation and justification go I wonder?
I don’t expect to see or hear anything on that front.
As Cockburn points out, the peoples of Afrin are more or less invisible. Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge any kind of ceasefire is simply “not a thing”. And East Ghouta is Aleppo re-dux in terms of western propaganda. I wonder who the new Bana will be? 👿
“Tweeter and King” – My favorite line in this piece. A conservative (traditional) voice on Syria. 19.30 minutes long.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzPL6eGZktQ&ab_channel=TheRealNews
As we discover more and more about the fraudulent white helmets.
They sound more like actors than rescue workers.
Film set needed.
The hypocrisy is jaw dropping
‘While MSM Screams About Eastern Ghouta, US Bombs Kill Over 100 Syrian Civilians’
‘During the month of February, US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 100 Syrian civilians, many of them children, in Deir Ezzor province, and the mainstream media has completely ignored the story. ’
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/48917.htm
Ever wondered why the fascists at Charlottsville wore T shirts with Assad’s image? Or why the neo-nazi white supremacist who drove his car into anti-fascist protesters posted pro-Assad propaganda on his facebook page the day before he murdered, Heather Heyer and injured 35 others?
Well wonder no more:
https://web.archive.org/web/20180309225139/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/03/09/multipolar-spin-how-fascists-operationalize-left-wing-resentment
You are known by your friends
Does anyone remember the baby-faced billionaire of a pharmaceutical company who raised the price of a vital medicine from $13.50 to $750 a tablet? He also said he probably should have charged even more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-08/martin-shkreli-s-journey-from-pharma-exec-to-inmate-87850-053
Well, he’s going to jail for a good stretch for securities fraud.
Such is the power of our capitalist system.
All those who participated in ICOs that weren’t what was claimed will join him shortly. That may include celebrities who endorsed the fake ICOs (aiding and abetting securities fraud).
Given the number of people that involves the may need a new jail.
Good to see “white collar” criminals convicted. Often well paid defence teams protect them.
I try to be a good person and not be guided by notions of vengeance or a desire to see someone, anyone, hurting.
But my dark side just spent ten minutes trying to find video of Martin Shkreli blubbing as he was being sentenced.
https://mashable.com/2018/03/09/martin-shkreli-cries-sentencing/
Good Riddance!
ECO MAORIs Kiwi Bank ac 389019048573100 Please help me to sort the nz police out
I decided against trying to use PayPal to receive donations .I decided to copy
Thestandards safe way of appealing and receiving donations I set up a Kiwi Bank AC
So he tangata the people of Aoteraoroa New Zealand who support ECO MAORI can use internet banking to make donations and know that there bank accounts are safe after they have made a donation . ECO MAORI will use the donations to SUE the nz police for all the breaches to mine and my Whano Privacy Rights & Human Rights a lot of people can see this has been happening to ECO MAORI when I win my case I will set up a
Charitable Trust and I will pay the money that I used and any extra donations into this Trust account and appeal to anyone else in Aoteraoroa who need help with finance to SUE the nz police for there in justices I will copy bank statements on this site to let he tangata the people know that ECO MAORI has Honest Honorable and transparent intentions to use your hard earned Putea Money. .
Kia Kaha Ka kite ano
The New Zealand justice systems have a bad culture of covering up there colleges bad behavior of sexual harassment and what the covering up of this behavior does .
The bad behavior becomes the norm it is acceptable to do bad things treat our ladys like a piece meat a object I certainly would not like to think anyone could treat my Mokos like that and they get away with it because it the norm.
This bad behavior within the professions of justice business management is the reason OUR ladies are not represented equally in Management theres good news
Andrew Little is going to sorte it out Ka pai ka kite ano here the link.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12009785
Te Labour Party is treating and giving the 3 member’s of the tpp 11 that have retained the right to sue New Zealand like I use to when I was young and NAIVE .
I use to have a illusion that everyone thought like me they were honest I could trust everyone they won’t lie and steal from me . Now that Im a silver back and with help from my wife I know that some people will do all of above to get more putea money.
They are leaving our mokos future to fiat that theses 3 countrys won’t end up with a person like trump running them .Or in the future these country’s running out of there resources and looking at Aotearoa New Zealand and stripping our mokos of there resources if they are blocked from doing what they want they sue come on wake up New Zealand we can not trust over countrys with our mokos future thats a fact surely we are intelligent enough to work that REALITY OUT Ana to kai ka kite ano
https://www.smh.com.au/business/careers/new-trade-agreement-could-expose-taxpayers-to-financial-risk-20180302-p4z2kw.html
This is human influenced Warming of our Climate on Papatuanuku warming caused by all the carbon being spewed into Papatuanuku environment .
This is reality that some people are trying to hide from te tangata the people heres another link. Ka kite ano
http://www.news.com.au/national/queensland/disaster-declaration-ingham-prepared-as-town-is-ripped-in-two-by-floodwaters/news-story/2c1a0bec3cd26ffbd3eb3a472ac1c1a3
2 very good candidates for the Green Party Co Leadership on the Nation I am keep my opinion to my self on this one
ka pai
Lisa Owen trump has just taken a dump on his nation and most of other nations on Papatuanuku just to try and cling to the power of the American President with his steal & aluminium tariffs
enough said ka kite ano
I got SKY connected now I can tautoko Maori TV only problem is you people make me hungry for kai moana .Kawekorero show kia kaha ka kite ano P.S I strongly agree with what Ella Henry views on Maoris reality in Aoteraroa at the minute
Kawekorero the situation we find 1/4 of OUR Mokopunas in is a direct result of suppression of a minority indigenous culture thats a fact cast your eyes around the rest of Papatuanuku and you will find the proof its in our books as well I just don’t get it why everyone is throwing there arms up in the air and saying we don’t know whats wrong the problem is right in front of OUR noses . Opra Winfrey is a great Lady whom is a excellent role modle for all the Mokopuna on Papatuanuku she knows what challange ECO MAORI wants her to take on . kia kaha ka kite ano
Actually this happens with the suppression of any culture
I have been busy washing my truck good on Simon Bridges for being intreviewed on Maori TV P.S my reo need heaps of work ka kite ano
News Hub on 3 it was a excerlint day in Vags today I finally tidy up the paint job on my truck Eco knows the sandflys will use anything to attack my Mana at least they are giving me some space now but they are still throwing actors under the bus they are to scared to get to close to ECO MAORI Ana to kai .
Sir David Attenborough is a assume person who advocates for the well being of all Papatuanukus creatures Ka pai ka kite ano
News Hub Yes I enjoyed my time at sea it was easly one of the best times of my youth all the beautiful sites scenery and creatures I even went to the Chatham Islands digging for shark teeth the part I had a hard time with was being away from my family for 2 to 3 months Im envious of the America cup sailors .Ka kite ano
The putea price of climate change nothing about the wild life that is going to suffer good artical News room at least you good people are not scared or bribed to not mention climate change or global Warming
here the link.kia kaha ka kite ano .
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/03/08/95301/think-climate-change-cost-142-billion-try-36-billion
‘A national disgrace’: fury over £100m aid deal between UK and Saudi Arabia
“The fact that we have the head of state of a government that has been operating such a blockade – Saudi Arabia – recently invited to Buckingham Palace and Downing Street while the military … is orchestrating what will potentially become the worst famine in the last 50 years, I think speaks volumes.”
Noting a “growing sense of impunity surrounding crimes against children”, Watkins added: “The fact that you can rape, murder, kidnap, bomb schools, bomb clinics with no consequence, speaks I think to the heart of the deeper challenge.”
“Downing Street defended Bin Salman’s visit, saying trade deals worth £65bn had been agreed.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/09/national-disgrace-fury-over-100m-aid-deal-between-uk-and-saudi-arabia
(I guess the take home here, is that money from trade deals is more important that human rights such as raping and starving children, and a trip to Buckingham palace is now decided by money to be made, rather than reputation.)
Hasn’t changed then.
Yes, they would probably even welcome Putin.
Rich people have been the same since time immemorial. Wealth and power counts far more than morality, humanity or even life for these people.
They’re a bit annoyed with Putin at the moment: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43344725
Madge could welcome him in a delightful ensemble of clashing tartans and her carpet slippers. Not unlike a John Key reception
Britain is regressing, becoming more shoddy year by year, showing itself different to its professed nobility of standards and beliefs.
Arab money has been big investing in London for yonks. Apparently the Russians have big investment there also, just to spread their risks I suppose. International finance is a big part of Brit GDP. The USA flew out leading people from Arab countries very soon after the plane attack on the Towers. Some relationships transcend the professed country relationships that the folks on the street see, and exist despite any transgressions in the home country of the connections.
A commenter, Jonathan Jones, makes a disparaging comment on Britain in February 2017 thinking of how a fall in British visits to their museums visits can be interpreted. Visitors to Britain’s main museums were down in 2014-15 from 49 million to 47.6 and participation by the under 18’s is down by 6.9%.
The decline in school trips is surely a direct result of increasing economic and other pressures on schools under the coalition and, now, Conservative governments. You can see how financial constraints and radical curriculum reforms might make that museum trip something all too tempting to slash.
These figures reveal how Britain is failing its young people, and losing the passion for self-improvement that our free public museums used to nurture. A nation that loses interest in museums has not just lost its head. It has lost hope….
Is Brexit Britain losing brain power? Has The Great British Bake Off addled our minds even before our mental borders are permanently closed to European influence? Would a generation of screen-addicted teenagers rather play video games?
No – it is not because minds are shrinking. It is because the same economic pressures that have uprooted politics around the world are destroying the aspirations we express when we go to galleries. There is nothing more aspirational than visiting a museum or art gallery. It is an expression of hope and self-esteem. Just as lying in bed all day binge-watching TV and eating crisps is probably a mark of melancholy. Going out to an exhibition or taking your kids to the Natural History Museum is surely a symbol of belief in your family and the future.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2017/feb/02/drop-uk-museum-attendance
Britain wants to be great and do this alone. But if the world co-ordination breaks down and its every country for itself piracy will grow and become a really serious problem, instead of just a problem as now.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_01.shtml
(I only had heard of slaves taken from Africa, not Britain and Ireland.)
I think Britain will drop more ethically outside the EU and without constraints will suddenly soar up on an inflated balloon from the real world as the USA did when communism was overcome in Russia.
A little eye candy.
A little jingle for modern Britain.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd0aFj9iBJ8
This is how its likely to end as they try working together in perfect synchronisation, uneven and uncertain results.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDvIo_LRIZ4&t=5s
UK defies EU over Indonesian palm oil trade, leaked papers show
UK is pushing for a deal that would boost imports linked to deforestation despite EU moves to ban unsustainable palm oil, diplomatic papers reveal
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/09/uk-defies-eu-over-indonesian-palm-oil-trade-leaked-papers-show
Disgusting.
The May Govt is appalling and has no moral compass whatsoever. They are turning a blind eye to all manner of humanitarian and ecological abuses in a desperate effort to shore up the declining trade that is resulting from their stupidity over BREXIT.
Oh but doesn’t she dress well (going forward)
28-hour week gains momentum in German unions’ push for flexible rights
Key union’s achievement of new work-time model spearheads shift in how to face challenges of 21st century workplace
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/09/28-hour-week-gains-momentum-in-german-unions-push-for-flexible-rights
Yes savenz;
While the TPP11 will drive our wages down by us having to compete in our own country with competitive countries we have now signed up to who use child labour!!!
Well done “dopey David Parker”
Why were you given the job of Environment Minister???
The mind boggles as to what harm you will bring to the Environment next!!!!!
Hi there cleangreen. The previous Labour government had already sign a FTA with a country with human rights and child labour issues. Thanks dopey helen clark.
As far as environment minister, job will be gone once TPP11 comes into it’s own. corporates are going to ride rough-shod over ecologically sensitive tracts to get that last little bit of gold/fossil fuel/coal.
I voted Labour to oust national and have ended up with Labour wearing blue.(bugger)
Greens need more voice and support as does Forest And Bird.
Maybe a vote for Green instead of Labour is a vote for a more Green Labour government of the future, who is more careful with trade deals!!!
Those unhappy with Labour can still switch to Green and then with the coalition hopefully stop National while controlling the neoliberals who have taken over Labour.
Of course people like Parker who are virtually unelectable in an electorate seat are put high up to get them into Labour , otherwise if the public had their way, he would be out there earning an ‘honest’ ha ha living being a lawyer or for agri-biotechnology industry, if he can still remember how.
As I’m trying to bring a good news union story a day here. Here is an old one worth repeating.
AFLW, well done the players union in negotiating up the women’s wages by a whooping 23%.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/aflw-players-to-share-an-extra-500000-next-season-20171102-gzdoh3.html
That’s a goodun
Trump tweets that steel and aluminium tariffs will not affect Australia. This is the result of adult diplomacy. Petulance about refugees (which if successful will only result in drownings at sea) is the opposite of this which is why we have not seen similar overtures for NZ.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/donald-trump-tweets-he-will-not-impose-tariffs-on-the-great-nation-of-australia-20180310-p4z3qp.html
Sup with the Devil and all that…
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-may-gain-concessions-on-steel-but-there-s-much-more-at-stake-20180309-p4z3my.html