I think you nailed it. I have huge respect for the Queens loyalty and work ethic. But apart from that royalty doesn't feature in my life. I have no interest.
''I think you nailed it. I have huge respect for the Queens loyalty and work ethic. Apart from that royalty doesn't feature in my life. I have no interest.''
….They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
We looked for the King, but he never came.
"Well, God take care of him, all the same,"
Says Alice.
They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
They've great big parties inside the grounds.
"I wouldn't be King for a hundred pounds,"
Says Alice.
They're changing guard at Buckingham Palace –
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
A face peered out, but it wasn't the King's.
"He's much too busy a-signing things,"
Says Alice.
….
"Do you think the King knows all about me?"
"Sure to, dear, but it's time for tea,"
Says Alice.
…and am also in solidarity with the Republican Irish, and all other nations that have suffered under a long and brutal history of devastating British Royal imperialism……but then there seems to be plenty of modern imperialists around here so I get the tacit connections…
Fascinating band were Crass. Time has helped with understanding where they were coming from – as a young teenage musician they both attracted and repelled me.
Their political conviction was particularly strong. It must have really galled them how popular they became, and how they were forced to embrace the capitalist system they so despised in order to satisfy the demand for their music (which definitely isn't to everybody's taste).
Cheers for the reminder Adrian.
Here's the lyrics for that song in case you didn't understand the accent:
You have this life, what for? Tell me.
Spend it on shit, your ignorance appals me.
You serve me your morals, changed for a fiver,
Upright citizen, Penthouse subscriber.
You won't print the word, but you'll beat up the wife,
In your ignorant, arrogant, terminal life.
You have this life, you deprive me of mine,
With your twisted, imbalanced idea of sin.
That revolves around money; how much are you bought for?
A tenner, a fiver, is that what you're caught for?
I'm sick of your pride, you think you can rule me,
With crappy judgement from your respectable majority.
Majority of what? You self oppressed idiot,
I'm not going to carry you, I'm no compatriot.
How many times do I excuse and forgive
The damage inflicted by the way that you live?
I hold my vision against your oppression,
Your final defence, your only possession.
I'll show you the blood, but you'll still point the gun,
If the money's enough, or can you show you're a man?
To your submissive wife, desperate whore,
Home loving, mothering, stifling bore.
You have this life, you twist and abuse it,
Morals and money and media controls it.
Can't you see the dead children, blood in the street?
Every fist that you raise is a corpse at your feet.
Every time you are bought, I don't care the amount,
You are the rapist, dealing in death count.
And you do this with mercenary morals, you shit,
Oh, you've been told about dignity down in the pit.
Respectable working man, honourable wife?
A waste of energy and an insult to life.
And here's some information about the album Station of the Crass.
Yep, I swapped my Sid Vicious t-shirt (that I printed) when I was about 13 to a pommy punk for his Crass t-shirt…crass were my political awakening and I never looked back.
Love them or hate them (which many did) they had an original and unique sound…which is not nothing in the world of music….more than 99.9% of bands manage to achieve.
Fascinating band were Crass. Time has helped with understanding where they were coming from….
We could probably all do with understanding where all the passionate young anarchists are coming from.
….Can't you see the dead children, blood in the street?
Every fist that you raise is a corpse at your feet.
Every time you are bought, I don't care the amount,
You are the rapist, dealing in death count.
And you do this with mercenary morals, you shit,
Oh, you've been told about dignity down in the pit….
Luckily the young still have clarity of vision and the passion and courage to stand up to the sort of bloody savagery railed against by Crass
My name is Ilya. I’m an anarchist living in Ukraine. I left Russia a few years back because of the crackdown on the entire anarchist movement…..
…..Our platoon also has anti-fascist movement members who aren’t anarchists, so I’m going to speak for myself: Putin's invasion is not a war between two states. It’s a war between Putin’s regime and Ukrainian society. In my opinion, the Ukrainian state is corrupt, oligarchic, and neoliberal. I’m not too fond of it. However, Ukrainian society has a lot more freedom and pluralism than its Russian and Belarusian counterparts; than almost all of its neighbors. Turkey is no better than Putin’s Russia, while Poland and Hungary have swayed considerably towards conservatism lately. The Ukrainian state exerts considerably less control over its citizens’ private lives. Since Russia decided to export its authoritarian Mordor-style regime, Ukrainian society needs protection.
Like the usual front page headlines, the hysterical TV shock explosive news coverage, political journos trying to justify their existence and the obligatory David Seymour exposure, it was all nothing. It all ends up a footnote on the bottom of page 27.
Perhaps some realised their frustration was misdirected. A most salient point:
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said it was great to have Shaw “back alongside me.”
“Over the last five years, I have seen first-hand how hard James has pushed Labour to take more radical climate action. Much like me, he gets frustrated at the slow pace of change and wants to see the government move much faster than it is.
“There is one simple way we can all make sure the next government takes more urgent action to address climate change and inequality – and that is by electing more Green MPs.”
Many frustrated people are or become armchair critics and/or keyboard warriors with very little to offer by way of constructive criticism, new ideas, or solutions. There’s another political party that’s tailored for them and it ain’t the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s not for the fainthearted to turn something negative into something useful, constructive, and positive.
There was much talk of the dissatisfaction of the activist and youth wings of the Greens being responsible for Shaw's deselection, they are not among those I'd associate with disengaged and dismissive criticism. The open dialogues with members that the leadership reelection required largely appears to have reassured these groups. I hope it has sharpened their focus on the real brake on our Governmental response to climate change.
When you operate under a consensus model pro-active engagement and re-engagement is a must, as is trust and being reasonable. It seems to have worked well and this is what one would have expected. It did also highlight how very few people in MSM and elsewhere struggle to understand this concept and context and how they’d rather jump to wrong conclusions than to listen, learn, and understand.
So, the whole thing was a storm in a tea-cup brought on by a miniscule bunch of anarchists? The Greens need to do a little bit of thinking about how to overcome such pointless and costly activity – in more ways than one.
I will take the democratic structures in the Greens over what passes for democracy in other political parties. Grassroots democracy is sometimes messy but that is the price for including all voices. I doubt there are anarchists within the Greens, liberterian socialists or similar sure, but not anarchists.
He presents as the smartest person in the room. Mr Hawkins is a polished performer in council meetings and typically chairs them well. He is articulate, intelligent and a formidable debater. A progressive agenda maintained momentum under his watch and the city is investing significantly in fixing ageing infrastructure. Mr Hawkins rubs some people up the wrong way, both in the community and within the council. He is endorsed by the Green Party and this is not to everyone’s taste. Not all of his witty asides go down well. A question mark hovers over his people skills. His rivalry with Jim O’Malley appears to be needless and does little credit to either man. There have been grumblings about the ways information is, or is not, shared. Mr Hawkins’ principles are clear. He is an advocate for meaningful climate action, for not leaving the disadvantaged behind and he is socially liberal. Showing due respect to mana whenua is a priority for him, and increasingly for the council, and Mr Hawkins has been prepared to front this. His communication with media has improved. The direction of his waka is clear, but is he taking enough people with him on the journey?"
You're pretty tiring, but on record Hawkins supported all of Cull's key budget priorities, and as importantly has continued them. They are all published votes inside the LTP over multiple years that you can find yourself.
Just as importantly Hawkins successfully pushed for the George Street upgrade. And got it.
You will also see NZTA fold against the one way system, again on Hawkins' leadership with the Minister.
If you are looking for a budgetary reason to rail against Hawkins, you need to keep digging.
Whereas Hawkins has the record, the decisions, and the delivery to gain the votes perfectly legitimately. He's gained his ODT score of 7 with ease.
Pretty tiring"your the one pontificating here,I hardly say boo and If on that rare occasion,the likes of you come down with your micro aggression.
Pleased to see you realize their are more than two around the table.
More to remove the wealth effect,which excites animal spirits.
Even apart from the instability due to speculation, there is the instability due to the characteristic of human nature that a large proportion of our positive activities depend on spontaneous optimism rather than on a mathematical expectation, whether moral or hedonistic or economic. Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as a result of animal spirits – of a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities
Most of the on demand bourgeios have never seen double digit inflation,and the accompanying creative destruction,as value and demand transfer to productive sectors.
Aaron Hawkins' quiet competence in promoting forward-thinking measures needs the strongest possible support from prospective Council members and voters to elect them who would NOT be " rubbed up the wrong way".
This case highlights the very dangerous practice MSD engages in all the time, which is to equate legal marriage plus living under the same roof as unassailable proof that two people are "married" for benefit purposes. The damage this behaviour causes people, lives turned upside down, is immeasurable.
In this case Theresa Jeffries had the guts to take them on. Most people don’t, and MSD knows this.
TBH – I think that most National voters would have regarded her as the 'deserving poor' [NB: this is my interpretation of their belief]
This all seemed to be around the time when her ex-partner was seriously ill and dying, and she was looking after him (you can still care for someone, especially in a time of trouble, even if you're no longer 'married').
This sounds like bureaucracy gone mad, rather than a principled decision.
And, especially, trying to appeal the decision – looks like a lawyer saying 'OMG we may have a bad precedent here, we must appeal' – rather than considering any ethical principles or the disproportionate impact on the individuals.
The worst part of bureaucracy, is that it is blind to individual circumstance – the same 'rules' apply to all.
A lot of the trouble happens, and in a way is even more insidious, where admissions to fraud are elicited by MSD's insistence that they're telling people the correct legal test for what constitutes a relationship. There's already a bunch of myths around this like 'he stays more than 3 nights a week so it's a relationship' so it's already easy for MSD to sound like they know what they're talking about. "Sorry, but the law says your relationship stops you from being entitled to a benefit, so admit the relationship now and things will be easier later". Most of these cases we don't see, especially at the time they happen, but we know it's standard practice so the aftermath is all around us. Wrongfully established debts, often very large debts, imprisonment, needless tearing apart of families etc etc.
Theresa Jeffries fought back, most people don't, and even amongst those who do there are still cases like Kathryn Harlen's:
I agree about the individual entitlement in principle.
Where I'm not so keen is the situation where a family member (usually a woman aka Mum) chooses not to be in paid employment, because the father earns so much – and the family only 'works' if there is an actual caregiving parent – rather than two absentee ones.
I'm not so keen that Mum should get a benefit under those circs…..
At two minutes Mikhail Khodaryonok, the former RU officer and analyst rapped over the knuckles early in the war for his frank assessments, explains the gravity of the situation Russian forces find themselves in.
Ninety years ago Stalin used mass deportations to clear the way for the Russification of Eastern Europe. Poots is his natural heir.
Ukraine denounced Russia’s “filtration” scheme at a United Nations Security Council meeting Wednesday.
Deputy Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn said Ukrainians forced to head to Russia or Russian-controlled territory are being killed and tortured.
Hayovyshyn told the Security Council that thousands of Ukrainian citizens are being forcefully deported to “isolated and depressed regions of Siberia and the far east. The Ambassador said 2.5 million people have been deported, including 38,000 children.
Chris Trotter is peak Boomer here, slagging off the housing developments that are solving the housing crisis, giving shelter to those in need, cooling the overheated market, and reducing rent pressure
I thought Trotter's take was bad, but this pile of horseshit from WSWS is worse. It blames Labour for the crisis that has taken decades to create, whereas most of the blame lies with Teflon John Key and his "rockstar economy" not the government that's actually trying to fix it.
This government is facilitating an unprecedented boom in housing development of all types and combatting the conditions that led to this situation. What's the WSWS solution? Bloodshed and violent revolution. What a repulsive outfit
Wrong. The HUD dashboard "shows what has been delivered by the end of the month", that's why it only goes up to July 2022. I suspect your PDF is based on different definitions – it is already based on a different time frame.
I think you will find they are (deliberately) conflating the two…you may note no defined number of delivered public homes since 2017, only a monthly figure.
It is quite simple …KO have a stock of housing they can distribute to those on the waiting list, and that stock number is contained in their stock take….and it isnt 10,000 (+) larger than it was in 2017
and P.S….if we were to maintain the the public housing ratio we enjoyed in the 1970s we would require an additional approx 50,000 public houses over 2107 today….. a fact they are well aware of but id suggest they wont target for economic/political reasons
Had the pleasure of mentioning the payout, and the potential velvet price this year which is looking very good because of sanctions on Russia who account for half world production (we're most of the other half) to a couple of farmers moaning about the price of everything….. fucking lefty, always sees the bright side…
Poor buggers are probably going to be paying tax because everything is too damn expensive, not paying those prices…
I can't see much changing with fert prices for some time. We've become as dependent on cheap Russian fert supply as Europe has for gas. Going to be a tough transition but hopefully to a better place.
It is similar to oil dependence since there's not much elasticity with not enough developed alternatives. Yet high price for the existing input is the only useful signal away from dependence.
I have sneaking suspicion that if farmers don't push for import alternatives, the 3 Waters entities are just going to regulate the crap out of those farmers anyway. Maybe farmers have that sneaking suspicion as well.
It's coming out well over 125% once it's on the ground, especially if comparison is over several years. There's some heavy reassessment of priorities going on at present. Unfortunately this is probably going to lead to much greater intensification rather than less as inputs are applied in conjunction with irrigation to get best return. Won't be much work going into hill country for a while.
There's a change in the rhetoric going on too, it's He Waka Eke Noa and transition now and the Groundswell thing isn't mentioned. Farm manager came back from a Farm Focus Group last week talking carbon credits on grey shrubland and fencing requirements for wild animal exclusion.
Peter Zeihan has been warning on fertiliser for some time. I forget when he first brought this up, but his key message is that at the moment we are still essentially eating last years crop.
From a global perspective the impact of famine is still ahead of us.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
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, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
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 is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
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 ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
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 ...
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, ...
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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Two takes on the death of a Royal…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kul5_XVEktI
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PSdxFccfgNI
I know which camp I am in….
I'd suggest the vast majority are in neither camp. Most people are neither fawning nor crass.
I think you nailed it. I have huge respect for the Queens loyalty and work ethic. But apart from that royalty doesn't feature in my life. I have no interest.
I am not a Royalist. But….
What is it that is said, about everything before But
I'll rephrase to put your mind at ease.
''I think you nailed it. I have huge respect for the Queens loyalty and work ethic. Apart from that royalty doesn't feature in my life. I have no interest.''
The Queen is dead.
Long liveDown with the King.For the child in all of us.
That's suits me just fine…..I really like Crass…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beZPu-lS7dI
…and am also in solidarity with the Republican Irish, and all other nations that have suffered under a long and brutal history of devastating British Royal imperialism……but then there seems to be plenty of modern imperialists around here so I get the tacit connections…
Fascinating band were Crass. Time has helped with understanding where they were coming from – as a young teenage musician they both attracted and repelled me.
Their political conviction was particularly strong. It must have really galled them how popular they became, and how they were forced to embrace the capitalist system they so despised in order to satisfy the demand for their music (which definitely isn't to everybody's taste).
Cheers for the reminder Adrian.
Here's the lyrics for that song in case you didn't understand the accent:
You have this life, what for? Tell me.
Spend it on shit, your ignorance appals me.
You serve me your morals, changed for a fiver,
Upright citizen, Penthouse subscriber.
You won't print the word, but you'll beat up the wife,
In your ignorant, arrogant, terminal life.
You have this life, you deprive me of mine,
With your twisted, imbalanced idea of sin.
That revolves around money; how much are you bought for?
A tenner, a fiver, is that what you're caught for?
I'm sick of your pride, you think you can rule me,
With crappy judgement from your respectable majority.
Majority of what? You self oppressed idiot,
I'm not going to carry you, I'm no compatriot.
How many times do I excuse and forgive
The damage inflicted by the way that you live?
I hold my vision against your oppression,
Your final defence, your only possession.
I'll show you the blood, but you'll still point the gun,
If the money's enough, or can you show you're a man?
To your submissive wife, desperate whore,
Home loving, mothering, stifling bore.
You have this life, you twist and abuse it,
Morals and money and media controls it.
Can't you see the dead children, blood in the street?
Every fist that you raise is a corpse at your feet.
Every time you are bought, I don't care the amount,
You are the rapist, dealing in death count.
And you do this with mercenary morals, you shit,
Oh, you've been told about dignity down in the pit.
Respectable working man, honourable wife?
A waste of energy and an insult to life.
And here's some information about the album Station of the Crass.
https://en.apoplife.nl/in-1979-crass-release-their-ultimate-statement-stations-of-the-crass/
They got their name from a line in David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" song – "the kids was just crass"
Yep, I swapped my Sid Vicious t-shirt (that I printed) when I was about 13 to a pommy punk for his Crass t-shirt…crass were my political awakening and I never looked back.
Love them or hate them (which many did) they had an original and unique sound…which is not nothing in the world of music….more than 99.9% of bands manage to achieve.
Yep that's the Val Doonican number I'd be expecting.
If Anarchists could write the equivalent of God Save The King to a thousand voices in a cathedral, they'd probably pack the streets.
Meantime, most enjoy the singalong.
wow those are some lyrics…but well said.
Anarchists wrote this modern hymn:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5uWRjFsGc&ab_channel=ChumbawambaVEVO
riffer
10 September 2022 at 8:26 am
Fascinating band were Crass. Time has helped with understanding where they were coming from….
We could probably all do with understanding where all the passionate young anarchists are coming from.
Luckily the young still have clarity of vision and the passion and courage to stand up to the sort of bloody savagery railed against by Crass
https://www.greens.org.nz/james_shaw_re_elected_as_co_leader_of_the_green_party
Like the usual front page headlines, the hysterical TV shock explosive news coverage, political journos trying to justify their existence and the obligatory David Seymour exposure, it was all nothing. It all ends up a footnote on the bottom of page 27.
Phew! Mind you, that's only 97% support – just squeaked in
Perhaps some realised their frustration was misdirected. A most salient point:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/474500/james-shaw-re-elected-as-green-party-co-leader-by-delegates
Many frustrated people are or become armchair critics and/or keyboard warriors with very little to offer by way of constructive criticism, new ideas, or solutions. There’s another political party that’s tailored for them and it ain’t the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s not for the fainthearted to turn something negative into something useful, constructive, and positive.
There was much talk of the dissatisfaction of the activist and youth wings of the Greens being responsible for Shaw's deselection, they are not among those I'd associate with disengaged and dismissive criticism. The open dialogues with members that the leadership reelection required largely appears to have reassured these groups. I hope it has sharpened their focus on the real brake on our Governmental response to climate change.
When you operate under a consensus model pro-active engagement and re-engagement is a must, as is trust and being reasonable. It seems to have worked well and this is what one would have expected. It did also highlight how very few people in MSM and elsewhere struggle to understand this concept and context and how they’d rather jump to wrong conclusions than to listen, learn, and understand.
Absolutely. I think perhaps it is a result of the medium in which most of operate. Headlines become clickbait become headlines.
Shaw was never deselected.
The King is dead. Long live the King
You’re miles off the mark, as usual.
Jenny's comment (about James Shaw) is funny, isn't it?
Yup, very funny, indeed.
So, the whole thing was a storm in a tea-cup brought on by a miniscule bunch of anarchists? The Greens need to do a little bit of thinking about how to overcome such pointless and costly activity – in more ways than one.
Maybe – I kinda like the way the Greens show us it's possible to do things differently.
I will take the democratic structures in the Greens over what passes for democracy in other political parties. Grassroots democracy is sometimes messy but that is the price for including all voices. I doubt there are anarchists within the Greens, liberterian socialists or similar sure, but not anarchists.
That's good news that he was re-elected. Who was he up against?
"Aaron Hawkins 7
He presents as the smartest person in the room. Mr Hawkins is a polished performer in council meetings and typically chairs them well. He is articulate, intelligent and a formidable debater. A progressive agenda maintained momentum under his watch and the city is investing significantly in fixing ageing infrastructure. Mr Hawkins rubs some people up the wrong way, both in the community and within the council. He is endorsed by the Green Party and this is not to everyone’s taste. Not all of his witty asides go down well. A question mark hovers over his people skills. His rivalry with Jim O’Malley appears to be needless and does little credit to either man. There have been grumblings about the ways information is, or is not, shared. Mr Hawkins’ principles are clear. He is an advocate for meaningful climate action, for not leaving the disadvantaged behind and he is socially liberal. Showing due respect to mana whenua is a priority for him, and increasingly for the council, and Mr Hawkins has been prepared to front this. His communication with media has improved. The direction of his waka is clear, but is he taking enough people with him on the journey?"
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/dcc/dunedin-city-council-how-they-rated
Easily gets our votes.
Portobello cycleway is fantastic.
Pt Chalmers to Dunedin cycleway opening next April.
Hawkins delivers.
Yours, and those of my Dunedin families.
Which was well in place by the time he appeared.So you do have a link to validate this claim.
You don't understand politics 101.
It's who opens it that matters.
That's where I started,fella.
You're pretty tiring, but on record Hawkins supported all of Cull's key budget priorities, and as importantly has continued them. They are all published votes inside the LTP over multiple years that you can find yourself.
Just as importantly Hawkins successfully pushed for the George Street upgrade. And got it.
You will also see NZTA fold against the one way system, again on Hawkins' leadership with the Minister.
If you are looking for a budgetary reason to rail against Hawkins, you need to keep digging.
Whereas Hawkins has the record, the decisions, and the delivery to gain the votes perfectly legitimately. He's gained his ODT score of 7 with ease.
Pretty tiring"your the one pontificating here,I hardly say boo and If on that rare occasion,the likes of you come down with your micro aggression.
Pleased to see you realize their are more than two around the table.
You want to make a point about me supporting Hawkins for Mayor, do better.
Your free to make that point and supporting Aaron is good,but I think he made a better councilor than Mayor,too divisive.
Lee Vandervis hates Aaron Hawkins, so he must be good-vote Hawkins.
Mr Vandervis is his own worst enemy,with very little chance.How about a Women this time around.
He seems like a good guy but has a pretty gross blind spot
US Household and NPO net wealth falls 6.1 trillion US$ in Q2,greater then Covid.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/z1/changes_in_net_worth/chart/
The fed chair did say he wanted to get wages down.
https://archive.ph/Z4f02 (wsj)
More to remove the wealth effect,which excites animal spirits.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_spirits_(Keynes)
Look at the NZ housing bubble,where 42% price increases occured,as a mix of easy money and irrational behaviour.
Now you can save 765$ a day by not buying a house in AK ( the rate of depreciation since Jan)
Couple more months at that rate and I'll have saved enough for a 20% deposit
But FOMO …
As in a few bob and he thinks he's rich/ slips through his fingers/ burns a hole in his pocket ?
Unfortunately people dont understand that 'asset values' are ultimately a function of output…or those that do are short term in view.
Most of the on demand bourgeios have never seen double digit inflation,and the accompanying creative destruction,as value and demand transfer to productive sectors.
Aaron Hawkins' quiet competence in promoting forward-thinking measures needs the strongest possible support from prospective Council members and voters to elect them who would NOT be " rubbed up the wrong way".
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300684095/retrial-request-denied-over-alleged-benefit-fraud-worth-7285
This case highlights the very dangerous practice MSD engages in all the time, which is to equate legal marriage plus living under the same roof as unassailable proof that two people are "married" for benefit purposes. The damage this behaviour causes people, lives turned upside down, is immeasurable.
In this case Theresa Jeffries had the guts to take them on. Most people don’t, and MSD knows this.
Add another couple of zeroes – and you'll come close to what WINZ would have spent prosecuting this case.
And, for what benefit?
National voters getting their jollies from bashing poor people?
TBH – I think that most National voters would have regarded her as the 'deserving poor' [NB: this is my interpretation of their belief]
This all seemed to be around the time when her ex-partner was seriously ill and dying, and she was looking after him (you can still care for someone, especially in a time of trouble, even if you're no longer 'married').
This sounds like bureaucracy gone mad, rather than a principled decision.
And, especially, trying to appeal the decision – looks like a lawyer saying 'OMG we may have a bad precedent here, we must appeal' – rather than considering any ethical principles or the disproportionate impact on the individuals.
The worst part of bureaucracy, is that it is blind to individual circumstance – the same 'rules' apply to all.
A lot of the trouble happens, and in a way is even more insidious, where admissions to fraud are elicited by MSD's insistence that they're telling people the correct legal test for what constitutes a relationship. There's already a bunch of myths around this like 'he stays more than 3 nights a week so it's a relationship' so it's already easy for MSD to sound like they know what they're talking about. "Sorry, but the law says your relationship stops you from being entitled to a benefit, so admit the relationship now and things will be easier later". Most of these cases we don't see, especially at the time they happen, but we know it's standard practice so the aftermath is all around us. Wrongfully established debts, often very large debts, imprisonment, needless tearing apart of families etc etc.
Theresa Jeffries fought back, most people don't, and even amongst those who do there are still cases like Kathryn Harlen's:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60189fe639b6d67b861cf5c4/t/62fde84265e4b8504354a69b/1660807241435/CPAG-KathrynDaughters-Story-Aug2021.pdf
Then there are attitudes like these to combat:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2017/06/just_give_us_our_20_a_week.html
There are difficulties are at all levels. Surely individual entitlement is the only way to deal with this problem.
I agree about the individual entitlement in principle.
Where I'm not so keen is the situation where a family member (usually a woman aka Mum) chooses not to be in paid employment, because the father earns so much – and the family only 'works' if there is an actual caregiving parent – rather than two absentee ones.
I'm not so keen that Mum should get a benefit under those circs…..
Who woulda thunk this could happen when the pro-p******* and their lies got traction.
Way to go, scum.
/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/9/new-york-governor-declares-disaster-emergency-over-polio
At two minutes Mikhail Khodaryonok, the former RU officer and analyst rapped over the knuckles early in the war for his frank assessments, explains the gravity of the situation Russian forces find themselves in.
https://twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1568310989149605888
Ouch..
https://twitter.com/GicAriana/status/1568478836785831936
Wow, they even quoted Stalin at the end "let us remember that Josef V Stalin called for the ones who panicked to be shot"
Shameless
Ninety years ago Stalin used mass deportations to clear the way for the Russification of Eastern Europe. Poots is his natural heir.
Ukraine denounced Russia’s “filtration” scheme at a United Nations Security Council meeting Wednesday.
Deputy Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Khrystyna Hayovyshyn said Ukrainians forced to head to Russia or Russian-controlled territory are being killed and tortured.
https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-new-09-07-22/index.html
Chris Trotter is peak Boomer here, slagging off the housing developments that are solving the housing crisis, giving shelter to those in need, cooling the overheated market, and reducing rent pressure
The Bad Guys Are Winning | The Daily Blog
What a silly old bugger. He should hand back his "socialist" card and cloth cap. Just another selfish NIMBY
Jim Bolger on the other side should hand in his brandy and cigars and join Trotter.
Extraordinary. These old left desperados (right wing nut jobs in drag) are falling off a cliff.
I thought Trotter's take was bad, but this pile of horseshit from WSWS is worse. It blames Labour for the crisis that has taken decades to create, whereas most of the blame lies with Teflon John Key and his "rockstar economy" not the government that's actually trying to fix it.
Homelessness worsens dramatically in New Zealand under Labour – World Socialist Web Site (wsws.org)
This government is facilitating an unprecedented boom in housing development of all types and combatting the conditions that led to this situation. What's the WSWS solution? Bloodshed and violent revolution. What a repulsive outfit
4000 state houses in 5 years….is he wrong?
Look it up Pat He is wrong.
I looked it up a couple of weeks ago , hence the comment.
https://kaingaora.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Managed-stock/Managed-Stock-National-Summary-June-2022.pdf
Our state housing stock is 76450, an increase of 10304 since 2017.
https://www.hud.govt.nz/stats-and-insight/the-government-housing-dashboard/housing-dashboard-at-a-glance/
https://kaingaora.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Managed-stock/Managed-Stock-National-Summary-June-2022.pdf
Quibbling over definitions. Kainga Ora managed properties are probably a subset of all "public homes"
no probablies…the stock is listed, whereas your dashboard includes 'expected builds'….definitions matter.
You cant live in 'expected builds'
The spin doctors are earning their money.
Wrong. The HUD dashboard "shows what has been delivered by the end of the month", that's why it only goes up to July 2022. I suspect your PDF is based on different definitions – it is already based on a different time frame.
"Delivery and planned supply shows:
“planned’….end of the financial year…that would be in 2023.
Link please.
Your own…
https://www.hud.govt.nz/stats-and-insight/the-government-housing-dashboard/housing-dashboard-at-a-glance/
I did suggest you look at the definitions in your link….apparently you chose not to
That is the future facing definition of "delivery and planned supply". I think you've clicked the wrong tab.
The tabs for "Public homes" and "Change in public homes" are separate numbers.
I think you will find they are (deliberately) conflating the two…you may note no defined number of delivered public homes since 2017, only a monthly figure.
It is quite simple …KO have a stock of housing they can distribute to those on the waiting list, and that stock number is contained in their stock take….and it isnt 10,000 (+) larger than it was in 2017
and P.S….if we were to maintain the the public housing ratio we enjoyed in the 1970s we would require an additional approx 50,000 public houses over 2107 today….. a fact they are well aware of but id suggest they wont target for economic/political reasons
More likely that you've made a mistake
Have a look at your 'dashboard' definitions….its a little difficult to live in a consent.
Does he now own a house?
Is this the first time since the late 1970s we've seen a proper windfall tax actually proposed on energy companies?
(216) EU proposes Russian gas price cap, windfall tax • FRANCE 24 English – YouTube
At $9.50 a kilo what would a windfall tax look like on Fonterra?
Got those cross hairs firmly focused on your own foot
Had the pleasure of mentioning the payout, and the potential velvet price this year which is looking very good because of sanctions on Russia who account for half world production (we're most of the other half) to a couple of farmers moaning about the price of everything….. fucking lefty, always sees the bright side…
Poor buggers are probably going to be paying tax because everything is too damn expensive, not paying those prices…
Really high input prices need to stay that way to force the accelerated production of feedstock alternatives like local seaweed.
Farmers do have a point, but they need to push for local sources with lower strategic risks.
Fertiliser world in a squeeze – NZ Farm Life Media – Down to earth
I can't see much changing with fert prices for some time. We've become as dependent on cheap Russian fert supply as Europe has for gas. Going to be a tough transition but hopefully to a better place.
It is similar to oil dependence since there's not much elasticity with not enough developed alternatives. Yet high price for the existing input is the only useful signal away from dependence.
Farmers brace as costs spiral, one fertiliser up 125 per cent, feed an extra $30,000 a year – NZ Herald
I have sneaking suspicion that if farmers don't push for import alternatives, the 3 Waters entities are just going to regulate the crap out of those farmers anyway. Maybe farmers have that sneaking suspicion as well.
It's coming out well over 125% once it's on the ground, especially if comparison is over several years. There's some heavy reassessment of priorities going on at present. Unfortunately this is probably going to lead to much greater intensification rather than less as inputs are applied in conjunction with irrigation to get best return. Won't be much work going into hill country for a while.
There's a change in the rhetoric going on too, it's He Waka Eke Noa and transition now and the Groundswell thing isn't mentioned. Farm manager came back from a Farm Focus Group last week talking carbon credits on grey shrubland and fencing requirements for wild animal exclusion.
Peter Zeihan has been warning on fertiliser for some time. I forget when he first brought this up, but his key message is that at the moment we are still essentially eating last years crop.
From a global perspective the impact of famine is still ahead of us.
Onya, Mate ! : ) On other….Hope all good for you?