Interesting article about the Greens in Stuff. James Shaw very much a loner now in the party. Definitely wouldn't surprise me if he was forced out (or leaves) in this term as he does seem to be the only member concerned about environmental issues.
"Shaw is not the co-leader of the Green Party because you cannot lead if others will not follow. His party is no longer interested in environmental issues."
Yes I agree Damien is well right leaning. He ran those debates with Bradbury prior to the election with different candidates. I think a big part of the Greens vote increase came from people not voting Labour.
The current Green Party "team" of MP's is far and above the most powerful the party has ever had and given how excellent past Green MPs have been, that's really something to celebrate!
I think now CC is such a massive issue that there are quite a few new Green voters from across the political spectrum. It is not just a simple matter of how the Left vote is split up.
It's obvious Damien Grant is bitter over the relative poll numbers of Green and ACT, which indicate which one is of the future.
And in his own way he notes the utility of one of the co-leaders, the environment spokesperson, being at COP 28. And the other one in parliament as part of the resistance to the anti-Maori direction of the hydra headed landlord class war government.
The rest is just racist, the white man away the coloured children who should be seen and not heard. He is just parroting John Howard on One Voice. The same meanness at coloured folk is in fashion at the Platform, as per Sean Plunkett.
The attempt to distinguishing being a white man and support for the Palestinian just shows that a western colonial settler overlord class sticks together against indigenous peoples.
The more intelligent Jew would find his support in that light dangerously offensive.
Otherwise the narrative that Shaw could prove he was a leader, if there was no policy on anything but the environment (Starmer Blairlite harmless to the neo-liberal right), that the right finds confronting – domestic and foreign.
They mention past leaders like Fitzsimmons, Donald and Norman because they were so white …
This is the same tired old trope about the Greens. It collapses the moment it is tested.
Critic: "The Greens are too woke, they should do environment!"
Greens: "Ok, here's a policy on climate change, are you on board?"
Critic: "No, not that one"
Greens: "How about this policy instead? Very environmental."
Critic: "No, not that one."
And so on.
Note that Damien Grant does not name a single Green policy on climate change that he supports. Or on the environment in general. Because he's not interested.
And of course he resorts to another tired tactic: fake praise for previous leaders, who of course the Right totally approved of (Donald, Fitzsimons, Norman). That's sarcasm, sorry … the Right attacked and derided those leaders constantly.
Of course, the new government could adopt any of those nice sensible woke-free Green policies on the environment any time they want. They don't need those wacko Greens to get serious about climate change. They could even do something as modest and easy as continuing the previous government's small steps forward. Nobody could stop them.
It would have been an interesting move by Luxon to offer Shaw the Climate Change minister role, and with the budget that Labour suddenly pulled from Shaw without telling him, restored.
If Shaw declined, then the Greens would get questions about how much they were really about the environment, and would find it hard to get any credibility when complaining that the new government wasn't doing enough for CC.
If he accepted, then it's all on the Greens if things don't improve in that area.
Same for offering TPM one of the Maori related ministerships.
It would be refused of course, and with the maximum huffing and puffing, but then TPM couldn't credibly complain later, if enough wasn't done for their causes.
Shaw will probably be made to apply for his job again, even though he's the only one in that party sufficiently qualified to advocate for the environment, as that's how the Greens seem to do things. I hope he gets reelected as a leader, as if not, this will definitely be his last term and we'll all be worse off as a result.
Luxon didn't even need to offer Shaw the job. He could simply have phoned Shaw for a chat, and told the media that he had. Would have sent a message to Winston to behave.
There was only one thing stopping Luxon … namely, everything National stand for.
Fantasies are free, but putting this on the Greens or TPM when it would have cost Luxon his job is laughable.
He knows jack about the Green party.I can assure you that environmental issues are crucial to the Greens .That they are also concerned about social justice is a bonus
I'm glad that Greens prioritises both social justice and the environment.
I would not be a voter of Greens otherwise.
The other Green Parties of the world usually is less attractive a proposal to vote for, than what we have in NZ, and the one in UK is the closest in equivalence to our Greens yet there's still something missing from it.
In my worldview, progressive social movements are interlaced with our common wealth and resources & our relationship to these aspects which is intertwined with class and with nature. This is ecological wisdom and our Greens has really embodied most of this well. There's definitely room for improvement imo.
I think our ecological & social & class-based movements are some of the vehicles that we will use to steer ourselves through the 21st century and beyond. It'll be a rough century this century.
If I have a critique to make of the Greens, it's that we are yet to fully embrace a globally & locally minded eco-socialism with intersectionalist aspects.
However, we'll try to get there even if there'll be mistakes on the way. The cost otherwise really is intolerably too high.
Most western media parrot the 'China bad' narrative but Rnaud brings a different perspective in this thread, which is generally economic news but sprinkled with society and politics in China, and geopolitics in general.
In other parts of the world the Green Party is spending a lot of time promoting "luxury beliefs" and performative ideology.
"The Victorian Greens now define transphobia as the vilification of trans people; intentionally misgendering people individually or as a group; denying that non-binary genders exist; or “promoting the unnecessary prioritisation of sex characteristics above gender”.
The party’s new rules also state that “advocating for unnecessary restrictions on transition care” and “asking leading questions that cover for doing one of the above” can constitute transphobia."
As we have seen with the push back against gender identity ideology within the UK Greens, GII isn't inherent to Green politics. There are other ways of understanding sex and gender that fit with Green politics.
A chunk of the UK Greens are pretty mindblowingly bonkers. Haven't seen any of the genderists defend Aimee Channellor lately 😉 But they do hold the balance of power, which is a shame, because the UK pol desperately needs a strong GP.
"Journalists were once again celebrated in 2023 by remaining near the bottom in the global Ipsos Trustworthiness Index. We’re down there with politicians, successful politicians (Cabinet ministers etc), advertising execs and bankers.
Meanwhile, scientists and doctors top the Index, which, on recent evidence, shows the true perversity of a species that listens the least to the people it trusts the most."
And the converse? Do we listen more to the reckons of politicians, sales pitches of advertisers, and the opinions offered by journalists even though we trust them less?
Peters' advert. Reading it made me think, someone to cover his blurts with a Willis, "What Winston meant to say". Perhaps Damian Grant or someone of that ilk
1.Separation allowed loans to be raised (external Maori participation enabled separation and was also WT compliant)
2.Councils have debt caps and so cannot raise the finance, thus have to raise water charges to finance the raise the infrastructure investment.
Read the Auckland report about their problems.
There is a lot of irony in this. The three headed hydra plans to finance a lot of infrastructure via offshore investment, but they have snookered this option in water, because they played politics.
There was also a website for the general public with explanations and calculators that did a great job of making the case, but that seems to have disappeared.
Have you read how it was purposed to work Pat, because your comments show you have not.
Simple summary to follow:
Firstly it was designed to get around council borrowing limits. Secondly it was to make sure those in dire need were to get said loans first. Third and here the real kicker, it was dedicated to fix water infrastructure over and above all else. Fourth, Māori were to be part of the governance.
Super stripped down summary.
I get for some folk the fourth point made them see red, turn off their brain and act like right c&*^%. Ask yourself, were you one of those people?
Labour really did fuck up the handling and messaging on this. I came in late and it was impossible to understand the whole thing. Your summary is probably the most useful thing I've read on it.
Centralisation of power and decision making was an additional issue.
It got around WT issues with moving control from public bodies (councils) and enabled the separation to ensure the access to lower cost finance in one.
“Da Bloody Maaaaaaaris is stealing da water”! is the battle cry of these slack jowled redneck crackers. They never acknowledge that it was John Key selling 49% of the Hydro Assets that triggered Māori going to the Waitangi Tribunal and the Waitangi Tribunal agreed with Māori that they do have an interest in water and that it was the State’s responsibility to negotiate that interest with Māori. 3 Waters is the culmination of that interpretation of the Tribunals legal ruling, trying to concoct a Qanon conspiracy that the Māori elite are taking over is as stupid as it is stupid.
It was stated it was going to get around council borrowing limits but the money markets determined that would be treated as part of the councils assets regardless….and the government was avoiding being the funder at a further reduced finance rate.
Secondly it provided no such guarantee that those in the greatedt need would recieve attention first, indeed it was conceivable (likely) that the fact there were more units administered by a reduced number of entities that priorities would be focused on the biggest gains in the earliest stages….to the detriment of smaller population areas.
Third it required the delivery of infrastructure that met the required standard…and heres the kicker, within its ability to fund it…..that means how much they can charge you and me (well not me , because I am not provided with said infrastructure)…so it is as politically limited as council entities are/were, unless you advocate an entity that achieves its target of delivery irrespective of whether it provides a service to all or only those who can pay?
And fourth there was no argued advantage to increasing the bureaucracy/cost of the co governance model.
And one you missed, it didnt address the issue of ground water contamination (esp nitrates) which is already impacting the urban water supplies and has the potential to make water treatment prohibitively difficult/expensive to achieve.
It was a poor policy, poorly promoted and ultimately forced upon communities without addressing those community's concerns….and no that dosnt mean that the current Gov will do any better…..they face all the same problems and no one is prepared/able to face the changes/costs that will be needed to solve them….so we will continue to do what we usually do, muddle through.
Muddling through with higher rates than otherwise, with less improvement in water infrastructure. A second rate decision with a second world outcome.
Largely a consequence of ECAN, nitrates are a problem in areas with contaminated aquifer water for pregnant mothers and they would need to use bottled water for drinking.
Possibly though not necessarily….the sad fact is that (as stated numerous times) we are not prepared/able to make the changes required to enable the environmental outcomes we all claim to desire….and 3 Waters didnt change that.
Ecan are not the only entity responsible for nitrate levels and it is not only aquifers as rivers are impacted as well….and as noted 3Waters never addressed this issue (deliberately?).
It was stated it was going to get around council borrowing limits but the money markets determined that would be treated as part of the councils assets regardless….and the government was avoiding being the funder at a further reduced finance rate.
What does the money markets determined that (borrowing) would be treated as part of council assets regardless even mean? And what are you citing as per (presumably) debt levels of councils and at arms length entity borrowing costs?
Yes the alternative to borrowing at lower cost by water bodies is government borrowing, or guarantee of council borrowing etc. The thing is this impacts on government debt costs and its own debt to asset standing. It might then simply nationalise water bodies and claim the assets.
"What does the money markets determined that (borrowing) would be treated as part of council assets regardless even mean"
It means you can place the assets and debt at arms length from the owners of an asset (in this instance the councils) but the lenders will still consider it part of the owners debt and treat it accordingly….that means increased financing cost if the risk is deemed to warrant it.
The cheapest borrowing is gov debt as they have more ability to collect revenue/seize assets..and they make the law. They could indeed seize the assets and 'nationalise' them, but they chose not to….why?
Rates will rise irrespective of the ownership structure of the water infrastructure and Id venture to suggest that under 3 waters the combined rates/watercharges would have been higher than rates alone if the water infrastructure remained on the council books.
"There is doubt, though, about the official expectation that the new water entities will achieve similar issuer credit ratings to councils’ AA ratings. Yes, water entities will achieve higher leverage ratios, enabling them to borrow up to $8b more through to 2031.
But without a Crown guarantee of that debt, finance experts and rating agency S&P predict they would have credit ratings around BBB-, which is the lowest possible investment grade. S&P defines that as: “Adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions.” And that means higher interest payments that will be passed on to customers. "
3Waters was a failed attempt at central govt-led long-term planning. Imho, public and political 'concern' about additional co-governance arrangements being bundled with the nationalisation of provision of water services was a significant contributor to its failure.
Amalgamation aspects of 3Waters might have generated economies of scale, but we'll never know – 5.2 million Kiwis, 67 water asset-owning organisations.
Six year wait for three waters reforms far too long, says Scottish expert [27 June 2022]
The Water Industry Commission of Scotland had succeeded because it had created economies of scale in areas of high-cost expertise and senior management but had recognised that the delivery of water services remained “intensely local”. He believed this was not well understood or believed by New Zealanders opposed to the reforms. “You need to have a professional responsive staff in place, like professional hydrologists, professional asset planners, professional people for dealing with procurement, professional people for dealing with finances and bond markets. To do that you need real scale. Because if you don't, you can't afford the top specialists because (they) are typically quite well-paid individuals.” Sharing their costs over a community of 50,000 to 100,000 people was very different from sharing their costs over a million people.
" But don’t just blame Labour. More than $1 billion was spent setting up Labour’s Three Waters entities that were widely accepted as having been the best opportunity to fix the country’s water woes. That’s money down the drain now with the change of Government, which made hay out of the politics of Three Waters and ditched it."
It isn't free. However Three Waters wasn't going to entangled with the credit rating of local councils. They have ceilings on debt vs assets, etc.
Separating the much higher higher risk of council bankruptcy from the lower risks of water boards means that.
The cost of borrowing can be lower. Water systems are simply too important to fail. The downstream health consequences of failure are extreme.
The level of borrowing up front for long life assets can be higher. Important bearing in mind how delapidated all of our water assets are.
The terms of repayment can be far longer, which means that it reflects the generational benefit aspect of the water assets
The problem that Three Waters was designed to fix was the structural problem of having local councils running regional assets badly and running them slowly into the ground as they failed to handle population shifts.
Weka this comment from lprent does a great job explaining the Fiscal side of three waters. And why we so desperate need it, or something like it.
Only thing I'd add is most local councils are broke, because they are attached to a ponzi scheme which on enriches developers. The developers make the new suburbs as cheaply as possible, then hand them over to council to run, as they slowly fall apart.
Always good to have a critic around who can't explain their reasoning when they say it "ain't so". It allows the trolls to look better.
I could give you some links to various reports explaining this in more depth. However I suspect that you'd be incapable of understanding the very simple and quite basic finance issues in them.
Reading David Slack this morning he has a grim message that Trump will get in as President again. Hell and descent into a grim lawless State without democracy.
Under a second Trump presidency, he contends, political persecution and attacks on opponents seem all but assured to be vengeful, lawless and widespread. The possibility of the U.S. descending into dictatorship under Trump is real and increasing. -Robert Kogan
The threat sounds so alarmist but so far Trump continues having a huge effect on MAGA. Each time he is charged his polling goes higher, and none of his opponent candidates get near him. And in spite of the economy picking up under Biden he is not seen as a credible contender for President. And if Trump does win under their jerry-mandered election rules, the effect on NZ will be damaging.
Biden should pull out of the presidential race. He may have been a good president but he comes across as very old and doddery. If he stays, then it will be all over for America because Trump will win.
And of its all over for the America then its all over for the rest of us.
Decisions, decisions. Do you want some doddery old codger who is a shop front who fills a ceremonial role, trying to operate with some notions of doing the best for the masses?
Or do you want a different old codger who's a megalomaniac who makes sure that the role of every person in a decision-making position is to massage the ego of the would-be dictator?
I can still remember the stark difference between the two in the first leaders' 'debate' in 2020.
When asked the big achievement if his first term of office, the incumbent said it was the appointment of judges. So 330 million+ population, all the life and living and exploits and achievements (and Covid) and that was it.
The other guy in response on being asked what the most important thing was that for him to achieve? Unity, to be united.
We can't hope to understand the complexities and machinations of the US political scene. Blaming Biden for standing though and that event seeing Trump being elected? No, a toss up between the two and Trump being elected means the numbers with IQs less that 70 are greater than I thought and lots of them voted.
… a toss up between the two and Trump being elected means the numbers with IQs less that 70 are greater than I thought and lots of them voted.
A vast proportion of the US population have been so dumbed down, their IQs are abysmally low. They are the ones who vote for Trump. Biden does not attract the younger vote. A more dynamic person is needed to counter the Trump dumb-bells. Perhaps he should step aside for Kamala Harris. He is 81 going on for 82 years of age.
Is it a bad sign when your campaign asks your backers and fellow travelers to stfu?
Donald Trump’s campaign asked allies on Capitol Hill in recent days to publicly counter criticism that the former president would govern like a dictator in a second term, according to people familiar with the matter.
Yet on Tuesday, Trump reignited that criticism. Pressed twice on the topic during a televised town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity, including on whether he “would never abuse power as retribution against anybody,” Trump replied: “Except for Day 1,” before going on to talk about drilling for oil and closing the border.
[…]
Trump’s plans for a second term have relied in part on work being done through a coalition of right-wing groups called Project 2025, The Post and others have reported. The news reports prompted Trump campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles to complain to the project’s director, Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, saying that the stories were unhelpful and that the organization should stop promoting its work to reporters, according to a person familiar with the call.
So it seems apt to discover that just three days before the election, the National Party received a big $35,000 donation from HUD Studio – the tech company behind a dating app “dedicated to facilitating commitment-free relationships”.
Te Tiriti hikoi in Blenheim as we speak and my reporter, wife actually, reports lots of toots and a couple of hundred walkers. Not bad for little notice, she came upon it and joined in. Couple of hundred in the rain is pretty good for here, you won’t get that to a big footy game.
Now taking bets as to who will be the first Māori member of the National caucus to resign because they didn't sign up to be the face of racist policy sops to New Zealand First and ACT. My money is on Reti – he's showing the signs.
Probably not (ambition beats iwi) but they are certainly going to be shifting uncomfortably in their Cabinet seats. If Luxon had any feel for history, for other perspectives (he doesn't) then he would make a statesmanlike speech about land theft, issue an apology on behalf of the Crown and pledge to engage. He only understands dollars and cents so his advisers should explain that is the cheapest way to buy goodwill.
Reti is killing off the Maori-focused health authority Te Aka Whai Ora. Had evidence to back his decision. The Maori in government have zero problem with the coalition agreement.
Choosing to be a Cabinet Minister does not equate to having "zero problem". Tama Potaka is not going to publicly say "I'm OK with 70% of it but am unhappy with a chunk of it".
Maybe he is no longer the person he was before he entered Parliament. But if he's the same person, he has major problems with it.
He would hardly be the first politician to toe the party line and swallow the dead rats out of misplaced loyalty or sunk cost fallacy. Nick Smith did it all the time as Environment Minister. Chris Bishop no doubt still stings over having that cross-bench housing policy walked back. If you listen very carefully when Reti speaks, he is deliberate in his wording, and occasionally contradicts Luxon when it comes to acknowledging Māori health disparities and child poverty as an issue. Tama Potaka is likewise using very deliberate language when asked about the te reo issues.
Good ol’ Pete Dunne – wanted to be famous for drug reform, to save the kids. Doesn’t really seem to care though about the Nats happily killing around 5 thousand and losing billions in associated savings phasing out cigarettes. No, it’s that that sneering Ayesha Verrall won’t shut her traps about it. How dare she so smugly give context to a decision made after the election so not debated or explored at all and so not really given the go ahead by the public? How dare the opposition oppose!
Go on and piss off and let NewsRoom hire one of the decimated civil servants due to be laid off to write a column. Yeh I know 6.5% isn’t 10%, but it’s enough to make Wellington a city ready to party this Christmas, amirite?
That’d be fairly reasonable. You supercilious Judas cunt. Quit paying off your political slights from 30 or 40 or 50 years ago and let someone who’s directly affected by this incompetent blitzreig speak to us from what was your column space. Cunt. And poodle.
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Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
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Interesting article about the Greens in Stuff. James Shaw very much a loner now in the party. Definitely wouldn't surprise me if he was forced out (or leaves) in this term as he does seem to be the only member concerned about environmental issues.
"Shaw is not the co-leader of the Green Party because you cannot lead if others will not follow. His party is no longer interested in environmental issues."
Damien Grant: Green Party's more interested in performative theatre than environmental issues | Stuff.co.nz
Damian Grant leans well to the Right and is simply trying to sew discord among the Greens.
BTW the Greens' vote went up 42% in the last election, partly due to some fine campaigning by James Shaw. They got 11.6% compared with 8.6% for ACT.
Yes I agree Damien is well right leaning. He ran those debates with Bradbury prior to the election with different candidates. I think a big part of the Greens vote increase came from people not voting Labour.
The current Green Party "team" of MP's is far and above the most powerful the party has ever had and given how excellent past Green MPs have been, that's really something to celebrate!
I think now CC is such a massive issue that there are quite a few new Green voters from across the political spectrum. It is not just a simple matter of how the Left vote is split up.
Damien Grant's article is disingenuous twaddle.
He writes that James Shaw is in Dubai at COP 28, then states,
"Shaw has been curiously absent…" from the House.
Curiously absent?
Idjit.
It's obvious Damien Grant is bitter over the relative poll numbers of Green and ACT, which indicate which one is of the future.
And in his own way he notes the utility of one of the co-leaders, the environment spokesperson, being at COP 28. And the other one in parliament as part of the resistance to the anti-Maori direction of the hydra headed landlord class war government.
The rest is just racist, the white man away the coloured children who should be seen and not heard. He is just parroting John Howard on One Voice. The same meanness at coloured folk is in fashion at the Platform, as per Sean Plunkett.
The attempt to distinguishing being a white man and support for the Palestinian just shows that a western colonial settler overlord class sticks together against indigenous peoples.
The more intelligent Jew would find his support in that light dangerously offensive.
Otherwise the narrative that Shaw could prove he was a leader, if there was no policy on anything but the environment (Starmer Blairlite harmless to the neo-liberal right), that the right finds confronting – domestic and foreign.
They mention past leaders like Fitzsimmons, Donald and Norman because they were so white …
WOOHOO three years of trolling the G.
lol
This is the same tired old trope about the Greens. It collapses the moment it is tested.
Critic: "The Greens are too woke, they should do environment!"
Greens: "Ok, here's a policy on climate change, are you on board?"
Critic: "No, not that one"
Greens: "How about this policy instead? Very environmental."
Critic: "No, not that one."
And so on.
Note that Damien Grant does not name a single Green policy on climate change that he supports. Or on the environment in general. Because he's not interested.
And of course he resorts to another tired tactic: fake praise for previous leaders, who of course the Right totally approved of (Donald, Fitzsimons, Norman). That's sarcasm, sorry … the Right attacked and derided those leaders constantly.
Of course, the new government could adopt any of those nice sensible woke-free Green policies on the environment any time they want. They don't need those wacko Greens to get serious about climate change. They could even do something as modest and easy as continuing the previous government's small steps forward. Nobody could stop them.
Spoiler alert: They won't.
It would have been an interesting move by Luxon to offer Shaw the Climate Change minister role, and with the budget that Labour suddenly pulled from Shaw without telling him, restored.
If Shaw declined, then the Greens would get questions about how much they were really about the environment, and would find it hard to get any credibility when complaining that the new government wasn't doing enough for CC.
If he accepted, then it's all on the Greens if things don't improve in that area.
Same for offering TPM one of the Maori related ministerships.
It would be refused of course, and with the maximum huffing and puffing, but then TPM couldn't credibly complain later, if enough wasn't done for their causes.
Shaw will probably be made to apply for his job again, even though he's the only one in that party sufficiently qualified to advocate for the environment, as that's how the Greens seem to do things. I hope he gets reelected as a leader, as if not, this will definitely be his last term and we'll all be worse off as a result.
Luxon didn't even need to offer Shaw the job. He could simply have phoned Shaw for a chat, and told the media that he had. Would have sent a message to Winston to behave.
There was only one thing stopping Luxon … namely, everything National stand for.
Fantasies are free, but putting this on the Greens or TPM when it would have cost Luxon his job is laughable.
"He could simply have phoned Shaw for a chat, and told the media that he had…"
Shaw. But the media might, just might, ask Sure, what he thought about that chat.
I wouldn't take too much notice of Damien Grant .
He knows jack about the Green party.I can assure you that environmental issues are crucial to the Greens .That they are also concerned about social justice is a bonus
Just Damien being performative
I'm glad that Greens prioritises both social justice and the environment.
I would not be a voter of Greens otherwise.
The other Green Parties of the world usually is less attractive a proposal to vote for, than what we have in NZ, and the one in UK is the closest in equivalence to our Greens yet there's still something missing from it.
In my worldview, progressive social movements are interlaced with our common wealth and resources & our relationship to these aspects which is intertwined with class and with nature. This is ecological wisdom and our Greens has really embodied most of this well. There's definitely room for improvement imo.
I think our ecological & social & class-based movements are some of the vehicles that we will use to steer ourselves through the 21st century and beyond. It'll be a rough century this century.
If I have a critique to make of the Greens, it's that we are yet to fully embrace a globally & locally minded eco-socialism with intersectionalist aspects.
However, we'll try to get there even if there'll be mistakes on the way. The cost otherwise really is intolerably too high.
Damian knows Jack!! Statement of truth.
Where are the best places to go for reliable news out of China?
Most western media parrot the 'China bad' narrative but Rnaud brings a different perspective in this thread, which is generally economic news but sprinkled with society and politics in China, and geopolitics in general.
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand
Isn't he the dude whose continued business successes in China depends on him saying nice things about Xi and the CCP?
I think I will credit Stephen D with being able to work things out for himself.
Yes, I'm sure he'll work out that Bertrand's a cheerleader for Xi and his ghastly authoritarian regime.
/
I did check out his website.
Mmmmmm.
Think I’ll stick with Al Jazeera for now.
In other parts of the world the Green Party is spending a lot of time promoting "luxury beliefs" and performative ideology.
"The Victorian Greens now define transphobia as the vilification of trans people; intentionally misgendering people individually or as a group; denying that non-binary genders exist; or “promoting the unnecessary prioritisation of sex characteristics above gender”.
The party’s new rules also state that “advocating for unnecessary restrictions on transition care” and “asking leading questions that cover for doing one of the above” can constitute transphobia."
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/this-will-split-us-victorian-greens-expand-party-s-definition-of-transphobia-20230423-p5d2ku.html
"In other parts of the world the Green Party…"
In other parts of the world, parties using the lable "Green" …
Fify
Isn't that the same in NZ with our Green party other than Shaw?
Push that barrow up that hill (apologies to Kate Bush).
I think you will find that Kate Bush was actually "Running up that hill"
Really, actually?
I thought she was singing and dancing.
Technically yes. Singing (and dancing) about running up that hill!
Kate Bush – Running Up That Hill – Official Music Video – YouTube
It was a cloudbuster
🥱
And is there some sort of "purity test" on what is or is not a "Green Party"? Who holds the franchise?
"a" Green Party" is different from "the" Green Party and is different from "a green party" and "The Green Party".
Those differences are meaningful, if clear communication is your thing.
probably would have read better if you'd said "in other parts of the world, some Green Parties are…"
They're not a hive mind, but Green Parties do have a core belief set.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_party
As we have seen with the push back against gender identity ideology within the UK Greens, GII isn't inherent to Green politics. There are other ways of understanding sex and gender that fit with Green politics.
A chunk of the UK Greens are pretty mindblowingly bonkers. Haven't seen any of the genderists defend Aimee Channellor lately 😉 But they do hold the balance of power, which is a shame, because the UK pol desperately needs a strong GP.
"Goh!" said with Basil Fawlty roll of the eyes and toss of the head. "People!"
https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/301021714/mad-bad-or-sad-its-not-surprising-that-mori-are-reluctant-to-speak-to-media
"Journalists were once again celebrated in 2023 by remaining near the bottom in the global Ipsos Trustworthiness Index. We’re down there with politicians, successful politicians (Cabinet ministers etc), advertising execs and bankers.
Meanwhile, scientists and doctors top the Index, which, on recent evidence, shows the true perversity of a species that listens the least to the people it trusts the most."
And the converse? Do we listen more to the reckons of politicians, sales pitches of advertisers, and the opinions offered by journalists even though we trust them less?
Good article-worth a read.
SO that is the reason Peters is hiring a Press Agent.
HAH
Peters' advert. Reading it made me think, someone to cover his blurts with a Willis, "What Winston meant to say". Perhaps Damian Grant or someone of that ilk![devil devil](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/devil_smile.png?x42494)
Damien Grant works in receivership, chaos (destruction and renewal) capitalism, his future is looking bright where he is.
The problem will be getting the assets going with those fleeing off to Oz.
The token white person not racist on the Platform, notes the mess the hydra headed confabulation has got themselves into on water infrastructure
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/12/10/bhahaha-water-prices-to-triple-hows-your-racist-3-waters-hate-going-now-chumps/#comment-802005
Did you think water infrastructure upgrades were going to be (magically) free under 3Waters?
Did you not realise that (and why) water charges would go up quicker and faster, if it did not go ahead?
No I didnt… the case was never made.
Strangely the proposal was unable to demonstrate how it was going to reduce the cost of the required infrastructure.
1.Separation allowed loans to be raised (external Maori participation enabled separation and was also WT compliant)
2.Councils have debt caps and so cannot raise the finance, thus have to raise water charges to finance the raise the infrastructure investment.
Read the Auckland report about their problems.
There is a lot of irony in this. The three headed hydra plans to finance a lot of infrastructure via offshore investment, but they have snookered this option in water, because they played politics.
The case was made, but it was made in the negative (prices will go up less than if left to Councils).
https://www.dia.govt.nz/Water-services-reform-archived-information has stacks of information including the presentations to various Councils.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/major-shakeup-will-see-affordable-water-reforms-led-and-delivered-regionally is a summary of the updated information after shifting from 4 entities to 10.
There was also a website for the general public with explanations and calculators that did a great job of making the case, but that seems to have disappeared.
It was more about Funding. Most Councils can not borrow enough, so home owners will pay more quickly and painfully via their rates.
"Free" wasn't the selling point.
"Achievable" was.
'Achievable' was never demonstrated either Robert, merely the observation we were failing to maintain/upgrade that which was required.
And the reasons why we have failed to date are the same reasons we will continue to fail into the future…and 3Waters didnt address that.
Didn't get the chance, did it. Shot down by reactionary racists and anti-centralisation ideologues who seek the privatisation of services, imo.
Have you read how it was purposed to work Pat, because your comments show you have not.
Simple summary to follow:
Firstly it was designed to get around council borrowing limits. Secondly it was to make sure those in dire need were to get said loans first. Third and here the real kicker, it was dedicated to fix water infrastructure over and above all else. Fourth, Māori were to be part of the governance.
Super stripped down summary.
I get for some folk the fourth point made them see red, turn off their brain and act like right c&*^%. Ask yourself, were you one of those people?
Useful summary, thanks.
Labour really did fuck up the handling and messaging on this. I came in late and it was impossible to understand the whole thing. Your summary is probably the most useful thing I've read on it.
Centralisation of power and decision making was an additional issue.
I recall one commentator liked it all, until someone mentioned co-governance as part of the separation model.
Can someone explain please, what the value add would have been by having dedicated governance positions for Māori?
Was the belief that this would improve the quality of the result, and if so, how?
It got around WT issues with moving control from public bodies (councils) and enabled the separation to ensure the access to lower cost finance in one.
I enjoyed Bomber's summary
Bhahaha – Water prices to triple – how’s your racist 3 waters hate going now chumps? | The Daily Blog
Unfortunately I did read the proposal adam.
Simple summary
It was stated it was going to get around council borrowing limits but the money markets determined that would be treated as part of the councils assets regardless….and the government was avoiding being the funder at a further reduced finance rate.
Secondly it provided no such guarantee that those in the greatedt need would recieve attention first, indeed it was conceivable (likely) that the fact there were more units administered by a reduced number of entities that priorities would be focused on the biggest gains in the earliest stages….to the detriment of smaller population areas.
Third it required the delivery of infrastructure that met the required standard…and heres the kicker, within its ability to fund it…..that means how much they can charge you and me (well not me , because I am not provided with said infrastructure)…so it is as politically limited as council entities are/were, unless you advocate an entity that achieves its target of delivery irrespective of whether it provides a service to all or only those who can pay?
And fourth there was no argued advantage to increasing the bureaucracy/cost of the co governance model.
And one you missed, it didnt address the issue of ground water contamination (esp nitrates) which is already impacting the urban water supplies and has the potential to make water treatment prohibitively difficult/expensive to achieve.
It was a poor policy, poorly promoted and ultimately forced upon communities without addressing those community's concerns….and no that dosnt mean that the current Gov will do any better…..they face all the same problems and no one is prepared/able to face the changes/costs that will be needed to solve them….so we will continue to do what we usually do, muddle through.
Muddling through with higher rates than otherwise, with less improvement in water infrastructure. A second rate decision with a second world outcome.
Largely a consequence of ECAN, nitrates are a problem in areas with contaminated aquifer water for pregnant mothers and they would need to use bottled water for drinking.
Possibly though not necessarily….the sad fact is that (as stated numerous times) we are not prepared/able to make the changes required to enable the environmental outcomes we all claim to desire….and 3 Waters didnt change that.
Ecan are not the only entity responsible for nitrate levels and it is not only aquifers as rivers are impacted as well….and as noted 3Waters never addressed this issue (deliberately?).
What does the money markets determined that (borrowing) would be treated as part of council assets regardless even mean? And what are you citing as per (presumably) debt levels of councils and at arms length entity borrowing costs?
Yes the alternative to borrowing at lower cost by water bodies is government borrowing, or guarantee of council borrowing etc. The thing is this impacts on government debt costs and its own debt to asset standing. It might then simply nationalise water bodies and claim the assets.
"What does the money markets determined that (borrowing) would be treated as part of council assets regardless even mean"
It means you can place the assets and debt at arms length from the owners of an asset (in this instance the councils) but the lenders will still consider it part of the owners debt and treat it accordingly….that means increased financing cost if the risk is deemed to warrant it.
The cheapest borrowing is gov debt as they have more ability to collect revenue/seize assets..and they make the law. They could indeed seize the assets and 'nationalise' them, but they chose not to….why?
Rates will rise irrespective of the ownership structure of the water infrastructure and Id venture to suggest that under 3 waters the combined rates/watercharges would have been higher than rates alone if the water infrastructure remained on the council books.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2022/12/04/qa-who-should-pay-for-desperately-needed-three-waters-work/
"There is doubt, though, about the official expectation that the new water entities will achieve similar issuer credit ratings to councils’ AA ratings. Yes, water entities will achieve higher leverage ratios, enabling them to borrow up to $8b more through to 2031.
But without a Crown guarantee of that debt, finance experts and rating agency S&P predict they would have credit ratings around BBB-, which is the lowest possible investment grade. S&P defines that as: “Adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions.” And that means higher interest payments that will be passed on to customers. "
3Waters was a failed attempt at central govt-led long-term planning. Imho, public and political 'concern' about additional co-governance arrangements being bundled with the nationalisation of provision of water services was a significant contributor to its failure.
Amalgamation aspects of 3Waters might have generated economies of scale, but we'll never know – 5.2 million Kiwis, 67 water asset-owning organisations.
" But don’t just blame Labour. More than $1 billion was spent setting up Labour’s Three Waters entities that were widely accepted as having been the best opportunity to fix the country’s water woes. That’s money down the drain now with the change of Government, which made hay out of the politics of Three Waters and ditched it."
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/politics/350128491/taking-politics-out-infrastructure
It isn't free. However Three Waters wasn't going to entangled with the credit rating of local councils. They have ceilings on debt vs assets, etc.
Separating the much higher higher risk of council bankruptcy from the lower risks of water boards means that.
The problem that Three Waters was designed to fix was the structural problem of having local councils running regional assets badly and running them slowly into the ground as they failed to handle population shifts.
Weka this comment from lprent does a great job explaining the Fiscal side of three waters. And why we so desperate need it, or something like it.
Only thing I'd add is most local councils are broke, because they are attached to a ponzi scheme which on enriches developers. The developers make the new suburbs as cheaply as possible, then hand them over to council to run, as they slowly fall apart.
Except (as related to adam above) it did none of those things
Always good to have a critic around who can't explain their reasoning when they say it "ain't so". It allows the trolls to look better.
I could give you some links to various reports explaining this in more depth. However I suspect that you'd be incapable of understanding the very simple and quite basic finance issues in them.
As long as farmers and vinyarders get theirs cheap, it'll be fine..
Reading David Slack this morning he has a grim message that Trump will get in as President again. Hell and descent into a grim lawless State without democracy.
https://open.substack.com/pub/subslack/p/surely-it-wont-happen?r=25honw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
With Putin's Russia and Trump’s America, the future is looking dire – and that is an understatement.
The threat sounds so alarmist but so far Trump continues having a huge effect on MAGA. Each time he is charged his polling goes higher, and none of his opponent candidates get near him. And in spite of the economy picking up under Biden he is not seen as a credible contender for President. And if Trump does win under their jerry-mandered election rules, the effect on NZ will be damaging.
Biden should pull out of the presidential race. He may have been a good president but he comes across as very old and doddery. If he stays, then it will be all over for America because Trump will win.
And of its all over for the America then its all over for the rest of us.
Decisions, decisions. Do you want some doddery old codger who is a shop front who fills a ceremonial role, trying to operate with some notions of doing the best for the masses?
Or do you want a different old codger who's a megalomaniac who makes sure that the role of every person in a decision-making position is to massage the ego of the would-be dictator?
I can still remember the stark difference between the two in the first leaders' 'debate' in 2020.
When asked the big achievement if his first term of office, the incumbent said it was the appointment of judges. So 330 million+ population, all the life and living and exploits and achievements (and Covid) and that was it.
The other guy in response on being asked what the most important thing was that for him to achieve? Unity, to be united.
We can't hope to understand the complexities and machinations of the US political scene. Blaming Biden for standing though and that event seeing Trump being elected? No, a toss up between the two and Trump being elected means the numbers with IQs less that 70 are greater than I thought and lots of them voted.
A vast proportion of the US population have been so dumbed down, their IQs are abysmally low. They are the ones who vote for Trump. Biden does not attract the younger vote. A more dynamic person is needed to counter the Trump dumb-bells. Perhaps he should step aside for Kamala Harris. He is 81 going on for 82 years of age.
Is it a bad sign when your campaign asks your backers and fellow travelers to stfu?
Donald Trump’s campaign asked allies on Capitol Hill in recent days to publicly counter criticism that the former president would govern like a dictator in a second term, according to people familiar with the matter.
Yet on Tuesday, Trump reignited that criticism. Pressed twice on the topic during a televised town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity, including on whether he “would never abuse power as retribution against anybody,” Trump replied: “Except for Day 1,” before going on to talk about drilling for oil and closing the border.
[…]
Trump’s plans for a second term have relied in part on work being done through a coalition of right-wing groups called Project 2025, The Post and others have reported. The news reports prompted Trump campaign senior adviser Susie Wiles to complain to the project’s director, Paul Dans of the Heritage Foundation, saying that the stories were unhelpful and that the organization should stop promoting its work to reporters, according to a person familiar with the call.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/12/06/trump-comments-dictator-campaign-president-2024/
https://archive.li/AAxpW
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/08/nats-get-in-bed-with-commitment-free-dating-app/
So thats how Nats Winston and David hooked up.
One more example that Luxton is not a Christian. What Christian leader worth their salt would accept money from such a source.
Jo Luxton?
Yo, Luxon!
Te Tiriti hikoi in Blenheim as we speak and my reporter, wife actually, reports lots of toots and a couple of hundred walkers. Not bad for little notice, she came upon it and joined in. Couple of hundred in the rain is pretty good for here, you won’t get that to a big footy game.
Gosh how low can you go! It makes me wonder about humans.
Tauranga police make arrest after wallet and bank cards allegedly stolen during man’s medical event – NZ Herald
Now taking bets as to who will be the first Māori member of the National caucus to resign because they didn't sign up to be the face of racist policy sops to New Zealand First and ACT. My money is on Reti – he's showing the signs.
All the Ngāpuhi ones? After yesterday.
Probably not (ambition beats iwi) but they are certainly going to be shifting uncomfortably in their Cabinet seats. If Luxon had any feel for history, for other perspectives (he doesn't) then he would make a statesmanlike speech about land theft, issue an apology on behalf of the Crown and pledge to engage. He only understands dollars and cents so his advisers should explain that is the cheapest way to buy goodwill.
Perhaps he will surprise us yet. But I doubt it.
Reti is killing off the Maori-focused health authority Te Aka Whai Ora. Had evidence to back his decision. The Maori in government have zero problem with the coalition agreement.
Evidence … someone cooker, as per WMD …
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/07-12-2023/with-or-without-te-aka-whai-ora-the-mahi-will-continue
Evidence isn't proof – he's selected evidence that supports his/his party's ideological position.
By "The Maori", do you mean, Reti, aka Ciga-Reti, singular?
Spectacular mind-reading there.
Choosing to be a Cabinet Minister does not equate to having "zero problem". Tama Potaka is not going to publicly say "I'm OK with 70% of it but am unhappy with a chunk of it".
Maybe he is no longer the person he was before he entered Parliament. But if he's the same person, he has major problems with it.
He would hardly be the first politician to toe the party line and swallow the dead rats out of misplaced loyalty or sunk cost fallacy. Nick Smith did it all the time as Environment Minister. Chris Bishop no doubt still stings over having that cross-bench housing policy walked back. If you listen very carefully when Reti speaks, he is deliberate in his wording, and occasionally contradicts Luxon when it comes to acknowledging Māori health disparities and child poverty as an issue. Tama Potaka is likewise using very deliberate language when asked about the te reo issues.
Hipkins' inability to hold his own political performance to account only looks surprising when Luxon has to do Labour's own accountability job for it.
Labour's record on gang membership, regional gang dominance, drug use growth, and membership growth is indefensible.
Labour's record on spending will start to come out with the mini-budget, but the waste has been chronic. Let's see how fast the tax cuts come.
Looking forward to Green+TPM+Labour uniting on useful things, but little sight of it so far.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Remind me again how climate change and child poverty are working out?
Words are cheap, what matters is delivery.
Labour had the first majority since MMP started but did sweet FA – cowards.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Dunno if this was done on Friday, but-
Good ol’ Pete Dunne – wanted to be famous for drug reform, to save the kids. Doesn’t really seem to care though about the Nats happily killing around 5 thousand and losing billions in associated savings phasing out cigarettes. No, it’s that that sneering Ayesha Verrall won’t shut her traps about it. How dare she so smugly give context to a decision made after the election so not debated or explored at all and so not really given the go ahead by the public? How dare the opposition oppose!
Go on and piss off and let NewsRoom hire one of the decimated civil servants due to be laid off to write a column. Yeh I know 6.5% isn’t 10%, but it’s enough to make Wellington a city ready to party this Christmas, amirite?
That’d be fairly reasonable. You supercilious Judas cunt. Quit paying off your political slights from 30 or 40 or 50 years ago and let someone who’s directly affected by this incompetent blitzreig speak to us from what was your column space. Cunt. And poodle.
Don’t wanna link but yeck-
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/07/pm-cant-just-dismantle-labour-policies/