@Naki man – by that logic wouldn’t the National and ACT supporters be up in arms that $3000 p/w is being paid with tax payer money because of the governments stupidity on affordable housing?
There is no government stupidity on affordable housing. Tax payers should not have to subsidize housing so poor people can live in the most expensive city in the country. Its not rocket science.
The government subsidize’s the landlord class, and with out these subsidize’s to the land lords, the housing market would collapse overnight…end of story.
And what a ridiculous thing to say, people shouldn’t live in Auckland, because of a housing bubble…what sort of mad dystopian logic is that?..do you really actually believe in that as a social policy?
What about the mentally disabled… move them out too? do you like that idea as well?
Shall we keep on expanding on your logic here shall we, I think we all know where it will take us, and pretty quickly too.
Maybe have some compassion. Her son has a physical disability and will need to be around specialist services for a start like hospitals. Also people have community support networks so they are reluctant to leave them in the face of a cruel and stupid government WINZ ideas. (such as paying nearly $3000 p/w to house her and deduct $27 p/w from her benefit to pay it back).
Both cases involve Talley’s demanding that a worker’s concerns over safety be overridden for money reasons – in Greymouth to get the (full of fish) boat in – and in the current one to get the (full of fish) net in.
In both cases you can see that the local “boss” was adamant that the fish must come in, and the safety concerns put to one side.
In both cases the Talley’s “culture” has ended up killing innocent men.
The similarities are striking
The Talleys continue to bolster their reputation as the nastiest most disgusting pigs (apologies to pigs) of people in New Zealand.
Not wanting to diminish the issue, but… If you are looking for something to represent the lowest state, dirt ain’t it.
Soil’s astonishingly alive with organisms that our very existence relies upon. It’s gorgeous, vital stuff, and we should speak highly of it, to give dirt its dues.
My neighbour used a different phrase to describe those he considered despicable and when he made reference to a snake’s cloaca and the lowly position that occupied.
Even pond scum is worthy of admiration, when it consists living organisms going about their business. I find “orcs” to be a suitable title for those who desecrate and needlessly waste.
Choice, Puckish, they trumpet choice and can hardly claim to be victims of some dark father figure, can they. Greed and power seem to be their raisons d’être – dark, Satanic mills and all that.
I recall one awesome comment about finding pet owners who had died at home – dogs guarded the body and would take several days before nibbling on their former owner. Cats barely wait until the next day’s alarm goes off, lol.
“Allowed to go extinct”
You think you have any influence at all over ents?
You’re a fantasist.
You may feel obliged to care for your orcs, feeling as you do, responsible for them, but I don’t. It’s them or us and they’ve been far too long at the wheel.
That’s not an orc, that’s an actor.
Real orcs don’t wear makeup.
Here was me thinking I was having a conversation with someone who understood the ways of the world.
It’s impossible for an orc to be “less of an orc”, as they are the lowest of the low and one can’t go lower. Sup on your orc draught while you can, orc-apologist. The greening of the Shire has begun.
Well this has certainly made the afternoon a lot more amusing…not that creating reports that are of little interest and won’t make a whit of difference to anyone isn’t entertaining
“We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation”
Sections of the nation may have, Paul, but not all by any means. There’s huge dismay over the conditions faced by those of us who aren’t blessed with having a warm, safe home.
Tellingly, the writer of the first linked piece displays clear psychopathic tendency; a lack of empathy, lack of insight, and misogyny:
”….probably like many of the owners’ human relationships (there’s a reason spinsters end up with cats).”
Labelling cats as psychopathic is projection and anthropomorphism.
Nice piece on This Way Up today about a (male) cat owner who lost his pet in April and posted a $1000 reward for help.
Of those who called trying to help, some made it clear they had no interest in the reward.
While no closer to finding his beloved pet, he says his faith in human nature has been restored.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Debt fuelled by greed.
‘New Zealand has half a trillion dollars in debt.
“We’ve almost got the perfect storm,” says veteran fund manager Brian Gaynor as he reels off the many reasons New Zealand house prices and debt levels are soaring to precipitous heights.
There are many ingredients. But right now, New Zealand seems to have them all: not enough building, restrictions on development, surging migration, baby boomer savings, low interest rates and banks that are all too happy to lend for property investment.
“When you get the perfect storm like we did in the 1980s with the sharemarket, you see things just go up and up. People start to believe they will never fall,” he says.
“People didn’t believe the sharemarket would fall in the 80s. I’d come in from a trip to Australia and the guy at customs wouldn’t let me in unless I gave him sharemarket tips. It was just euphoria. Everyone was talking about the sharemarket. Now everyone is talking about the property market.”‘
They moved to AK because the dad lost his fishing job in South Island, got night shift work, dad had a bit of a breakdown, got in debt & kicked out of their house, HNZ got them a 2 bedroom house, dad lost his job because of hours & stress, been living in tents & van ever since. 7 people in a 2 bedroom house, FFS.
Gangnam … I do not know the age of the children so six living with parents in two bedroom house may not be quite, QUITE, as bad as it sounds.
Neither do I know what kind of van and hopefully they didn’t have to sell the tent to buy it. So in times of stress a tent and van seems quite reasonable accomodation but it does depend on what tent and what van, along with what the motor camp charge in rent.,
There is quite an income going to such a family from winz too. Sorry but I can see too many fishhooks in this story.
unfortunately this family are suffering from the natural result of their own mis choices when ecconomic conditions changed. Plus I happened to read more info that the initial misleading sob story so many have been sucked in by.
I see the problem as the result of bad choices led on by influences in society
A fisherman with six children? Going to Auckland without sufficient funds to exist. One can admire somebody who looses their job and upsticks to where maybe there is work … but with six young children … I think that is govt led madness. Six children on an average wage sounds like mis direction by religion. Sorry I blame society for this family’s plight with all the norms it has imposed upon then.
I will try and not reply to Gangnam whose can only swear at one with whom he disagrees. Hardly a sensible reply like so many discussions I read here on The Standard.
“So in times of stress a tent and van seems quite reasonable accomodation” with 6 children of any age ?
You have got to be kidding me. Maybe if you are 20 and out there freedom camping around but not this situation, not even slightly. This is unreasonable accommodation, unreasonable stress. Have you ever LIVED in a van or a tent? I have and that was alone and it was tough let alone with kids and everything.
Quite an income from WINZ? Jeeze are you for real?
So your comment imo seems like a mix of right wing memes and judgments. Grow a heart will you.
I used to at one stage and I did something about it eventually.
As a result and reading ‘Responsible Society’ I happen to have the extreme socialistic opinion that there should be a state house to meet the basic needs of everybody who wants it and those who want more should if they can afford it go private. From singles wishing to leave home to families like that we are discussing.
But if common sense and honesty are ‘right wing memes’ then I am glad I have them whatever they are.
I have for ever [almost] accepted that it is my responsibility to contribute to society/govt so that these folk can be helped… while others objected to overtime because of the extra tax they paid I accepted that each according to their income should contribute. When I was younger I knew nothing about the embrionic safety nets people enjoy today and I survived by good management, cutting my cloth to suit my income, and using contraceptives. survived despite some poor choices, so it is easy today for me to appear uncaring when I look for the missing info the MSM do not have in their sob stories.
I was truely moved by AT’s story in the Campbell i/v and can think of things to help but it is hard from the other end of the country. Such as a 12volt solar panel to provide light for her to read and study by, elsewhere I suggested a gas cooker [ not a BBQ thing to live outside the van and be stolen but smaller like I have for emergency use.] to save on fast foods and for when the Marae runs out of money to cook for all of them.
But then I am a DIYer, built family home and retirement cottage and many other things. so I am sad that so many folk are not and appear hopeless to help themselves.
You are both wrong and right respectively in your comments Draco.
But there are practical ways as I suggested before which would help TA get on but as I have also mentioned when you are down even though you know you are making wrong choices you simply continue for the short term relief which they bring to your impossible situation,
.. for a few trinkets. Plus ca change .. nothing changes. Buenvenidos to Puerto Rico … but this time the Conquistadores are different, shell companies from anonymous trusts and people who have history going back to the gold rush.
Generally it ends badly for those who get in too late .. about now ?
“In much of what was called the Free World, governments and economies are in the throes of self-destruction. Before long we shall witness revolution in several of these countries”.
New Zealand is sitting on a half-a-trillion-dollar debt bomb and Kiwis are increasingly treating their houses like cash machines, piling on the debt as they watch the value of their properties soar.
Reserve Bank figures show household debt, excluding investment property, has risen 23 per cent in the past five years to $163.4 billion. Incomes have risen only 11.5 per cent.
Households are now carrying a debt level that is equivalent to 162 per cent of their annual disposable income – higher than the level reached before the global financial crisis.
More of the bad choices I wrote of earlier Agora … I am glad I have fully paid for home and only rates to concern me.
Bad choices rampant throughout our society from a ‘do too little too late’ govt upwards.
Just a wee note to people who were waiting for the post I promised on what we can do to get NZ transport emissions to zero by 2030. I haven’t forgotten it or binned it. But this week has been a bit busier than anticipated, and I’m expecting a fair few posts on the potential of roaring flames accompanying the smoking downward spiral that looks suspiciously like NZs housing market.
Poll of Polls showing Lab/Gr less than 5% behind Nats and the gap “closing” and “narrowing”. Love the way RNZ are reporting the Lab/Gr BLOCK versus Nats. It’s here:
So what happens if at an election it is something like this?
Nat 44%
L/G 45%
NZF 7%
Who gets to form govt? Is is always the largest block that agrees to a coalition? RNZ appeared to be implying that L/G could go alone if they wanted to and their vote was higher than Nat.
Not really wanting to get into the whole “which way will Winston swing” he has always stated his preference is to go with the party with the largest vote so maybe the party with the largest vote could be replaced by the block with the largest vote
Brock father and son, and Key father and son (and the inbred KKK family home) indicate this does happen.
Max Key says his holding a smoke was only as a prop. He claims that the same was done in film and TV when actors held smokes.
The prop was designed to promote Max Key as a smoking hot celebrity, and a magazine using him/his social media profile to promote their magazine – whereas in the past celebrities were used to promote smoking. It was often a form of product placement (when the brand was identified) but also to brand the celebrity as smoking hot. I guess he failed to get Mad Men and the promotion and selling of smokes and that such product placement continues to this day.
Given his father’s comments about the homeless and wider housing/taxation policy third termitis is rampant.
To all the Hilary fans, your crowing is premature.
Repeating blindly talking points and cheering a cheat does nothing for your reputation. When some of us go, look at her voting record you ignore us, or come back with some trite response.
But you know faux liberals in the USA context are just about as low as you can get, and Hilary is that, a faux liberal. She is also a cheat.
Oh and look – she got caught. It seems Bernie won.
To the so called lefties, who jumped when the corporate media told you to. I’d stop and take a long hard look at yourself at this moment, and remember where you were when the cheat got caught.
If it had been stoners in a garage, I would not have put it up.
There is another person who is following the same road, a guy called Rocky de la fuente who you may like Puckish Rouge, as he is conservative democrat.
It has been brewing for a while, mainly over exit polls and the fact the above guy has been getting so few votes, when he is actually know and liked within the Latino community.
There’s no allegation that the foundation did anything improper; the probe has focused on McAuliffe and the electoral campaign donations, the officials said.
dos –
A foundation representative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing inquiry, said the initial document request had been narrowed by investigators and that the foundation is not the focus of the probe.
Interesting Adam. My guess is that the Establishment cannot allow the Election fraud to surface let alone make it to Court. They will rationalise the issue as too damning for the reputation of the USA. Like having Financial institutions being too big to fail.
This will cause mysterious loss of evidence and of key people. Or maybe extended timelines like a decade or two.
Hang on in there Bernie.
Ok so I’m pro-vaccination so I don’t need to know the reasons why kids should be but theres some photos on how that made me take a short, sharp intake of breath
Her baby was too young to be vaccinated…be warned its not pleasant
Not a single comment on the reserve banks decision to not cut the cash rate, great, all those with a mortgage of $500k could be saving $150 a month, but instead, the banks profits will increase, fewer exports will leave NZ and there will be fewer jobs, but on the bright side, that new Mercedes won’t cost any more………………..
Not a single comment on the reserve banks decision to not cut the cash rate, great, all those with a mortgage of $500k could be saving $150 a month, but instead, the banks profits will increase,
Seriously are you talking about. Explain to me how the NZRB cutting the cash rate does a single thing to reduce bank profits.
The NZRB cutting the cash rate is an opportunity for banks to INCREASE their profits by not passing along the cut.
In a real country, Banks are forced to pass on the reductions, but maybe NZ does not fall into that category, I’ll be honest, if you don’t see the the benefits of a cash rate reduction, then there is no point in arguing with you, savings are already at the bottom of the heap, the best investment is in real estate, hence the high prices and speculation.
The lower cash rate helps businesses, helps stop speculation on the dollar, gives exporters a competitive opportunity (produce and manufacturing) and increases employment opportunities, but, heck, I’m sure you’d prefer to be able to buy that new Mercedes, ay.
Get yourself into the modern world and out of the conservative rout pushed by your mate English.
I’m afraid that your theories are all out of touch with reality.
ZIRP is designed to help speculators and hurt savers and pensioners.
Free money created by central banks flowing into Wall St and other financial assets have been used to widen wealth inequality in the world and has been an ingredient in skyrocketing Auckland house prices.
Further, evidence from overseas shows that investment banks and retail banks will access this cheap money from central banks but will not lend it to small and medium businesses for real world capital investment, leading to banks hoarding huge sums of reserves.
It seems that your financial perspective is one of the 0.1%.
We’re talking NZ, propping up the NZ dollar DOE’S not help ordinary Kiwi’s, it only helps speculators, I’m sure if ordinary Kiwi’s new that their mortgage would be reduced by a rate cut, then they would certainly support it, and all that money saved goes back into the local economy.
Comparing what they might do in the US is considerably different from that in NZ, so your comparison is invalid, NZers are being ripped off with highest interest rates in the developed world, and you know that and still argue against it, all I can say is that living in a small SI town, not effected by the housing affordability problems, has effected your ability to recognise the real benefits of the global changes in interest rates.
“The lower cash rate helps businesses, helps stop speculation on the dollar, gives exporters a competitive opportunity (produce and manufacturing) and increases employment opportunities, but, heck, I’m sure you’d prefer to be able to buy that new Mercedes, ay.”
except the low interest rates and QE is not going into productive investment is it….its going into property and sharemarket bubbles….and that is the problem.
Expat is trying to position dangerous financial policies which benefit the top 1% to 2% the most, as being generally good for the entire population. It’s an old trick.
Your the one trying to trick everyone, the top 2% don’t benefit as much as the “ordinary” Kiwi, your argument to keep high rates does not, so your argument is invalid, FFS, you’ve got investors coming to NZ borrowing money at 1%, and getting a better return than any where else, only Kiwi’s are handicapped.
It’s only people like you who want to buy that new Mercedes at low prices that share your view.
Read my comment below on Wheeler, financial reviewers think he’s a joke.
Considering you aim to be on the side of the left your acting like delegates from ACT party, rip off the general population for the sake of that new Mercedes.
Try govt regulation, but first you need a govt, your argument is what they all say, but the benefits to existing mortgage holders is far greater and REAL.
no its called increased risk….we need to borrow from overseas because we don’t save enough AND we have had a negative trade imbalance forever…so we pay a premium,
I care an awful lot about farmers and exporters as when they go bust (as many are very concerned about currently) I do no business
Try govt regulation, but first you need a govt, your argument is what they all say, but the benefits to existing mortgage holders is far greater and REAL.
You favour a policy which will accelerate property asset prices and fuck those who are trying to buy their first house.
Again it is a policy which favours financial speculators and the highly leveraged, and fucks savers.
And one more thing. You’re preference to cut interest rates injures savers and pensioners who rely on a pitiful 3.25% return on their term deposits in order just to live.
We are in a world where financial speculators and others leveraged to the hilt are advantaged by central banks while savers and pensioners are punished further and further.
All ready covered savers, there is no money in savings now, is there? so much larger benefits for all in lower mortgage interest rates, FFS, why don you think these overseas investors bring the money in, lower interest rates, ay, so why can’t ordinary Kiwi’s have that same advantage FFS, Kiwi’s are being ripped off.
You need to get with the global interest rates, just because of your isolation doesn’t negate your ignorance.
Wheelers rate changes over the last 4 years are an international joke, there all over the place like a “mad persons shit”, if you get my drift.
You sound like my old neighbour, in their 70’s, used to keep $40k in the savings account so that they wouldn’t have to pay “fees”, when all they had to do is change banks.
Get real, bank savings are the lowest form of return and have been for a few years now, if you think propping up the dollar is good for a minority group who chooses to invest in bank savings, then you really are selfish, lower interest rates helps far more people than those “savers”, but please explain why Kiwi’s should have to pay a premium to buy their own home, you know the young families who work hard and pay the Tax that funds your pension, please explain why they shouldn’t have a fair go.
You guys are living in a bubble, and can’t see the reality of what is occurring from the smokescreen, it’s much easier to view from outside of that bubble and get a very clear view.
Get with the times, there is very low returns from bank savings, if you look at Japans 30 year bond rate, they are paying 0.3%, and there are plenty of investors buying those bonds, so get yourselves into the real world, interest rates aren’t going up for some time, there are no winners from this, that’s why property speculation is rampant, oh except in Germany, where they regulate speculators out of of the market and oversupply housing availability, something the govt could do, if it had the guts.
Mike Williams- Voice from the Left?
Mike Williams former Labour education officer, Party President, and regular ‘Voice from the Left’ during Monday’s Nine to Noon on RNZ’s “Voices from the left and the right” slot, is not filling the role of left wing commentator as per the show’s description.
The voice from the Right is usually quite ably filled by Matthew Hooton, and it’s worth noting Matthew argues from a fairly radical position.
However Mike Williams’s voice from the Left has for some time, been a source of quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) rage for me. As it turns out this is also true for my more politically aware friends.
The Radio NZ show usually goes something like this;
A topic is introduced by Kathryn Ryan, the topic is taken up by one of the voices, and a position taken, the other voice counters with their position, then at some point through this exchange Williams often ends up in either a sort of agreement with Hooton or somehow just leaves the Lefts position lying abandoned on the floor somewhere in the centrist meaningless nowhere land. You will note when this moment has arrived with Williams’s oral punctuation marks either; “but watch this space” or “there is plenty of water to go under this bridge” or “it’s no silver bullet”
Now his centrist positions might have been fine in 1984 under Douglas, or Clarke for that matter, but in case he hasn’t noticed these same centrist left/right policies from both sides have left the country with more class divisions, pay stagnation, more poverty, a failing Health system, prison population explosion etc etc.
When we should expect moral outrage and indignation from our media commentators, we are served tacit agreement. The same tacit agreement among from the established media and political class that is starting to fuel extreme nationalism across Europe and the U.S. What we need to hear from our left wing commentators is some… well, left wing thinking. If Hooton’s radical Randian rantings can represent the right on a show like Nine to Noon, surely there is an equivalent for left. Let Kathryn patrol the centre if that’s called objectivity.
So in short, I believe Mike Williams has lost his right to speak for us on the Left, if you agree then please email RNZ, and ask them to get in someone who can.
Please remember this is one of the few (only?) weekly discussions of Left/Right politics and policies in New Zealand mainstream media, so it is vital that they have the right person. ninetonoon@radionz.co.nz
Any suggestions of who could fill this important slot?
they replaced mike Williams with Stephen Mills(?) briefly….why they didn’t continue with him I have no idea….he at least pulled M.Hooton up on his obvious BS
sorry MS,,,apart from a brief spark last week he has been weak…..who knows why, but that is not the point…when Hooton knew he would be challenged (by Mills) he was more circumspect on his BS…didnt stop him, but certainly slowed him down….sometimes MW so poor KR feels obliged to step in for him.
Thanks for that link Pat.
Here is a perfect example, Mike with a golden opportunity to rigorously attack Hooton on Nationals inept budget, you couldn’t get an easier gift than this….but no, KR has to step in again and again to take the (least) position that Mike should be taking.
It is painful to listen to.
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Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Alex Casey talks to Henessey Griffiths, a 22 year-old Dunedin student who just finished her dissertation about one of Youtube’s most controversial stars. Content warning: this article contains mention of suicide, please take careYesterday afternoon in Dunedin, honours student Henessey Griffiths sent a tweet that was a year (or rather, five ...
The Transport Minister has released almost all of the letters he's received from Green MPs, but still refuses to release the letter from Julie Anne Genter that is now at the centre of an Ombudsman complaint. ...
Court documents have confirmed Winston Peters was sent a letter by officials four years into his seven-year overpayment of national superannuation asking him to check details he had supplied, including that he was 'single'. ...
Olympic sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are throwing their weight behind a campaign encouraging New Zealander consumers and businesses to reduce their plastic pollution. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says his MP Agnes Loheni let him know she'd be contesting the candidacy for Botany, adding it's a "free world". ...
Think you’ve got your KiwiSaver sorted? Try Kōura’s ‘robo-advice’ questionnaire and you might be surprised.If a person who looks like they know about finance asks you whether your appetite for risk is low, medium or high, what do you say? The problem is most Kiwis don’t understand what the question ...
The Social Services and Community Committee is seeking submissions on the Rates Rebate (Statutory Declarations) Amendment Bill. This bill aims to improve the process of applying for rates rebates. It proposes: • Removing the requirement to make a statutory ...
The Māori Affairs Committee is calling for submissions on the Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. ...
The New Zealand Police have been used as a political pawn which is stretching their resources and seriously affecting their ability to address the real causes of crime, such as gang related supply of illicit drugs. ...
Alex Casey yarns to Karen O’Leary, early childhood teacher by day and star of Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in The Shadows by night. Two of the funniest moments in New Zealand television last year were entirely fence-based. First up there was Agni on The Block NZ, who packed a ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
Josie Adams is in tonight’s episode of Have You Been Paying Attention. Specifically, she is in the audience.When you watch Have You Been Paying Attention? tonight, please consider the bladders of audience members watching it live. They offer beverages, but my God it’s a dangerous offer. As I found out ...
Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th--there is very little evidence that says high pay and bonuses improve the performance of a company. Most ...
By Michael Andrew Pacific diplomats, academics and youth leaders will gather in Auckland this week to discuss security, economic development and other pressing issues shaping the region’s future. Pacific Futures will be held on October 18 and will feature speakers from across the region, including Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, Australian National University It has been more than two years since “clearance operations” by Myanmar’s security forces, the Tatmadaw, forced more than 700,000 Rohingya across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh. During this time, the UN Security Council has ...
Fast food company Restaurant Brands has made a smaller half year profit largely because of accounting changes as it prepares to invest heavily in the launch of Taco Bell in New Zealand. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Papua New Guinea police have issued a warrant for the arrest of former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. According to EMTV News, the Waigana district court issued the warrant which was based on evidence previously compiled by police investigators. Acting Police Commissioner David Manning said he ...
Patient Voice Aotearoa welcomes the comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on ‘The Project’ on Friday last week. Peters stated “Right now…we know we are not spending nearly enough on pharmaceuticals and first world drugs…the ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on outgoing Porirua Mayor Mike Tana to repay money clocked up on his ratepayer-funded fuel card for personal travel. The Ernst and Young report released yesterday reveals that, within less than three ...
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Open mike 10/06/2016 
Open mike is your post.
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Homelessness.
Our ‘brighter future’
Some families already thousands in debt to WINZ for emergency motel housing remain in the same accommodation block, with their loans mounting.
The fact of the matter is that the debt is mounting and she continues to make a “choice” to stay in Auckland.
Debt is not a problem for her, the tax payers are picking up the tab and she will never pay it back.
@Naki man – by that logic wouldn’t the National and ACT supporters be up in arms that $3000 p/w is being paid with tax payer money because of the governments stupidity on affordable housing?
There is no government stupidity on affordable housing. Tax payers should not have to subsidize housing so poor people can live in the most expensive city in the country. Its not rocket science.
why not, tax payers have been subsidizing private landlords for years?
Tax payers subsidize the tenants not the landlords.
bollocks…who receives the funds?
The government subsidize’s the landlord class, and with out these subsidize’s to the land lords, the housing market would collapse overnight…end of story.
And what a ridiculous thing to say, people shouldn’t live in Auckland, because of a housing bubble…what sort of mad dystopian logic is that?..do you really actually believe in that as a social policy?
What about the mentally disabled… move them out too? do you like that idea as well?
Shall we keep on expanding on your logic here shall we, I think we all know where it will take us, and pretty quickly too.
Why is the government running an economy which creates poor people?
Why is the free market not coming to equilibrium in the Auckland housing market?
I do hope all the poor people living in Auckland will take your advise and move out, leaving their poorly paid jobs behind and move to the regions.
I wonder who will be the first CEO to pick up the mop and clean the toilet.
Your views indicate an inability to show empathy.
Are you psychopathic?
How do you know AsleepWhileWalking?
Maybe have some compassion. Her son has a physical disability and will need to be around specialist services for a start like hospitals. Also people have community support networks so they are reluctant to leave them in the face of a cruel and stupid government WINZ ideas. (such as paying nearly $3000 p/w to house her and deduct $27 p/w from her benefit to pay it back).
@Paul – thanks another great link.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
A cruel and uncaring company.
Its leader has been knighted. For what?
Talley’s fined $73,520 over crewman’s decapitation
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/306007/talley's-fined-$73,520-over-crewman's-decapitation
Reading between the lines, this Talley’s killing has the exact same hallmarks as the drowning of Nick Ecklund on the Grey River bar in 2013 http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8561516/Fisherman-told-crossing-was-safe-father
Both cases involve Talley’s demanding that a worker’s concerns over safety be overridden for money reasons – in Greymouth to get the (full of fish) boat in – and in the current one to get the (full of fish) net in.
In both cases you can see that the local “boss” was adamant that the fish must come in, and the safety concerns put to one side.
In both cases the Talley’s “culture” has ended up killing innocent men.
The similarities are striking
The Talleys continue to bolster their reputation as the nastiest most disgusting pigs (apologies to pigs) of people in New Zealand.
Are pigs psychopaths ?
No, it is completely the wrong description. In fact, they are below the animal kingdom, and well below the required human kingdom.
They are not on a par with any living organism
Dirt is what they are, dirt
Not wanting to diminish the issue, but… If you are looking for something to represent the lowest state, dirt ain’t it.
Soil’s astonishingly alive with organisms that our very existence relies upon. It’s gorgeous, vital stuff, and we should speak highly of it, to give dirt its dues.
My neighbour used a different phrase to describe those he considered despicable and when he made reference to a snake’s cloaca and the lowly position that occupied.
lol, that’s the one – a snake’s arse
Even pond scum is worthy of admiration, when it consists living organisms going about their business. I find “orcs” to be a suitable title for those who desecrate and needlessly waste.
That’s Orcist, its not their fault they were twisted by terrible and dark magics.
Choice, Puckish, they trumpet choice and can hardly claim to be victims of some dark father figure, can they. Greed and power seem to be their raisons d’être – dark, Satanic mills and all that.
I didn’t think you’d be the type to fall for the writings of the noted propagandist JRR Tolkien
Orcs are a peaceful, loving, family based people who only fight to defend their lands and way of life against the encroaching humans
Orc power!
And living in Orcland…
Yeah, but snakes are just cruising along doing what they do.
Cats. Cats are psychopaths. Not only that, but they manipulate people for their own ends.
I recall one awesome comment about finding pet owners who had died at home – dogs guarded the body and would take several days before nibbling on their former owner. Cats barely wait until the next day’s alarm goes off, lol.
“Their lands”
They’re expansionist war-mongers. Genetically-engineered too. Didn’t end well for them.
Ent power!
Ents are like Pandas, evolutionarily weak links that should be allowed to go extinct
We have a duty of care for the orcs as we’re responsible for them
“Allowed to go extinct”
You think you have any influence at all over ents?
You’re a fantasist.
You may feel obliged to care for your orcs, feeling as you do, responsible for them, but I don’t. It’s them or us and they’ve been far too long at the wheel.
Orcs aren’t as bad as people think, look heres one of their mutations being friendly with a child:
http://ct.iscute.com/ol/ic/sw/userpics/funny_pictures/529.jpg
Now doesn’t that warm the cockles of your heart?
That’s not an orc, that’s an actor.
Real orcs don’t wear makeup.
Here was me thinking I was having a conversation with someone who understood the ways of the world.
Do you think an Orc wearing make up somehow makes him less of an Orc? I’m shocked at this blatant stereotyping.
I’m going to have to go have a lie down and have a mug of orc-draught to get over this
For shame sir, for shame
It’s impossible for an orc to be “less of an orc”, as they are the lowest of the low and one can’t go lower. Sup on your orc draught while you can, orc-apologist. The greening of the Shire has begun.
Well this has certainly made the afternoon a lot more amusing…not that creating reports that are of little interest and won’t make a whit of difference to anyone isn’t entertaining
Write for the Herald, do you?
I haven’t sunk that low
Published in Orc Land, I understand.
Please come out and state you abhor the governments cruel housing policies. Show you care about the vulnerable.
“We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation”
Sections of the nation may have, Paul, but not all by any means. There’s huge dismay over the conditions faced by those of us who aren’t blessed with having a warm, safe home.
Tellingly, the writer of the first linked piece displays clear psychopathic tendency; a lack of empathy, lack of insight, and misogyny:
”….probably like many of the owners’ human relationships (there’s a reason spinsters end up with cats).”
Labelling cats as psychopathic is projection and anthropomorphism.
Nice piece on This Way Up today about a (male) cat owner who lost his pet in April and posted a $1000 reward for help.
Of those who called trying to help, some made it clear they had no interest in the reward.
While no closer to finding his beloved pet, he says his faith in human nature has been restored.
see?
Humans bend over backwards for cats. The cat probably wandered off to another home that served better cat food. 👿
He deserves his knighthood (Talleys) he fits the Nats criteria of being mean, nasty, selfish, uncaring and greedy.
ps. I don’t buy Talleys anymore anD never will
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Debt fuelled by greed.
‘New Zealand has half a trillion dollars in debt.
“We’ve almost got the perfect storm,” says veteran fund manager Brian Gaynor as he reels off the many reasons New Zealand house prices and debt levels are soaring to precipitous heights.
There are many ingredients. But right now, New Zealand seems to have them all: not enough building, restrictions on development, surging migration, baby boomer savings, low interest rates and banks that are all too happy to lend for property investment.
“When you get the perfect storm like we did in the 1980s with the sharemarket, you see things just go up and up. People start to believe they will never fall,” he says.
“People didn’t believe the sharemarket would fall in the 80s. I’d come in from a trip to Australia and the guy at customs wouldn’t let me in unless I gave him sharemarket tips. It was just euphoria. Everyone was talking about the sharemarket. Now everyone is talking about the property market.”‘
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=11653661
It’s gonna get ugly.
Check out this graph that shows Lehman collapse vs Deutsche Bank
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-02-10/deutsche-bank-spikes-most-5-years-just-lehman-did
And
http://www.investorinsider.net/bank-bankruptcy-three-times-bigger-lehman-bros/
Not to mention the problems in the bond market (many magnitudes bigger than the share market and mostly out of sight of the masses). Ka boom.
Pretty much answers all of Averagevoters (or whatever he/she calls himself today) questions http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11653678
They moved to AK because the dad lost his fishing job in South Island, got night shift work, dad had a bit of a breakdown, got in debt & kicked out of their house, HNZ got them a 2 bedroom house, dad lost his job because of hours & stress, been living in tents & van ever since. 7 people in a 2 bedroom house, FFS.
Shame on this country.
55% of the country only have 4 weeks’ savings.
4 weeks from this family’s position.
Does that include kiwi saver?
Gangnam … I do not know the age of the children so six living with parents in two bedroom house may not be quite, QUITE, as bad as it sounds.
Neither do I know what kind of van and hopefully they didn’t have to sell the tent to buy it. So in times of stress a tent and van seems quite reasonable accomodation but it does depend on what tent and what van, along with what the motor camp charge in rent.,
There is quite an income going to such a family from winz too. Sorry but I can see too many fishhooks in this story.
What do you mean by a tent and a van are reasonable accommodation? Did you read the bits about illness? Pretty sure they weren’t in a camp ground.
Oh fuck off jcuknz, seriously, can’t be arsed with a reasonable reply to your crap.
unfortunately this family are suffering from the natural result of their own mis choices when ecconomic conditions changed. Plus I happened to read more info that the initial misleading sob story so many have been sucked in by.
I see the problem as the result of bad choices led on by influences in society
A fisherman with six children? Going to Auckland without sufficient funds to exist. One can admire somebody who looses their job and upsticks to where maybe there is work … but with six young children … I think that is govt led madness. Six children on an average wage sounds like mis direction by religion. Sorry I blame society for this family’s plight with all the norms it has imposed upon then.
I will try and not reply to Gangnam whose can only swear at one with whom he disagrees. Hardly a sensible reply like so many discussions I read here on The Standard.
“So in times of stress a tent and van seems quite reasonable accomodation” with 6 children of any age ?
You have got to be kidding me. Maybe if you are 20 and out there freedom camping around but not this situation, not even slightly. This is unreasonable accommodation, unreasonable stress. Have you ever LIVED in a van or a tent? I have and that was alone and it was tough let alone with kids and everything.
Quite an income from WINZ? Jeeze are you for real?
So your comment imo seems like a mix of right wing memes and judgments. Grow a heart will you.
Fishhooks? Like how paying rent at 60% + of your income is highly stressful and leads snowballing financial issues and social problems?
I used to at one stage and I did something about it eventually.
As a result and reading ‘Responsible Society’ I happen to have the extreme socialistic opinion that there should be a state house to meet the basic needs of everybody who wants it and those who want more should if they can afford it go private. From singles wishing to leave home to families like that we are discussing.
But if common sense and honesty are ‘right wing memes’ then I am glad I have them whatever they are.
When you were 17 would you want to be living with your 5 siblings in a van? The story is so bad its hard to think its actually real.
That’s just psychopathic BS designed to abrogate any responsibility from you and place all the blame on the victims of capitalism.
I have for ever [almost] accepted that it is my responsibility to contribute to society/govt so that these folk can be helped… while others objected to overtime because of the extra tax they paid I accepted that each according to their income should contribute. When I was younger I knew nothing about the embrionic safety nets people enjoy today and I survived by good management, cutting my cloth to suit my income, and using contraceptives. survived despite some poor choices, so it is easy today for me to appear uncaring when I look for the missing info the MSM do not have in their sob stories.
I was truely moved by AT’s story in the Campbell i/v and can think of things to help but it is hard from the other end of the country. Such as a 12volt solar panel to provide light for her to read and study by, elsewhere I suggested a gas cooker [ not a BBQ thing to live outside the van and be stolen but smaller like I have for emergency use.] to save on fast foods and for when the Marae runs out of money to cook for all of them.
But then I am a DIYer, built family home and retirement cottage and many other things. so I am sad that so many folk are not and appear hopeless to help themselves.
They are doing everything they can to help themselves. It’s society that has forced them into living in cars in straitened conditions.
You are both wrong and right respectively in your comments Draco.
But there are practical ways as I suggested before which would help TA get on but as I have also mentioned when you are down even though you know you are making wrong choices you simply continue for the short term relief which they bring to your impossible situation,
Defending the indefensible.
You are defending the indefensible.
See Aotearoa before they sell it !
Too late Agora … that happened two centuries ago. 🙂
Yep, I think that started when the surveyors of the New Zealand Company first started drawing lines on a map. We still follow the lines today.
.. for a few trinkets. Plus ca change .. nothing changes. Buenvenidos to Puerto Rico … but this time the Conquistadores are different, shell companies from anonymous trusts and people who have history going back to the gold rush.
Generally it ends badly for those who get in too late .. about now ?
Housing New Zealand, oops I mean a single Marae and a single motel owner show leadership on housing crisis. When can we vote these people in as a Government, they are doing the job 100 times better!
http://i.stuff.co.nz/auckland/80885904/Auckland-motel-opens-doors-to-homeless-families-at-break-even-rates
“In much of what was called the Free World, governments and economies are in the throes of self-destruction. Before long we shall witness revolution in several of these countries”.
https://www.sprottmoney.com/blog/predicting-the-efficacy-of-a-coming-revolution-jeff-thomas.html
New Zealand is sitting on a half-a-trillion-dollar debt bomb and Kiwis are increasingly treating their houses like cash machines, piling on the debt as they watch the value of their properties soar.
Reserve Bank figures show household debt, excluding investment property, has risen 23 per cent in the past five years to $163.4 billion. Incomes have risen only 11.5 per cent.
Households are now carrying a debt level that is equivalent to 162 per cent of their annual disposable income – higher than the level reached before the global financial crisis.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/personal-finance/news/article.cfm?c_id=12&objectid=11651648
More of the bad choices I wrote of earlier Agora … I am glad I have fully paid for home and only rates to concern me.
Bad choices rampant throughout our society from a ‘do too little too late’ govt upwards.
Just a wee note to people who were waiting for the post I promised on what we can do to get NZ transport emissions to zero by 2030. I haven’t forgotten it or binned it. But this week has been a bit busier than anticipated, and I’m expecting a fair few posts on the potential of roaring flames accompanying the smoking downward spiral that looks suspiciously like NZs housing market.
Poll of Polls showing Lab/Gr less than 5% behind Nats and the gap “closing” and “narrowing”. Love the way RNZ are reporting the Lab/Gr BLOCK versus Nats. It’s here:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201803965/latest-poll-of-poll-shows-national-still-leads-labour-greens
Excellent.
National 46%
Labour 29%
Greens 9%
So what happens if at an election it is something like this?
Nat 44%
L/G 45%
NZF 7%
Who gets to form govt? Is is always the largest block that agrees to a coalition? RNZ appeared to be implying that L/G could go alone if they wanted to and their vote was higher than Nat.
Edit, here’s the written report with charts,
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/306025/poll-of-polls-coalition-has-a-way-to-go
Not really wanting to get into the whole “which way will Winston swing” he has always stated his preference is to go with the party with the largest vote so maybe the party with the largest vote could be replaced by the block with the largest vote
PR
That’s the excuse Peters has used in the past to suit his needs, but that could change at any moment, so don’t be surprised.
Securing support for confidence and supply is the main thang!
Fixed term Parliaments please
Can one inherit tin ear?
Brock father and son, and Key father and son (and the inbred KKK family home) indicate this does happen.
Max Key says his holding a smoke was only as a prop. He claims that the same was done in film and TV when actors held smokes.
The prop was designed to promote Max Key as a smoking hot celebrity, and a magazine using him/his social media profile to promote their magazine – whereas in the past celebrities were used to promote smoking. It was often a form of product placement (when the brand was identified) but also to brand the celebrity as smoking hot. I guess he failed to get Mad Men and the promotion and selling of smokes and that such product placement continues to this day.
Given his father’s comments about the homeless and wider housing/taxation policy third termitis is rampant.
If one of my sons, at 21, was behaving like Max Key I would be very worried for his mental health.
As expected.
Annie Linskey Verified account
@AnnieLinskey
Warren asked by @maddow if she thinks she is ready to be VP: “Yes. I do.
Annie Linskey Verified account
@AnnieLinskey
Warren says she’s backing Clinton because wants to “be sure that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the White House.”
To all the Hilary fans, your crowing is premature.
Repeating blindly talking points and cheering a cheat does nothing for your reputation. When some of us go, look at her voting record you ignore us, or come back with some trite response.
But you know faux liberals in the USA context are just about as low as you can get, and Hilary is that, a faux liberal. She is also a cheat.
Oh and look – she got caught. It seems Bernie won.
To the so called lefties, who jumped when the corporate media told you to. I’d stop and take a long hard look at yourself at this moment, and remember where you were when the cheat got caught.
http://trustvote.org/
If, and its a very big if, this comes to pass it would explain why Saunders hasn’t thrown in the towel just yet
If it had been stoners in a garage, I would not have put it up.
There is another person who is following the same road, a guy called Rocky de la fuente who you may like Puckish Rouge, as he is conservative democrat.
It has been brewing for a while, mainly over exit polls and the fact the above guy has been getting so few votes, when he is actually know and liked within the Latino community.
Absolutely no news from FBI that I can find (officially) that Clinton Foundation is under any investigation.
So its just another rubbish line out of the GOP lies machine to catch out the stupid and the ignorant.
Sounds very much like politics in NZ right now
“So its just another rubbish line out of the MSM lies machine to catch out the stupid and the ignorant.”
Nope from your first love, the corporate media
Problem uno Clinton Global Initiative http://edition.cnn.com/2016/05/23/politics/terry-mcauliffe-fbi-doj-federal-investigation-campaign-contributions/
Problem dos via state department
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-foundation-received-subpoena-from-state-department-investigators/2016/02/11/ca5125b2-cce4-11e5-88ff-e2d1b4289c2f_story.html
So rightwing turd dukeofurl, you feeling stupid and ignorant yet?
Yeah, smoking guns..
/
uno –
There’s no allegation that the foundation did anything improper; the probe has focused on McAuliffe and the electoral campaign donations, the officials said.
dos –
A foundation representative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing inquiry, said the initial document request had been narrowed by investigators and that the foundation is not the focus of the probe.
Interesting Adam. My guess is that the Establishment cannot allow the Election fraud to surface let alone make it to Court. They will rationalise the issue as too damning for the reputation of the USA. Like having Financial institutions being too big to fail.
This will cause mysterious loss of evidence and of key people. Or maybe extended timelines like a decade or two.
Hang on in there Bernie.
I hope not ianmac.
I’m hoping that democratic membership kick up a stink.
+100 Adam…i did suspect it could have been rigged..the right wing will stop at nothing
…a lesson for the next Elections in NZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11654173
Ok so I’m pro-vaccination so I don’t need to know the reasons why kids should be but theres some photos on how that made me take a short, sharp intake of breath
Her baby was too young to be vaccinated…be warned its not pleasant
Not news. Could be advertising.
more newsworthy than the nutbar idiocy of a national party mp.
“ If you don’t vaccinate you’re an idiot
By Vanessa Brown”
Tipping point was breached some time ago, and all the emotive & abusive vitriol from dupes like Vanessa Brown can do nothing but speed up the outcome!
Observe as the the truth plays out around world , as it already is
No more than about 10 years and that industry, along with others built on fraud, are finished
“All this homelessness stuff is turning the people off our Dear Leader. What can we do ?”
“I know. let’s try to scare them.”
http://insights.nzherald.co.nz/article/assaults-in-public-places
Headline the other day “How do you know if your house has been used as a P-Lab”.
Not a single comment on the reserve banks decision to not cut the cash rate, great, all those with a mortgage of $500k could be saving $150 a month, but instead, the banks profits will increase, fewer exports will leave NZ and there will be fewer jobs, but on the bright side, that new Mercedes won’t cost any more………………..
Seriously are you talking about. Explain to me how the NZRB cutting the cash rate does a single thing to reduce bank profits.
The NZRB cutting the cash rate is an opportunity for banks to INCREASE their profits by not passing along the cut.
I mean, WTF dude.
In a real country, Banks are forced to pass on the reductions, but maybe NZ does not fall into that category, I’ll be honest, if you don’t see the the benefits of a cash rate reduction, then there is no point in arguing with you, savings are already at the bottom of the heap, the best investment is in real estate, hence the high prices and speculation.
The lower cash rate helps businesses, helps stop speculation on the dollar, gives exporters a competitive opportunity (produce and manufacturing) and increases employment opportunities, but, heck, I’m sure you’d prefer to be able to buy that new Mercedes, ay.
Get yourself into the modern world and out of the conservative rout pushed by your mate English.
I’m afraid that your theories are all out of touch with reality.
ZIRP is designed to help speculators and hurt savers and pensioners.
Free money created by central banks flowing into Wall St and other financial assets have been used to widen wealth inequality in the world and has been an ingredient in skyrocketing Auckland house prices.
Further, evidence from overseas shows that investment banks and retail banks will access this cheap money from central banks but will not lend it to small and medium businesses for real world capital investment, leading to banks hoarding huge sums of reserves.
It seems that your financial perspective is one of the 0.1%.
You’ve been found out.
We’re talking NZ, propping up the NZ dollar DOE’S not help ordinary Kiwi’s, it only helps speculators, I’m sure if ordinary Kiwi’s new that their mortgage would be reduced by a rate cut, then they would certainly support it, and all that money saved goes back into the local economy.
Comparing what they might do in the US is considerably different from that in NZ, so your comparison is invalid, NZers are being ripped off with highest interest rates in the developed world, and you know that and still argue against it, all I can say is that living in a small SI town, not effected by the housing affordability problems, has effected your ability to recognise the real benefits of the global changes in interest rates.
If you were truly interested in lowering the value of the NZD you wouldn’t choose the near irrelevant mechanism of interest rates as the way to do it.
You’d use a far more targetted tool.
As I said, you’ve been found out.
have you considered WHY NZ has higher interest rates?
“The lower cash rate helps businesses, helps stop speculation on the dollar, gives exporters a competitive opportunity (produce and manufacturing) and increases employment opportunities, but, heck, I’m sure you’d prefer to be able to buy that new Mercedes, ay.”
except the low interest rates and QE is not going into productive investment is it….its going into property and sharemarket bubbles….and that is the problem.
there is no demand or appetite for risk.
Expat is trying to position dangerous financial policies which benefit the top 1% to 2% the most, as being generally good for the entire population. It’s an old trick.
the question is does he understand what he is proposing?…..if he has to explain why, his argument defeats itself
Your the one trying to trick everyone, the top 2% don’t benefit as much as the “ordinary” Kiwi, your argument to keep high rates does not, so your argument is invalid, FFS, you’ve got investors coming to NZ borrowing money at 1%, and getting a better return than any where else, only Kiwi’s are handicapped.
It’s only people like you who want to buy that new Mercedes at low prices that share your view.
Read my comment below on Wheeler, financial reviewers think he’s a joke.
Considering you aim to be on the side of the left your acting like delegates from ACT party, rip off the general population for the sake of that new Mercedes.
Try govt regulation, but first you need a govt, your argument is what they all say, but the benefits to existing mortgage holders is far greater and REAL.
we have record low interest rates….how low do you need to go? negative perhaps?
2.25% is the highest in the world, so 1.5% is not unreasonable and is competitive.
and why are our interest rates higher than most in the OECD?
…clue , it has nothing to do with competitiveness.
It’s called manipulation of the “markets”, JK’s main policy.
You obviously don’t care about exporters, farmers debt, these things affect all of us.
no its called increased risk….we need to borrow from overseas because we don’t save enough AND we have had a negative trade imbalance forever…so we pay a premium,
I care an awful lot about farmers and exporters as when they go bust (as many are very concerned about currently) I do no business
You favour a policy which will accelerate property asset prices and fuck those who are trying to buy their first house.
Again it is a policy which favours financial speculators and the highly leveraged, and fucks savers.
Mate, you’ve been found out.
Mate, don’t you understand what “regulation” means, I know the govt doesn’t, but was hopping you had a better understanding.
Explain why Kiwi’s should pay higher interest rates than any other country in the world, and please make it a valid reason.
And one more thing. You’re preference to cut interest rates injures savers and pensioners who rely on a pitiful 3.25% return on their term deposits in order just to live.
We are in a world where financial speculators and others leveraged to the hilt are advantaged by central banks while savers and pensioners are punished further and further.
You seem to like this ‘new world order’.
All ready covered savers, there is no money in savings now, is there? so much larger benefits for all in lower mortgage interest rates, FFS, why don you think these overseas investors bring the money in, lower interest rates, ay, so why can’t ordinary Kiwi’s have that same advantage FFS, Kiwi’s are being ripped off.
You need to get with the global interest rates, just because of your isolation doesn’t negate your ignorance.
Wheelers rate changes over the last 4 years are an international joke, there all over the place like a “mad persons shit”, if you get my drift.
Thanks for admitting that you’re writing off the future income of savers and pensioners in favour of bankers, speculators and debtors.
That’s all I needed from you.
You sound like my old neighbour, in their 70’s, used to keep $40k in the savings account so that they wouldn’t have to pay “fees”, when all they had to do is change banks.
Get real, bank savings are the lowest form of return and have been for a few years now, if you think propping up the dollar is good for a minority group who chooses to invest in bank savings, then you really are selfish, lower interest rates helps far more people than those “savers”, but please explain why Kiwi’s should have to pay a premium to buy their own home, you know the young families who work hard and pay the Tax that funds your pension, please explain why they shouldn’t have a fair go.
Bloody conservatism……….
You guys are living in a bubble, and can’t see the reality of what is occurring from the smokescreen, it’s much easier to view from outside of that bubble and get a very clear view.
Get with the times, there is very low returns from bank savings, if you look at Japans 30 year bond rate, they are paying 0.3%, and there are plenty of investors buying those bonds, so get yourselves into the real world, interest rates aren’t going up for some time, there are no winners from this, that’s why property speculation is rampant, oh except in Germany, where they regulate speculators out of of the market and oversupply housing availability, something the govt could do, if it had the guts.
Germany has had population decrease for some time….is deflationary….why do you think they want a million working age refugees
Merkel has the backing of the business class in this. Put downward pressure on wages and break up those pesky unions.
Oh look, the little 0.1%er says that returns from bank deposits are low, while advocating interest rate policies to lower them even further.
Punishing savers and pensioners and rewarding speculators and the highly leveraged.
Go away mate I figured out your number already.
Mike Williams- Voice from the Left?
Mike Williams former Labour education officer, Party President, and regular ‘Voice from the Left’ during Monday’s Nine to Noon on RNZ’s “Voices from the left and the right” slot, is not filling the role of left wing commentator as per the show’s description.
The voice from the Right is usually quite ably filled by Matthew Hooton, and it’s worth noting Matthew argues from a fairly radical position.
However Mike Williams’s voice from the Left has for some time, been a source of quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) rage for me. As it turns out this is also true for my more politically aware friends.
The Radio NZ show usually goes something like this;
A topic is introduced by Kathryn Ryan, the topic is taken up by one of the voices, and a position taken, the other voice counters with their position, then at some point through this exchange Williams often ends up in either a sort of agreement with Hooton or somehow just leaves the Lefts position lying abandoned on the floor somewhere in the centrist meaningless nowhere land. You will note when this moment has arrived with Williams’s oral punctuation marks either; “but watch this space” or “there is plenty of water to go under this bridge” or “it’s no silver bullet”
Now his centrist positions might have been fine in 1984 under Douglas, or Clarke for that matter, but in case he hasn’t noticed these same centrist left/right policies from both sides have left the country with more class divisions, pay stagnation, more poverty, a failing Health system, prison population explosion etc etc.
When we should expect moral outrage and indignation from our media commentators, we are served tacit agreement. The same tacit agreement among from the established media and political class that is starting to fuel extreme nationalism across Europe and the U.S. What we need to hear from our left wing commentators is some… well, left wing thinking. If Hooton’s radical Randian rantings can represent the right on a show like Nine to Noon, surely there is an equivalent for left. Let Kathryn patrol the centre if that’s called objectivity.
As I am from the Hawkes Bay I am not at all surprised by Williams’s position. I get his opinion pieces in The Hawkes Bay Today to read. Some of which had me reading them twice, just to see if they could in fact be actually penned by the former Labour Party President.
From writing a puff piece for the Serco run Wiri south Auckland prison;
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11446050
Defending Judith Collins;
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11593717
To where he thinks Bill English could teach the Labour Party a thing or two about how to spend money in social spending, hospitals etc.…(what!).
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503459&objectid=11616187
So in short, I believe Mike Williams has lost his right to speak for us on the Left, if you agree then please email RNZ, and ask them to get in someone who can.
Please remember this is one of the few (only?) weekly discussions of Left/Right politics and policies in New Zealand mainstream media, so it is vital that they have the right person.
ninetonoon@radionz.co.nz
Any suggestions of who could fill this important slot?
they replaced mike Williams with Stephen Mills(?) briefly….why they didn’t continue with him I have no idea….he at least pulled M.Hooton up on his obvious BS
Mike is fine. Out of the current group of left wing commentators he is by far the best. Compare him to Pagani, Trotter …
Can you come up with some positive comments to describe why “mike is fine”? I can’t.
sorry MS,,,apart from a brief spark last week he has been weak…..who knows why, but that is not the point…when Hooton knew he would be challenged (by Mills) he was more circumspect on his BS…didnt stop him, but certainly slowed him down….sometimes MW so poor KR feels obliged to step in for him.
Yes I agree, he was a good start.
Couldn’t agree more!
Thanks, remember to email RNZ and let them know.
He is not fine, he’s been riding on the center line so long he doesn’t which lane he is in…I do.
Apart from Deborah Russell I cannot think of anyone better.
That would be David Farrars pick too I think.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/tag/deborah_russell
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201802578/political-commentators-matthew-hooton-and-mike-williams
judge for yourselves
Thanks for that link Pat.
Here is a perfect example, Mike with a golden opportunity to rigorously attack Hooton on Nationals inept budget, you couldn’t get an easier gift than this….but no, KR has to step in again and again to take the (least) position that Mike should be taking.
It is painful to listen to.
What puts me off Nine to Noon is the incessant contribution from Ryan.