@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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Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
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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.
https://twitter.com/AnnieLinskey/status/741080996947329025
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.”
https://twitter.com/AnnieLinskey/status/741073407064805376
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.