Most recently enjoyed watching her on Detectorists, playing mother to her real life daughter, Rachael Stirling.
Good role, could have been a typical Mother In Law beat up, but well written and well played, with genuine affection and warmth apparent within the irritation.
looks like Ardern and Robertson are tax trauma victims. Having seen John Key and Bill English wipe out Helen Clark and Michael Cullen’s 39 percent rate in a single blow and watched Phil Goff, David Shearer, David Cunliffe and Andrew Little all eviscerated by various versions of “show me the money!”, they are now cowered.
Clark and Cullen’s 39 percent rate cut in at $60,000; around $90,000 in today’s money. Labour this time has brought it in at twice that amount. Sure, they hope to say they succeeded where Goff, Shearer, Cunliffe and Little all failed, but it’s the most pyrrhic of victories. It’s estimated to bring in a measly $550m a year. Robertson said that would go into health, education and covid debt.
That’s nonsense. That amount will buy you today a sum total of one week’s worth of wage subsidy. Yep, one week. The government budgeted $50 billion to save the economy this year; half a billion achieves next to nothing in that context.
Then he alerts us to a potential upside for the Greens:
I suspect this position does the Greens some favours. This tax timidity gives space the Greens can exploit to Labour’s left, arguing they are the only voice for change that has a chance of being in government after this election.
So we will wait & see if all those lower-class folk the Greens are trying to represent will actually get up and vote for them! It could even be remotely possible that Grant & Ardern have ditched them for precisely that reason – to measure the numbers of losers who are willing to participate in democracy. A social science experiment.
Yeah, he did write cowered, as quoted. If commentators such as myself adopted a policy of refusing to quote illiteracy, how could we quote msm journalists?? You set too high a bar for contemporary society, Stuart.
There's also the fact that cowering often shows up. Which tends to suggest that past tense usage does actually have grammatical logic…
A funny ESL story came from a cop – a witness to the crime had english as a second language.
In court, the defense lawyer asked the witness how they came to be at the scene. "I was proceeding into town to do some shopping, and as I proceeded down the street towards the corner I saw that man proceeding to hit the other man". The lawyer's ears pricked up:
"Mr X, for how long have you been learning english?"
"Ever since I came to New Zealand, a year".
"And yet you use words like 'proceeding'"? [lawyer glances meaningfully at cop who took the witness statement]
"Yes, we learned it last week in language class and I use new words as much as I can".
seriously Dennis, i read what you said, and these insults were literally just bashing down to the working poor, dis-regarded poor on the benefit and the even less regarded poor that have given up on work and on Winz.
Fact is the non voters that i know are well to do white people sitting in nice and expensive houses in Auckland who can't even be bothered to vote for their children, cause "Non of hte parties do anything for me' and fact is also that if the highly paid critters that screw us over year by year can get to 'abstain' from voting then people can get also to 'abstain' from rubber stamping another government that gives about as much of fuck as hte previous one.
You want better participation in the rubber stamping model of democracy we have then maybe get better people in to the parties that you and others so support here.
No I don't want them to endorse representative democracy. The concept hasn't seemed even remotely valid during my lifetime.
Their freedom to choose will determine the outcome. The interesting bit is whether the Greens get voter support for the wealth tax or not. The election result will measure that. Let's await the verdict of the electorate.
yep, and insulting them is what is gonna get you there.
Maybe call the political parties losers for not giving these people any ANY reason at all to vote.
And yes, there is about a million + people who don't vote, and you know why? Because they don't have a reason to. Heck, i don't have a reason to vote for any of the current clown brigade trying desperately to hold on their 180.000 NZD plus jobs.
So don't blame the people, blame the 'elite' for being tone deaf, whimpy, with no guts what so ever to speak of , that think that tinkering on the sides is a vote getter. And that includes the Labour Party, the Green Party, NZFirst, Conservaties, Hannah Tamaki and the Church party and the No mates Party.
All just in there for a job that they would otherwise not get anywhere in private industry.
If anything the non voters are the ones who have it correct, 'Non of the above' right now is about the most honest vote anyone could cast.
but but … judith will be worse. Lol. Fucking lol, that is a vote getter, right?
Yeah, nah, you just insulted a whole bunch of people who vote. And you were not even funny doing it.
People who don't make a collective effort to play a constructive role in our political system deserve to be called losers. The cap fits them, therefore I will put it firmly on their heads!
Complain all you like, you can't hide from this reality. You know they've got the numbers to make themselves a substantial political force.
DF has a commenting style that tends to be a bit obscure at first read. In this instance I think the comment can be read as sarcasm rather than dissing working and underclass people as losers.
Or it can be read as indicating the thinking behind Labour's policy design. Remember Labour politicians are wannabe control-system operatives. As such, they must relegate the role of compassion for sufferers into a less-influential part of their minds. Their political advisors get this.
The cynicism involved is relative to the individual psyche, but a certain amount of elitism pervades their political culture – likely often in the minds of political commentators who remind us that Labour are middle-class (pseudo)intelligentsia, not the working class reps they were a century ago.
No, it influences them tacitly. Tacit beliefs are known to be more powerful determinants of behaviour than beliefs advocated, usually, because they are habitual. There's an entitlement syndrome, due to social class origins & habitat providing a niche of base support. More evident in the Nats, of course!
Framing can have a subconscious basis but is usually overt – expressed as design. So the utility factor is more important with framing. What works.
unconscious belief in people as losers makes more sense. My point stands. Often your commenting style is not straightforward, and requires additional parsing that many don’t so. I tend to agree with Sabine, it was easy to misread the comment. If you are going to do that kind of convoluted inference, some care is required.
Maybe next time ad a sarcasm tag here, cause anyone reading this is entitled to their opinion that dear Dennis is another one of these chardoney swoilling liberals/labourites/greens that have nothing but contempt for the ones that are considered the 'essential worker' or 'low wage losers'. /s
Barfly You are outraged at someone describing what we can see plainly for ourselves? You are too sensitive to be involved in plain discussion about our politics. What makes me anxious is the number of losers out there who are not getting any help with their living standards, to get regular work, medical and hospital treatment when needed etc. They are definitely losing out on the services that wealthier people get partly because they are lower-class folk and haven't learned the ways to improve their lot. No use putting angry faces about it., be abusive for saying what is, that you apparently don't want to know. Don't get angry, get busy trying to help – put the energy of your anger to some useful action to help people at the bottom of the ladder.
yeah, how dare he be outraged that some schmuck call people that have been left behind by the system losers for not participating in a system that have left them behind.
maybe dennis needs to channel his outrage at the non voting loser by working to get them to the polls. I am sure insults work a great deal.
btw, todays losers were yesterdays 'essential workers'. Just saying.
I feel no such outrage. Those who refuse to vote for a party that is endeavouring to represent them are understandable, imo. Not rational.
One must have spent a significant part of one's life in similar oppression to feel for them. I fall into that category. However deep the hole, one always has the choice of trying to climb out. Loser is the term for one who gets defeated by the system and stops trying. It is a technical term only.
That said, I get your emotional reaction. Emotional intelligence is usually not factored into politics, but it ought to be.
God helps those who help themselves. Old saying. Losers who refuse to help themselves by voting Green this election deserve the label!
However deep the hole, one always has the choice of trying to climb out. Loser is the term for one who gets defeated by the system and stops trying. It is a technical term only.
And winner is the term for one who gets rewarded by the system and keeps trying to get more. It is a technical term only.
Technical term only Dennis? Really. Maybe this will help…
Sandel is determined to aim a broadside squarely at a left-liberal consensus that has reigned for 30 years. Even a perfect meritocracy, he says, would be a bad thing. “The book tries to show that there is a dark side, a demoralising side to that,” he says. “The implication is that those who do not rise will have no one to blame but themselves.” Centre-left elites abandoned old class loyalties and took on a new role as moralising life-coaches, dedicated to helping working-class individuals shape up to a world in which they were on their own.
The Tyranny of Merit is the latest salvo in Sandel’s lifelong intellectual struggle against a creeping individualism that, since the Reagan and Thatcher era, has become pervasive in western democracies. “To regard oneself as self-made and self-sufficient. This picture of the self exerts a powerful attraction because it seems on the face of it to be empowering – we can make it on our own, we can make it if we try. It’s a certain picture of freedom but it’s flawed. It leads to a competitive market meritocracy that deepens divides and corrodes solidarity.”
I appreciate your link. There's deep thought consequent. Although I've always preferred meritocracy to democracy, I have always opposed the establishment's privilege system of vested interests.
I've never seen neoliberalism as offering much credible meritocracy: gaming the system when you're competitive and able merely provides personal benefits (perhaps trickling down to partner & family).
What Money Can’t Buy sealed Sandel’s status as perhaps the most formidable critic of free-market orthodoxy in the English-speaking world. But as an age of violently polarised, partisan and poisonous politics has taken hold, it is that early encounter with Reagan that has begun to play on his mind.
“It taught me a lot about the importance of the ability to listen attentively,” he says, “which matters as much as the rigours of the argument. It taught me about mutual respect and inclusion in the public square.”
Consensus politics teaches the same. But only to those who actually do the leg-work of that! It probably remains pie in the sky idealism to all others. So as someone who made it work for the Greens initially, I see those shrill sectarians who now pollute our social ecosystem as exhibitors of shadow narcissism, busy betraying real Greens. I do wish them luck with the wealth tax, though, since it would be a useful corrective…
No Contest stands as the definitive critique of competition. Contrary to accepted wisdom, competition is not basic to human nature; it poisons our relationships and holds us back from doing our best. In this new edition, Alfie Kohn argues that the race to win turns all of us into losers.
More and more the research is showing how capitalism, and the individualism it promotes, fails us.
Likewise, except that I have owned a paperback of the original edition since the '90s and still not got around to it!
I'm comfortable with that since adopting the synthesis frame (competition plus collaboration). I've always been an individualist, so didn't acquire a collectivist self easily, competitive by nature yet keen to collaborate on a credible basis.
If you look at it from the perspective of ethos, the competitive ethic is a survival skill (enhancing fitness & merit) plus reputation-building, but the collaborative ethic is likewise. Hunter-gatherers proved their matrix resilient & sustainable and those who proved themselves good at teamwork got enhanced reputations within clan or tribe.
Yup – The use of the term losers by the representative class indicates that they have usurped the people's franchise and see themselves as rulers.
People don't want to be losers, they want a government that represents their interests – that doesn't steal public assets or free education or fishery rights or any of the other ladders that used to allow NZ people to succeed.
"If the Greens or any party want to go after voters by saying that they will tax them much harder that Labour will, they are welcome to it."
Yep. Labour are doing a really good job of showing us what a sane and civilised centre-right government looks like. Their strategically near-flawless Covid response is setting about saving as much of BAU as possible. They are rocking few boats with tax or climate change initiatives. Who but those mentally vitiated by habit and the psychopathology of culture wars needs National now? Labour is opening significant space on their left – if there is a genuine constituency there, someone can take it.
Increased taxation on the middle class is not (or shouldnt be) the goal, that is the area of most discretionary spend within the economy….about the only thing Labour got right with its tax policy was its target and is why the Greens policy is far superior.
Increased taxation on the middle class is not (or shouldnt be) the goal, that is the area of most discretionary spend within the economy
To a degree I agree with that. I've even pointed out that we should be able to do without income tax altogether but, IMO, we could only do that if we had a minimum and maximum income. The former ensures everyone has enough to live on and the latter ensures that people don't have too much.
People having too much is, of course, the bigger problem.
"On the face of it, the promise from Labour that it would make New Zealand's electricity system fully renewable by 2030 seems a bold climate pledge.
In reality, it is little more than a red herring to distract from the woeful lack of policy to reduce emissions in sectors that pollute far more than the energy industry."
'Red herring' was the first thought I had, closely followed by 'eating Greens lunch'…the closing comment however nails it.
"So long as we are unwilling to commit to the hard work needed to decarbonise our society, political parties like Labour will continue to get away with offering stingy emissions reductions as if they're game-changing climate policies."
"Our plan will start by rolling out the recently announced $70m Government investment to support large businesses to replace the use of fossil fuel in industrial heat processes and connect to the grid. This includes transmission line upgrades, and direct support to industrial users to convert their coal boilers to electricity or other renewable alternatives," the policy fact sheet reads.
I do hope that means that the government will be buying back the power shares rather than giving the bludgers millions of dollars so that they can bludge better.
Given that a post-Brexit UK is quietly trying to negotiate a free-trade deal with the USA right now … a deal that will not be concluded until the Yanks have more or less crushed the Brits will to live … then yes political considerations will likely trump legal ones.
As a historical review it's fine. But at best it just barely touches on alternatives to Waikato River water for the water supply situation Auckland is now in, and what the infrastructure implications of those alternatives might be.
Briefly, one issue is that drinking quality water is supplied for everything – toilet flushing, golf course irrigation, industrial cleaning etc, as well as actual drinking. But the infrastructure implication of going to a two-tier quality water supply means effectively a double-up on water supply infrastructure.
Another related issue is the use once and dump we have for almost all users. While there is some water recycling in individual businesses – car washes are just the first that comes to mind – re-using grey water in general implies a lot of doubling up on waste-water infrastructure.
There is mention and references in the article about how drinkable quality water is utilised for everything, where many other muncipal or state systems have had a dual tier system for water for industrial use, and water for consumption.
The investment in a double up in this case, is an investment in public health outcomes, and a reduction in use and dump situations if possible. Taking water from the Waikato has been a strategy pursued for years, without any alternative option being proposed.
NZers are used to having lots of land, lots of water, lots of fuel and the consequences of this largesse is that sometimes use and planning – at personal and institutional level – does not result in these resources being used efficiently.
Other places that have gone to dual-tier supply, and reuse and recycling systems, tend to be in places where water really truly is a very scarce resource. For instance, Windhoek Namibia, and southwestern US are just the first two I'm directly aware of. None of them have a massive river flowing into the sea right where water is needed, and the need could be supplied from under 2% of that flow.
The overwhelming impression I've developed of opposition to taking Waikato water is that opponents have zero conception of how small Auckland's take really is compared to the general flow of the river, nor how close the intake is to where the river becomes tidal and salty, meaning there simply is almost zero length of river run where ecological effects or other users could conceivably be affected by the miniscule reduction in flow. Then there's the woo-woo objections on the basis of water is precious with no other arguments attached.
Then, when it comes to ideas about disturbing the historic flow of the river, the Tongariro power scheme diverted a lot of water into the Waikato that used to flow down the Rangitikei, Whangaehu and Whanganui rivers starting in the early 80s. That extra flow amounts to around 10% of the Waikato flow at the river mouth – about 5 times Auckland's proposed maximum take.
Having worked in the water supply industry for a considerable period I can only confirm this comment 100% Andre.
The superficial reasons given for objections to the increased take for Auckland are absurd. The actual motivations can have nothing to do with the health of the river.
Time for the government to step and sort this out.
NZers are used to having lots of land, lots of water, lots of fuel and the consequences of this largesse is that sometimes use and planning – at personal and institutional level – does not result in these resources being used efficiently.
I recall when Labour were going to put in place shower head restrictions. National and its supporters got really upset about but what really stood out, to me, was some idiot journalist going on about how we have infinite water, that it just falls from the sky, and thus we didn't need to restrict people's use of it.
He'd obviously missed all the droughts that NZ keeps having and Auckland's last water crisis in the 1990s.
Labour's move to outflank National on the right seems shrewd on the basis that the number of people who see that are politically insignificant. Most suckers believe Labour is the party of the left, not the party of the rich.
the real winners from Labour’s policy are real estate agents and wealthy people themselves. That is because the tax change is likely to send property prices even higher.
The real problem with our tax system is the different tax treatment of property compared with other investments. People with money in other forms of investments – KiwiSaver, bank deposits and businesses – pay some of the highest tax rates in the world on the returns from those investments. Meanwhile, property investments – especially the family home – pay some of the lowest taxes in the world.
This provides a massive incentive to speculate on property. That is why we put more of our money into property than any other country in the world. That means we put less into businesses (which actually create jobs and exports) than any other country. This is also one reason why we have some of the most unaffordable housing in the world. Increasing the top tax rate to 39c will make the problem worse.
Since the worsening of the problem will not become apparent until the medium-term future, Labour's deceit strategy is likely to be effective. A clever ploy.
Simmons isn't wrong on the general point that NZ tax is very low on returns from capital and wealth.
But Simmons is very wrong that taxes in NZ are comparatively very high on returns from businesses in particular. The complete absence of capital gains taxes in NZ means the biggest form of returns from business is completely untaxed – unlike the US, UK, Australia, China etc.
Company profits in NZ are also effectively only taxed once on the way to individual pockets, unlike at least the US where profits are taxed first at the company level, then dividends distributed from profits are then taxed at the individual level.
Are you an economist? Your comment reads as if. Re Simmons; takes one to know one. I get your logic though and it seems valid.
If so, then it is a status quo historically co-created by Labour & National: this left/right collusion makes us more business-friendly than those other countries.
Will we see Labour supporters go public and explain why they support capitalism? Hell will freeze over before that happens. Hypocrisy is better than honesty for them.
No I'm not an economist. I'm an engineer that has lived and worked in NZ, the US, and Mexico, and paid a broad range of taxes in all three of those jurisdictions. Plus the state income taxes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.
As for why I support some capitalism as part of a mixed economy, I've travelled through places that don't have a healthy private capitalist sector. Fuck that for jokes of places to live.
In any society there will always be those compelled to somehow flaunt "success". So they can have sex with the most attractive partners, enjoy the most interesting experiences, eat the tenderest tastiest food, live in the biggest house, have others pander to their whims. Capitalism provides a good avenue for the likes of Jobs, Musk etc to fulfill that urge by creating stuff the rest of us value.
Capitalism works well where there's low barriers to entry, there's genuine product differentiation, consumers can reasonably evaluate in choose among competitors. Food, clothing, transport, recreational activity etc.
Capitalism doesn't work well where there are natural monopolies (eg electricity, water), where the consumer can't reasonably evaluate different options and make reasonable choices and life effects may be disproportionate (healthcare, education).
Hence the value of a mixed economy in being able to take advantage of the strengths of different systems.
also 'for the greater good' should be made the underlying basis of said social market society.
But NZ what stills ails the country imo, is a very old fashioned system in which two thirds of the country peasants working for a few Landlords to whom the political class either belongs, or wants to belong to, or is indebted too, and a bunch of highly paid stenographers that don't even want to pretend to being journalists, lest it costs them access to the landlord class.
That's a solid framework to work with. Markets are useful tools which we can use in selected areas to meet pre-existing social/ethical goals, and avoid using in other areas where they would undermine those goals. Once that is established, then we can get down to arguing about which bucket (market/non-market) things should be in – and we will have taken the insanity of markets as ends in themselves off the table.
That means we put less into businesses (which actually create jobs and exports) than any other country.
No business has ever created a job.
Job creation is always dependent upon demand for the product/service in the community thus we can say that it is the community that creates jobs. If there is no demand there are no jobs.
Other than that, he's probably right. Capitalists always look for the easiest way to scam the rest of us and property in NZ is a very easy way to become a rentier.
I may have missed it, but where are the united voices of the leadership of our opposition parties condemning the fundamentalists for their conspiracy theories. Perhaps they see some votes being lost. Or do Collins and Peters believe Covid is not a threat?
Not sure I understand your response Red. Unfortunately the loons are gaining traction (spreading-like-a-virus amongst their fellow loons). And their actions are the current outbreak spreaders of covid. Why are we pussyfooting around with them and not shaming them and their leaders. A chance for Collins to show some leadership as well.
"Shaming them" feeds their furnace, unfortunately. Naming their issues gives those issues coverage and credibility, in the eyes of the devoted, so alluding to them is the only way. The devotees have been primed to expect resistance from the "establishment" and will thrill to noise made, accusations levelled and individuals blamed; they are seeking martyrdom and have already embedded the possibility in the minds of their followers. Logical appeals to those flighty-folk are met with Gish gallop and shared glances of delight as they bolster each others cleverness in knowing that "this was going to happen". It's a tricky situation. The best approach seems to be "extinguish by ignoring" but that's frustrating when you are watching that contagion seemingly spread and hear them boast of their up-coming landslide victory!
There is no need for Labour to be concerned about the Future. It has taken the amazing stand of clearing up the appalling mess given by national, decade after decade.
National are a grotty bunch of money grubbers, who go out of their American way, year after year, to destroy the livings and the necessities of the New Zealand population.
National have made sure never to build a house for the people. The People are made to crawl daily to get food from decent respectable people.
Nothing, but nothing adequate has been given to the Population by the money thieves.
National love suicide. Love poor Literacy. Adore Poverty. They are good at it.
The difference between National and labour for the majority is paper thin, for those in struggle town even less Both simply manage to the centre with a couple of scraps to keep their rabid base happy re differentiation and that’s about it
Has any Party so far posted something up in regards to the 11.000 covid unemployed of whom 90% are women? Something anything? Or is Carmel Sepuloni the only one who spoke of the dear 'unfortunate' that can't get better benefits as they have right now but might be pressured into 'voluntary work' cause indentured servitude is now a thing with the Labour Party.
Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni wants to look at ways the welfare system can encourage volunteering to prepare people for work.
But officials have warned against making it compulsory.
Trevor McGlinchey from the Council of Christian Social Services was on the Welfare Expert Advisory Group which produced a report on restoring dignity to social security.
Also is Carmel Sepuloni so far removed from reality that she really thinks that 'volunteering' for the benefit is getting people ready for work that is not there?
Is Carmel Sepuloni saying that the people that lost jobs since January 2020 due to Covid, need 'volunteering' to get them to understand the value of work?
And is Carmel Sepuloni saying that people who are currently on a benefit – unemployment, social welfare, single parents, illness etc do not at all, never, or currently are not volunteering in their community.\
and last but least, when has Carmel Sepuloni last volunteered for anything else then a government pay for which she has to do absolutely nothing and be served chardonnay with her dinner for free?
fuck, is there anyone in our current government that actually gives a flying fuck about the misery that is currently starting to blanket the country, or are shovel ready jobs for the rich and connected the only ones that are worth their time?
Seriously think about it, 11.000 Covid unemployed (by their own statistics), 90% of whom are women, and who now can look forward to a life of 'bene bashing' forced 'volunteering' and starvation benefits. Does anyone give a shit?
” Indentured servitude
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An indenture signed by Henry Mayer, with an “X”, in 1738. This contract bound Mayer to Abraham Hestant of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who had paid for Mayer to travel from Europe.
An indentured servant or indentured laborer is an employee (indenturee) within a system of unfree labor who is bound by a signed or forced contract (indenture) to work without pay for the owner of the indenture for a period of time. The contract often lets the employer sell the labor of an indenturee to a third party. Indenturees usually enter into an indenture for a specific payment or other benefit (such as transportation to a new place), or to meet a legal obligation, such as debt bondage. On completion of the contract, indentured servants were given their freedom, and occasionally plots of land. Indentured servitude was often brutal, with a high percentage[vague] of servants dying prior to the expiration of their indentures. In many countries, systems of indentured labor have now been outlawed, and are banned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a form of slavery.”
Last, if there is work to be done – then the Government can start hiring these unemployed people on the benefit and pay them minimum wage. And if they don’t want to do that, than they should hang their heads in eternal shame.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff says people in the city are, by and large, following the rules and prosecution shouldn't be ruled out for those who break them or spread misinformation.
Good on you Phil. Its time prosecution was threatened for those who are peddling disinformation and conspiracy theories. We can't do a lot about ignorance and naivety, but we can stop the bastards who feed on it and create so much damage and fear in the process.
Why can't the SIS and the GCSB pool their resources and dig them out of their metaphorical caves? They have the tools to do the job. A visit from the police ordering them to desist accompanied with the threat of prosecution if they don't comply should shut most of them up. And exposing the identities of the worst offenders would do no harm either.
The me too movement has many tentacles and what you raise is one of them. Sexual harassment is finally being exposed for the damage it causes. That there is no avenue for complaint that works. Taking a complaint against an employer for sexual harassment is a bit like an ACC sensitive claim. You are on your own, you need a lawyer, the legislation is not fit for purpose especially an historical case.
I was disappointed in Dowie as she could have done a private members bill/ballot to address the hurdle of the Limitations Act and the dysfunctional ACC Act. For a historical schedule 3 ACC claim when you have complained there should be no Limitations Act date when a serious error occurred by an organisation. Now that would fix an organisation. Historical cases are being discriminated against compared to a current case as no right to sue.
Go to stuff news and look at the Mariya Taylor update today. Please do a link for it.
It would be good if the smart leaders at the top listened to the smart workers who make it all happen. Make them part of the process and there will be less demand, and more effectiveness for everybody.
The Chair of Dunedin Holdings Limited (DHL) has refused to allow union representation on an important stakeholder group on the future of Dunedin Railways Limited (DRL).
The RMTU wrote to DRL on 1 September requesting membership of the Council’s reference group charged with overseeing submissions into the future of the council-owned company.
The union letter was signed by RMTU Otago Branch Secretary Dave Kearns, as well as Unions Otago Convenor Andrew Tait and Unions Otago Secretary Malcolm Deans, on behalf of local affiliates of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
It's been hard to have a former hero of mine be repeatedly revealed to be one I have little respect for.
Way back in the day I saw Bad Taste on the big screen in Palmy. A feature film made in the weekends by a bunch of guys in and around Wellys. Funny and gory.
Fast forward to 'The Hobbitt Law' and the lies Mr and Mrs Jackson told, besmirching a true hero's name, Helen Kelly, all to serve greed and Warners.
From 9 November, the NZ Government is intending to remove this provision, so non-qualifying partners will no longer be able to be included! The closure will have an immense impact on many people who are about to retire, and without any warning, people will not have time to re-set their retirement plans! For example, a younger wife who is looking after an older man with health needs will, under the new law, no longer be applicable for the “non-qualifying partner” payment and will have to look for paid employment.
ahh, yeah, the 'wellbeing' budget, the kinder gentler bullshit that will leave all a bit poorer, but never mind the Queen and her consorts are all in this together. Why vote fro the no – mates party when Labour does it so well.
Actually super not being on an individual basis was causing a lot of problems. Particularly for anyone who had an overseas partner from some countries who were not eligible despite being so if they were single.
Nor do I think super should be used as a de facto payment for individual nursing.
It was also propping up a lot of the internet bride market – where very young women could be included in the claim and then when the male partner died they would have to transit onto some thing else. if they had any skills
It also had a funny downside where if the couple of not too different ages claimed – one over and one under and the older partner died then the not quite 65 year old had to attempt to go back to or find work or go onto an unemployment benefit for a few years. However, a single person under 65 has no choice but continue to work or be on unemployment benefit so at least it isn't discriminating on the basis of partnership status
But I don't like the hard edge cut off that they did Personally if a partner was under say 50 or under I would have given them 18 months to 2 years to get themselves off super and into employment or unemployment.
As the non eligible partner got older a sliding scale to maintain some level of eligibility for those within in say 5 years of retiring would have been a fairer take.
Any way most retirement policy doesn't do a lot for women who live longer and are more likely to go into retirement alone or to live alone in retirement.
i know full well that retirement for women means in many cases abject poverty, but then so does being a women on the benefit – specially if your partner actually has an income as the benefit then reduces to nothing. So that is hte other side.
But women tend to be younger then their male partners, and they also tend to look after their partners and or sick children/parents etc. So again, its women that are being hit the hardest with this change of rules.
Nevermind, when it comes to benefits and beneficiaries all the parties are full of shit. All of them.
I agree with the move to prevent younger partners piggybacking on much older partners/husbands super. it is part of a series of moves to treat people in marriages etc as individuals. And it has been well signalled since the Wellbeing budget in in May 2019, the previous cut-off was July 2020 so it has been extended because of Covid-19 I guess.
'Pensioners who are currently including their partner will be able to continue to do so. But if their partner is not already included in their payment at July 1, they will not be able to be included.
A spokeswoman for Minster of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said non-qualified partners of pensioners would be able to access support through the welfare system in the same way as other people.'
Stuff Jan 25 2020
The previous system was rife with abuse from older men with much younger overseas spouses, who were often in very short duration marriages because of the death of the very much older spouse, had no real ties to NZ and were then able to receive various benefits without having to work, pay tax etc.
As the changes are not retrospective those receiving this piggybacking will continue to receive it until the younger one qualifies for super.
If the younger spouse is entitled to receive pension from overseas then the rule that saw it deducted from the spouses pension here in NZ has been dropped.
'From 1 July 2020, the direct deduction of a government-administered overseas pension received by a superannuitant’s partner from that superannuitant’s New Zealand Super or Veteran’s Pension will be removed.'
and
'The Spousal Provision clearly has been a source of extreme distress for so long for the 500 or so couples affected and the removal will greatly improve their financial situation, say the retirement experts.'
So it fixed up the genuine problem with super payments that younger overseas pension qualified spouses had while tightened the loophole, with plenty of notice 18months or more, for the other set.
We have assurances that the safety net will remain and those affected will be able to access support through our welfare system.
Good, but to finish the job they need to have enough money for food when they get there, and a train/bus to get home. No use dumping them in their country and bye bye. Many of these people have no resources left after just existing for months while no-one knew what would happen next.
Be good to get a list of the countries who are refusing to help their own citizens and leaving us with the financial hit – NZ advances money to it's citizens stuck overseas with no funds
I listened to the first 17 minutes. I usually use powdered milk with Vitamin D3 added. I realise a level and the absorption of vitamin D3 is required. There probably is a safe level of Vitamin D3. Just like folate is added to bread, adding Vitamin D3 to milk would be one way of getting some of the vitamin. Ordinary milk could still be purchased.
There needs to be a larger study. I personally think getting ahead of Covid is the way to go just by ensuring your diet has plenty of Vitamin D3.
Yes the trial numbers are low, but the statistical significance is still extremely strong. And as Campbell says it also it aligns strongly with a substantial body of empirical evidence from clinicians all over the world.
By all means larger and better trials should be run to confirm this study; indeed if they’re not conducted it would truly bring into question the integrity of the entire system.
Of course I can only hope that Trump doesn't come out and endorse it; if that happens next thing there will be a scam study showing that historically safe doses of Vitamin D3 are now dangerously toxic and WHO will recommend banning any clinical use of it. And govts will start making it illegal to sell OTC.
Disclaimer; These media including videos, book, e book, articles, podcasts are not peer-reviewed. They should never replace individual clinical judgement from your own health care provider. No media-based material on this channel is suitable for using as professional medical advice. All comments are also for educational purposed only and must never replace advice from your own health care provider.
Oh FFS it's a commentary on a well designed clinical study that is reporting exactly what anyone who had been paying attention knew since March sometime … that Vitamin D is strongly involved in protecting from the worst of this disease.
If this had been taken seriously six months ago it looks like many hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been avoided.
Vitamin D loading dosing for supportive treatment of covid is certainly interesting and more study is warranted.
Normal Vitamin D supplementation of individuals is not going to do the vast majority of the population any harm whatsoever.
Nonsense comments such as ……
'If this had been taken seriously six months ago it looks like many hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been avoided.'
are pretty pointless.
There are a number of shortcomings with the spanish study which I'm sure you're aware of this doesn't mean that Vitamin D supplementation or active high dose treatment in the acute phase are a bad idea just that more study is warranted before making bold statements of efficacy or protective effect of any intervention.
It always helps to include a link and some comment, even with presumed self-explanatory quotes and ‘obvious’ self-evident copy & paste jobs. Moderators on this site have been droning on about this forever, for a reason.
The only obvious shortcoming is the number of patients in the trial. 76 is midrange, neither large nor small.
However this limitation is largely nullified by the astoundingly strong p value in the results. If you are aware of any other problems how about telling us.
It's very good news if the result can be replicated.
As you have noted the study is with a vey small number of patients, there is no information on the degree of severity of Covid-19 in the patients at admission, and there is no information on their clinical progress other than ICU admission and death – although these are certainly worth measuring.
The study doesn't specify the co-morbidities particularly well for instance an obese patient is more likely have a poor outcome.
The usual care group had more people with high blood pressure and diabetes
There was no measurement of vitamin D levels before or after administering the hormone.
To be fair the researchers acknowledge that the study does not provide definitive answers on whether calcifediol can be beneficial for all Covid-19 patients.
Well labour does seem to be selling out. Nothing resembling a decent tax policy and with the move to allow 10% of incomers to be skilled visa holders 1400 visas a month are coming back in – plus they will check essential skills. There are only around 10,000 that have been here longer than 4 years so that should only be about 6 months worth.
So much for retraining and jobs for locals. Looks like absolutely no immigration reset.
and just yesterday a nurse at the shop told me that we have received 100 ventilators, now we only need to import the nurses that can actually work these machines becasue we don't have that talent and skill here in NZ .
Yeah, but instead of free training for nurses to bond them to NZ for a few years it must still be more profitable to charge an arm a leg and a first born to NZ'lers who would like to work in the profession and then import from overseas when the same NZ trained nursed disappear overseas for better wages and less hassle with the student loan repayments and high living costs.
Did!in!t dislike Cunliffe, he would have had a cleanout, see the change them egit engineers replaced, same like the Nat!s mistake, replacing, Spud, with their appointed first female leader, and New Zealand!s first MANOUVERED without those working outside the farm fence, female Prime Minister, who when the people decided the First ever New Zealand Female appointed Prime Minister to deliver the biggest ()ever) National Party defeat at the ballot box.
Great to see shareholder revolt forcing the Board of Rio Tinto to get the resignations of CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques, the head of iron ore mining, and the head of corporate affairs, after massively damaging an aboriginal cave occupied 40,000 years ago.
Shouldn't need shareholders to revolt on a board to do it, but good result.
Blew it up didn't he? (Off piste – for those who would like a rest thinking about the present and the future, with foreboding.)
French like blowing up things apparently. Panama Canal. The Rainbow Warrior. What will be the next French venture?
google fact: There was approximately about 30,000,000lbs of explosives used to help clear the way for the canal.
(Some would have been those of USA though. And it is interesting that the Frenchman was not an engineer but a diplomat. He could talk the talk but not walk the walk. I wonder how many big ideas are agreed to on the basis of the rhetoric?)
De Lesseps then decided that another ceremony should inaugurate the section of the canal that would have the deepest excavation, the cut through the Continental Divide at Culebra. A ceremony was arranged, and on January 10, 1880, appropriate officials and guests gathered at Cerro Culebra (later known as Gold Hill) for the ceremony, which included witnessing the blast from an explosive charge set to break up a basalt formation just below the summit. After blessings by the local bishop, young Ferdinande again performed the honors, pushing the button of the electric detonator that set off the charge that hurled a highly satisfactory amount of rock and dirt into the air.
As de Lesseps was a trained diplomat and not an engineer, a fact that he should perhaps have more often remembered during canal design decisions, his son Charles took on the task of supervising the daily work. De Lesseps himself handled the important work of promoting and raising money for the project from private subscription.
Not having the least scientific or technical bent, de Lesseps relied upon a rather naive faith in the serendipitous nature of emerging technology. Thus he worried little about the problems facing this gigantic undertaking, feeling sure that the right people with the right ideas and the right machines would somehow miraculously appear at the right time and take care of them. His boundless confidence and enthusiasm for the project and his consummate faith in the miracles of technology attracted stockholders.
Not having the least scientific or technical bent, de Lesseps relied upon a rather naive faith in the serendipitous nature of emerging technology. Thus he worried little about the problems facing this gigantic undertaking, feeling sure that the right people with the right ideas and the right machines would somehow miraculously appear at the right time and take care of them. His boundless confidence and enthusiasm for the project and his consummate faith in the miracles of technology attracted stockholders.
And there we have the quintessence of managerialism which has found its way onto our shores and is now blighting our government and private business.
Jan.3/20Up on the ridge, a Malaysian logging company named Gallego Resources had begun carving great scores through the forest— its men felling the tall, grey-barked kwila and the akwa strung with fruit, then dragging them off the slopes for export, leaving nothing to stop the rains from taking the topsoil…
The rivers burst their banks not long after, flooding the flatland where the coconuts, mangoes, and yams grew, and laying down impermeable clay that made the earth unusable.
So the villagers walked to the little patches of cell phone reception and called Philip Manakako, a son of Marasa who lived 30 miles across the mountains in Honiara, the capital. His father, Philip Senior, told him that there were no more fish in the rivers. The water was making children sick, an uncle said. A woman who lived nearby explained how her plants all died three days after the floods first came, and the ground around them smelled of petrol….
Resurgence of infections prompts stricter curbs, including bar and restaurant curfews and 'Covid-secure marshals'
In the UK Boorish will lead them out of the depths, playing his flute and with any luck the mountains will close behind him and we will never see him again. You may be able to see a vid clip from the above or look up on google news.
Bad timing for the Labour party….and is yet another example of the disconnect between the rhetoric and the act.
"Some questions are too sensitive for Gullery and White.
They won’t say if they’re surprised this has happened under a Labour Government. There’s silence when they’re asked if it’s galling to watch the Government splash Covid-19 stimulus cash around the country, and spend wads of money around Christchurch on things like new sports stadiums, when they’re having to cut health services."
"spend wads of cash on Christchurch like stadiums and things" while I agree dhb's desperately need cash the spending on infrastructure is non negotiable and is miles away from what it should be for a center of around half a million people. This is replacing what was broken and the rebuild job by both Labour and national (it's been three years so Labour is just as guilty ) has been horrendous. East chch left to rot because it's a labour safe seat so why bother, a city the size of chch deserves a stadium and functioning roads and infrastructure, it's been a decade and that city is still a bloody mess. Damn right , they deserve every penny they get and more and it's not extra spending it's replacing what was taken. A decade. It's appalling. Labour mayor, labour council every electorate bar one is labour and sweet bugger all has happened in three years. I honestly can't believe anyone in my home town has to pay rates to live there half the cbd is still full of rubble and half the building that need to come down are just standing supported by crates cos some do gooder thinks it's heritage. I digress don't act like money going into Chch for stadiums is extra spending, extra spending would be giving that city light rail or luxuries. It's still broken as hell despite govt of all kinds praising the rebuild progress.
Sorry for the rant every time I visit home I get furious and people seem to think chch is getting stuff it doesn't deserve
From CHumm "Damn right , they deserve every penny they get and more and it's not extra spending it's replacing what was taken. A decade. It's appalling. "
A decade!! Labour has only been in three years and been under constant attack by National. Give over Pat.
You miss the point (as does Corey)….after a decade of National the sector was promised some relief only to find that not only was the relief not forthcoming but the burden was to be increased….meanwhile the sector observes the apparent plenty for others.
The journalist observes this and unsuccessfully seeks opinion…..that opinion may not be expressed publicly but the voting booth is private.
Thank you for fixing the cell phone reply issue. I still like to find time to comment. I was absent for several months from late last year until lockdown. It took me returning to realise how much you do and you do it so well. Your main authors as well deserve a big thank you.
Edit if you are still working on the reply issue it appears to be fixed for me.
It looks like there was a fix in wp-includes/js/comment-reply.js which is where the problem is. Can’t be bothered to install smartsvn, dig out the repo and diff to see what changed.
In fact I haven’t used svn since 2014. I switched to git and smartgit then, and never returned. Mind you it isn’t as bad as pvcs. I dug out some 20 yera old boot loaders from a pvcs archive virtual machine earlier this year. Now that was terrifying experience.
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Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
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As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
RIP Diana Rigg.
Best Bond girl ever.
And an excellent baddie on Game of Thrones.
I think she was a better feminist role model than most too.
Sure she was sexy and seemed deadly – but she was always smart as a whip, in a time when a lot of actresses just made tea for the male leads.
Most recently enjoyed watching her on Detectorists, playing mother to her real life daughter, Rachael Stirling.
Good role, could have been a typical Mother In Law beat up, but well written and well played, with genuine affection and warmth apparent within the irritation.
What a woman!.
Tim Watkin isn't impressed by the party he usually supports. https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/labours-tax-trauma-victims-and-how-they-might-help-the-greens
Then he alerts us to a potential upside for the Greens:
So we will wait & see if all those lower-class folk the Greens are trying to represent will actually get up and vote for them! It could even be remotely possible that Grant & Ardern have ditched them for precisely that reason – to measure the numbers of losers who are willing to participate in democracy. A social science experiment.
"they are now cowered"
That's cowed Watkin, you illiterate bumpkin.
That's cowed Watkin, you illiterate bumpkin.
Yeah, he did write cowered, as quoted. If commentators such as myself adopted a policy of refusing to quote illiteracy, how could we quote msm journalists?? You set too high a bar for contemporary society, Stuart.
There's also the fact that cowering often shows up. Which tends to suggest that past tense usage does actually have grammatical logic…
Old ESL teacher – couldn't help myself 😉 I miss the effect of subediting.
You're right about the logic though.
A funny ESL story came from a cop – a witness to the crime had english as a second language.
In court, the defense lawyer asked the witness how they came to be at the scene. "I was proceeding into town to do some shopping, and as I proceeded down the street towards the corner I saw that man proceeding to hit the other man". The lawyer's ears pricked up:
"Mr X, for how long have you been learning english?"
"Ever since I came to New Zealand, a year".
"And yet you use words like 'proceeding'"? [lawyer glances meaningfully at cop who took the witness statement]
"Yes, we learned it last week in language class and I use new words as much as I can".
Defendant found guilty.
lol
It is quite simple, Watkin, use [sic] in the quote.
Indeed, stuning odiousity from Watkin their.
If the cowed cower, are they cowards?
"lower-class folk"……
"numbers of losers who are"
Go stuff yourself![angry angry](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/angry_smile.png)
Ought I to apologise for usage of marxist class analysis here? Nope. How about the lingo of the land? Nope. Therefore I'll remain unstuffed…
seriously Dennis, i read what you said, and these insults were literally just bashing down to the working poor, dis-regarded poor on the benefit and the even less regarded poor that have given up on work and on Winz.
Fact is the non voters that i know are well to do white people sitting in nice and expensive houses in Auckland who can't even be bothered to vote for their children, cause "Non of hte parties do anything for me' and fact is also that if the highly paid critters that screw us over year by year can get to 'abstain' from voting then people can get also to 'abstain' from rubber stamping another government that gives about as much of fuck as hte previous one.
You want better participation in the rubber stamping model of democracy we have then maybe get better people in to the parties that you and others so support here.
No I don't want them to endorse representative democracy. The concept hasn't seemed even remotely valid during my lifetime.
Their freedom to choose will determine the outcome. The interesting bit is whether the Greens get voter support for the wealth tax or not. The election result will measure that. Let's await the verdict of the electorate.
yep, and insulting them is what is gonna get you there.
Maybe call the political parties losers for not giving these people any ANY reason at all to vote.
And yes, there is about a million + people who don't vote, and you know why? Because they don't have a reason to. Heck, i don't have a reason to vote for any of the current clown brigade trying desperately to hold on their 180.000 NZD plus jobs.
So don't blame the people, blame the 'elite' for being tone deaf, whimpy, with no guts what so ever to speak of , that think that tinkering on the sides is a vote getter. And that includes the Labour Party, the Green Party, NZFirst, Conservaties, Hannah Tamaki and the Church party and the No mates Party.
All just in there for a job that they would otherwise not get anywhere in private industry.
If anything the non voters are the ones who have it correct, 'Non of the above' right now is about the most honest vote anyone could cast.
but but … judith will be worse. Lol. Fucking lol, that is a vote getter, right?
Yeah, nah, you just insulted a whole bunch of people who vote. And you were not even funny doing it.
The people in power love the non-vote as it means that things don't change.
People who don't make a collective effort to play a constructive role in our political system deserve to be called losers. The cap fits them, therefore I will put it firmly on their heads!
Complain all you like, you can't hide from this reality. You know they've got the numbers to make themselves a substantial political force.
No need to apologise for what you are, dizzwiddizz as the yankistanis say.
DF has a commenting style that tends to be a bit obscure at first read. In this instance I think the comment can be read as sarcasm rather than dissing working and underclass people as losers.
Or it can be read as indicating the thinking behind Labour's policy design. Remember Labour politicians are wannabe control-system operatives. As such, they must relegate the role of compassion for sufferers into a less-influential part of their minds. Their political advisors get this.
The cynicism involved is relative to the individual psyche, but a certain amount of elitism pervades their political culture – likely often in the minds of political commentators who remind us that Labour are middle-class (pseudo)intelligentsia, not the working class reps they were a century ago.
You think Labour policy designers think the underclass are losers? I mean I can see how you get there but I doubt Labour would use that framing.
No, it influences them tacitly. Tacit beliefs are known to be more powerful determinants of behaviour than beliefs advocated, usually, because they are habitual. There's an entitlement syndrome, due to social class origins & habitat providing a niche of base support. More evident in the Nats, of course!
Framing can have a subconscious basis but is usually overt – expressed as design. So the utility factor is more important with framing. What works.
unconscious belief in people as losers makes more sense. My point stands. Often your commenting style is not straightforward, and requires additional parsing that many don’t so. I tend to agree with Sabine, it was easy to misread the comment. If you are going to do that kind of convoluted inference, some care is required.
Its pretty much impossible to do subtle in text.
yeah, right.
Maybe next time ad a sarcasm tag here, cause anyone reading this is entitled to their opinion that dear Dennis is another one of these chardoney swoilling liberals/labourites/greens that have nothing but contempt for the ones that are considered the 'essential worker' or 'low wage losers'. /s
Barfly You are outraged at someone describing what we can see plainly for ourselves? You are too sensitive to be involved in plain discussion about our politics. What makes me anxious is the number of losers out there who are not getting any help with their living standards, to get regular work, medical and hospital treatment when needed etc. They are definitely losing out on the services that wealthier people get partly because they are lower-class folk and haven't learned the ways to improve their lot. No use putting angry faces about it., be abusive for saying what is, that you apparently don't want to know. Don't get angry, get busy trying to help – put the energy of your anger to some useful action to help people at the bottom of the ladder.
yeah, how dare he be outraged that some schmuck call people that have been left behind by the system losers for not participating in a system that have left them behind.
maybe dennis needs to channel his outrage at the non voting loser by working to get them to the polls. I am sure insults work a great deal.
btw, todays losers were yesterdays 'essential workers'. Just saying.
I feel no such outrage. Those who refuse to vote for a party that is endeavouring to represent them are understandable, imo. Not rational.
One must have spent a significant part of one's life in similar oppression to feel for them. I fall into that category. However deep the hole, one always has the choice of trying to climb out. Loser is the term for one who gets defeated by the system and stops trying. It is a technical term only.
That said, I get your emotional reaction. Emotional intelligence is usually not factored into politics, but it ought to be.
God helps those who help themselves. Old saying. Losers who refuse to help themselves by voting Green this election deserve the label!
However deep the hole, one always has the choice of trying to climb out. Loser is the term for one who gets defeated by the system and stops trying. It is a technical term only.
And winner is the term for one who gets rewarded by the system and keeps trying to get more. It is a technical term only.
Technical term only Dennis? Really. Maybe this will help…
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/06/michael-sandel-the-populist-backlash-has-been-a-revolt-against-the-tyranny-of-merit
I appreciate your link. There's deep thought consequent. Although I've always preferred meritocracy to democracy, I have always opposed the establishment's privilege system of vested interests.
I've never seen neoliberalism as offering much credible meritocracy: gaming the system when you're competitive and able merely provides personal benefits (perhaps trickling down to partner & family).
Consensus politics teaches the same. But only to those who actually do the leg-work of that! It probably remains pie in the sky idealism to all others. So as someone who made it work for the Greens initially, I see those shrill sectarians who now pollute our social ecosystem as exhibitors of shadow narcissism, busy betraying real Greens. I do wish them luck with the wealth tax, though, since it would be a useful corrective…
A book that I've been meaning to read:
More and more the research is showing how capitalism, and the individualism it promotes, fails us.
Likewise, except that I have owned a paperback of the original edition since the '90s and still not got around to it!
I'm comfortable with that since adopting the synthesis frame (competition plus collaboration). I've always been an individualist, so didn't acquire a collectivist self easily, competitive by nature yet keen to collaborate on a credible basis.
If you look at it from the perspective of ethos, the competitive ethic is a survival skill (enhancing fitness & merit) plus reputation-building, but the collaborative ethic is likewise. Hunter-gatherers proved their matrix resilient & sustainable and those who proved themselves good at teamwork got enhanced reputations within clan or tribe.
Winners never quit and quitters never win.
This is one of my mantras.
IME, the 'winners' are usually the people who've stepped on others to get there.
I do not regard a person as being a winner if they stepped on others to get there. That would be cheating.
Yup – The use of the term losers by the representative class indicates that they have usurped the people's franchise and see themselves as rulers.
People don't want to be losers, they want a government that represents their interests – that doesn't steal public assets or free education or fishery rights or any of the other ladders that used to allow NZ people to succeed.
If the Greens or any party want to go after voters by saying that they will tax them much harder that Labour will, they are welcome to it.
But it will just be another weight that pulls them under 5%.
You mean "not nearly so softly", surely.
"If the Greens or any party want to go after voters by saying that they will tax them much harder that Labour will, they are welcome to it."
Yep. Labour are doing a really good job of showing us what a sane and civilised centre-right government looks like. Their strategically near-flawless Covid response is setting about saving as much of BAU as possible. They are rocking few boats with tax or climate change initiatives. Who but those mentally vitiated by habit and the psychopathology of culture wars needs National now? Labour is opening significant space on their left – if there is a genuine constituency there, someone can take it.
Increased taxation on the middle class is not (or shouldnt be) the goal, that is the area of most discretionary spend within the economy….about the only thing Labour got right with its tax policy was its target and is why the Greens policy is far superior.
The purpose is redistribution and incentive
To a degree I agree with that. I've even pointed out that we should be able to do without income tax altogether but, IMO, we could only do that if we had a minimum and maximum income. The former ensures everyone has enough to live on and the latter ensures that people don't have too much.
People having too much is, of course, the bigger problem.
"On the face of it, the promise from Labour that it would make New Zealand's electricity system fully renewable by 2030 seems a bold climate pledge.
In reality, it is little more than a red herring to distract from the woeful lack of policy to reduce emissions in sectors that pollute far more than the energy industry."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/100-percent-renewable-energy-is-a-red-herring
'Red herring' was the first thought I had, closely followed by 'eating Greens lunch'…the closing comment however nails it.
"So long as we are unwilling to commit to the hard work needed to decarbonise our society, political parties like Labour will continue to get away with offering stingy emissions reductions as if they're game-changing climate policies."
I do hope that means that the government will be buying back the power shares rather than giving the bludgers millions of dollars so that they can bludge better.
Will the vassal U.K. state have the courage to resist the Trump regime?
Under British law, no one may be extradited for political reasons.
Given that a post-Brexit UK is quietly trying to negotiate a free-trade deal with the USA right now … a deal that will not be concluded until the Yanks have more or less crushed the Brits will to live … then yes political considerations will likely trump legal ones.
Good post on Auckland's water care woes on Joel Cayford's planning blog:
Auckland Water Shortages and Watercare
Goes into the history and detail of the formation of Watercare, and the consequences of that.
As a historical review it's fine. But at best it just barely touches on alternatives to Waikato River water for the water supply situation Auckland is now in, and what the infrastructure implications of those alternatives might be.
Briefly, one issue is that drinking quality water is supplied for everything – toilet flushing, golf course irrigation, industrial cleaning etc, as well as actual drinking. But the infrastructure implication of going to a two-tier quality water supply means effectively a double-up on water supply infrastructure.
Another related issue is the use once and dump we have for almost all users. While there is some water recycling in individual businesses – car washes are just the first that comes to mind – re-using grey water in general implies a lot of doubling up on waste-water infrastructure.
There is mention and references in the article about how drinkable quality water is utilised for everything, where many other muncipal or state systems have had a dual tier system for water for industrial use, and water for consumption.
The investment in a double up in this case, is an investment in public health outcomes, and a reduction in use and dump situations if possible. Taking water from the Waikato has been a strategy pursued for years, without any alternative option being proposed.
NZers are used to having lots of land, lots of water, lots of fuel and the consequences of this largesse is that sometimes use and planning – at personal and institutional level – does not result in these resources being used efficiently.
Other places that have gone to dual-tier supply, and reuse and recycling systems, tend to be in places where water really truly is a very scarce resource. For instance, Windhoek Namibia, and southwestern US are just the first two I'm directly aware of. None of them have a massive river flowing into the sea right where water is needed, and the need could be supplied from under 2% of that flow.
The overwhelming impression I've developed of opposition to taking Waikato water is that opponents have zero conception of how small Auckland's take really is compared to the general flow of the river, nor how close the intake is to where the river becomes tidal and salty, meaning there simply is almost zero length of river run where ecological effects or other users could conceivably be affected by the miniscule reduction in flow. Then there's the woo-woo objections on the basis of water is precious with no other arguments attached.
Then, when it comes to ideas about disturbing the historic flow of the river, the Tongariro power scheme diverted a lot of water into the Waikato that used to flow down the Rangitikei, Whangaehu and Whanganui rivers starting in the early 80s. That extra flow amounts to around 10% of the Waikato flow at the river mouth – about 5 times Auckland's proposed maximum take.
Having worked in the water supply industry for a considerable period I can only confirm this comment 100% Andre.
The superficial reasons given for objections to the increased take for Auckland are absurd. The actual motivations can have nothing to do with the health of the river.
Time for the government to step and sort this out.
I recall when Labour were going to put in place shower head restrictions. National and its supporters got really upset about but what really stood out, to me, was some idiot journalist going on about how we have infinite water, that it just falls from the sky, and thus we didn't need to restrict people's use of it.
He'd obviously missed all the droughts that NZ keeps having and Auckland's last water crisis in the 1990s.
Labour's move to outflank National on the right seems shrewd on the basis that the number of people who see that are politically insignificant. Most suckers believe Labour is the party of the left, not the party of the rich.
Geoff Simmons is a former Treasury economist, and leader of The Opportunities Party. He examines the likely reality created by Labour's tax policy: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/122723279/election-2020-wholl-gain-from-labours-plan-to-tax-the-rich-the-rich
Since the worsening of the problem will not become apparent until the medium-term future, Labour's deceit strategy is likely to be effective. A clever ploy.
Remind us of your stance on a Capital Gains Tax, or an Asset Tax, Dennis?
I agree with both, in principle, since they enhance equity. Not sure it's relevant to how the ex-Treasury dude sees Labour's policy operating though…
Simmons isn't wrong on the general point that NZ tax is very low on returns from capital and wealth.
But Simmons is very wrong that taxes in NZ are comparatively very high on returns from businesses in particular. The complete absence of capital gains taxes in NZ means the biggest form of returns from business is completely untaxed – unlike the US, UK, Australia, China etc.
Company profits in NZ are also effectively only taxed once on the way to individual pockets, unlike at least the US where profits are taxed first at the company level, then dividends distributed from profits are then taxed at the individual level.
Are you an economist? Your comment reads as if. Re Simmons; takes one to know one. I get your logic though and it seems valid.
If so, then it is a status quo historically co-created by Labour & National: this left/right collusion makes us more business-friendly than those other countries.
Will we see Labour supporters go public and explain why they support capitalism? Hell will freeze over before that happens. Hypocrisy is better than honesty for them.
No I'm not an economist. I'm an engineer that has lived and worked in NZ, the US, and Mexico, and paid a broad range of taxes in all three of those jurisdictions. Plus the state income taxes in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California.
As for why I support some capitalism as part of a mixed economy, I've travelled through places that don't have a healthy private capitalist sector. Fuck that for jokes of places to live.
In any society there will always be those compelled to somehow flaunt "success". So they can have sex with the most attractive partners, enjoy the most interesting experiences, eat the tenderest tastiest food, live in the biggest house, have others pander to their whims. Capitalism provides a good avenue for the likes of Jobs, Musk etc to fulfill that urge by creating stuff the rest of us value.
Capitalism works well where there's low barriers to entry, there's genuine product differentiation, consumers can reasonably evaluate in choose among competitors. Food, clothing, transport, recreational activity etc.
Capitalism doesn't work well where there are natural monopolies (eg electricity, water), where the consumer can't reasonably evaluate different options and make reasonable choices and life effects may be disproportionate (healthcare, education).
Hence the value of a mixed economy in being able to take advantage of the strengths of different systems.
+1
a social market economy is actually a thing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_market_economy#:~:text=The%20social%20market%20economy%20(SOME,market%20and%20a%20welfare%20state.
also 'for the greater good' should be made the underlying basis of said social market society.
But NZ what stills ails the country imo, is a very old fashioned system in which two thirds of the country peasants working for a few Landlords to whom the political class either belongs, or wants to belong to, or is indebted too, and a bunch of highly paid stenographers that don't even want to pretend to being journalists, lest it costs them access to the landlord class.
That's a solid framework to work with. Markets are useful tools which we can use in selected areas to meet pre-existing social/ethical goals, and avoid using in other areas where they would undermine those goals. Once that is established, then we can get down to arguing about which bucket (market/non-market) things should be in – and we will have taken the insanity of markets as ends in themselves off the table.
No business has ever created a job.
Job creation is always dependent upon demand for the product/service in the community thus we can say that it is the community that creates jobs. If there is no demand there are no jobs.
Other than that, he's probably right. Capitalists always look for the easiest way to scam the rest of us and property in NZ is a very easy way to become a rentier.
I may have missed it, but where are the united voices of the leadership of our opposition parties condemning the fundamentalists for their conspiracy theories. Perhaps they see some votes being lost. Or do Collins and Peters believe Covid is not a threat?
It's more that they're so desperate they'd love a few votes from the loons.
I'd like to hear comments about this also, Logie97.
Why even credit them with a response, they are loons you do not need to convince non loons of that.
Not sure I understand your response Red. Unfortunately the loons are gaining traction (spreading-like-a-virus amongst their fellow loons). And their actions are the current outbreak spreaders of covid. Why are we pussyfooting around with them and not shaming them and their leaders. A chance for Collins to show some leadership as well.
"Shaming them" feeds their furnace, unfortunately. Naming their issues gives those issues coverage and credibility, in the eyes of the devoted, so alluding to them is the only way. The devotees have been primed to expect resistance from the "establishment" and will thrill to noise made, accusations levelled and individuals blamed; they are seeking martyrdom and have already embedded the possibility in the minds of their followers. Logical appeals to those flighty-folk are met with Gish gallop and shared glances of delight as they bolster each others cleverness in knowing that "this was going to happen". It's a tricky situation. The best approach seems to be "extinguish by ignoring" but that's frustrating when you are watching that contagion seemingly spread and hear them boast of their up-coming landslide victory!
The government set an instant fine of NZD 300 for people caught not wearing a mask on a bus.
The government could revoke the tax exempt status of the church/es, or could just start issuing instant fines for disregarding covid instructions.
Any day now, for sure.
Should do that anyway. After all, the churches are no longer the government mandated centres for welfare distribution (it didn't work).
Nationals Killers
There is no need for Labour to be concerned about the Future. It has taken the amazing stand of clearing up the appalling mess given by national, decade after decade.
National are a grotty bunch of money grubbers, who go out of their American way, year after year, to destroy the livings and the necessities of the New Zealand population.
National have made sure never to build a house for the people. The People are made to crawl daily to get food from decent respectable people.
Nothing, but nothing adequate has been given to the Population by the money thieves.
National love suicide. Love poor Literacy. Adore Poverty. They are good at it.
What a ridiculous rant
The difference between National and labour for the majority is paper thin, for those in struggle town even less Both simply manage to the centre with a couple of scraps to keep their rabid base happy re differentiation and that’s about it
Has any Party so far posted something up in regards to the 11.000 covid unemployed of whom 90% are women? Something anything? Or is Carmel Sepuloni the only one who spoke of the dear 'unfortunate' that can't get better benefits as they have right now but might be pressured into 'voluntary work' cause indentured servitude is now a thing with the Labour Party.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/425029/cautious-approach-taken-to-avoid-beneficiary-volunteering-becoming-work-for-the-dole-scheme
Also is Carmel Sepuloni so far removed from reality that she really thinks that 'volunteering' for the benefit is getting people ready for work that is not there?
Is Carmel Sepuloni saying that the people that lost jobs since January 2020 due to Covid, need 'volunteering' to get them to understand the value of work?
And is Carmel Sepuloni saying that people who are currently on a benefit – unemployment, social welfare, single parents, illness etc do not at all, never, or currently are not volunteering in their community.\
and last but least, when has Carmel Sepuloni last volunteered for anything else then a government pay for which she has to do absolutely nothing and be served chardonnay with her dinner for free?
fuck, is there anyone in our current government that actually gives a flying fuck about the misery that is currently starting to blanket the country, or are shovel ready jobs for the rich and connected the only ones that are worth their time?
Seriously think about it, 11.000 Covid unemployed (by their own statistics), 90% of whom are women, and who now can look forward to a life of 'bene bashing' forced 'volunteering' and starvation benefits. Does anyone give a shit?
” Indentured servitude
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An indenture signed by Henry Mayer, with an “X”, in 1738. This contract bound Mayer to Abraham Hestant of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who had paid for Mayer to travel from Europe.
An indentured servant or indentured laborer is an employee (indenturee) within a system of unfree labor who is bound by a signed or forced contract (indenture) to work without pay for the owner of the indenture for a period of time. The contract often lets the employer sell the labor of an indenturee to a third party. Indenturees usually enter into an indenture for a specific payment or other benefit (such as transportation to a new place), or to meet a legal obligation, such as debt bondage. On completion of the contract, indentured servants were given their freedom, and occasionally plots of land. Indentured servitude was often brutal, with a high percentage[vague] of servants dying prior to the expiration of their indentures. In many countries, systems of indentured labor have now been outlawed, and are banned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a form of slavery.”
Last, if there is work to be done – then the Government can start hiring these unemployed people on the benefit and pay them minimum wage. And if they don’t want to do that, than they should hang their heads in eternal shame.
No government can afford to pay the minimum wage for unpaid work.
Why do people do unpaid work?
Job experience, because there is a need in the family, to have purpose and construction in your life, help fill the day by being occupied, rewarding.
I draw the line in the government becoming involved as it is a person's choice, just like if you go to church.
When is the next poll out?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/425782/covid-19-scepticism-a-failing-of-intellect-phil-goff-says
Good on you Phil. Its time prosecution was threatened for those who are peddling disinformation and conspiracy theories. We can't do a lot about ignorance and naivety, but we can stop the bastards who feed on it and create so much damage and fear in the process.
Why can't the SIS and the GCSB pool their resources and dig them out of their metaphorical caves? They have the tools to do the job. A visit from the police ordering them to desist accompanied with the threat of prosecution if they don't comply should shut most of them up. And exposing the identities of the worst offenders would do no harm either.
This isn't good.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/worlds-most-beautiful-toxic-waste-dump-weta-digital-employees-claim-sexism-bullying-and-harassment
and ACT are using it as an excuse to call for it to be closed down. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00127/turn-off-sir-peter-jacksons-welfare-tap-while-allegations-of-wide-scale-sleaze-are-investigated.htm
The me too movement has many tentacles and what you raise is one of them. Sexual harassment is finally being exposed for the damage it causes. That there is no avenue for complaint that works. Taking a complaint against an employer for sexual harassment is a bit like an ACC sensitive claim. You are on your own, you need a lawyer, the legislation is not fit for purpose especially an historical case.
I was disappointed in Dowie as she could have done a private members bill/ballot to address the hurdle of the Limitations Act and the dysfunctional ACC Act. For a historical schedule 3 ACC claim when you have complained there should be no Limitations Act date when a serious error occurred by an organisation. Now that would fix an organisation. Historical cases are being discriminated against compared to a current case as no right to sue.
Go to stuff news and look at the Mariya Taylor update today. Please do a link for it.
It would be good if the smart leaders at the top listened to the smart workers who make it all happen. Make them part of the process and there will be less demand, and more effectiveness for everybody.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00112/council-bureaucrats-block-rail-workers-input-to-working-group.htm
The Chair of Dunedin Holdings Limited (DHL) has refused to allow union representation on an important stakeholder group on the future of Dunedin Railways Limited (DRL).
The RMTU wrote to DRL on 1 September requesting membership of the Council’s reference group charged with overseeing submissions into the future of the council-owned company.
The union letter was signed by RMTU Otago Branch Secretary Dave Kearns, as well as Unions Otago Convenor Andrew Tait and Unions Otago Secretary Malcolm Deans, on behalf of local affiliates of the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions.
Reply to grey @ 12.
It's been hard to have a former hero of mine be repeatedly revealed to be one I have little respect for.
Way back in the day I saw Bad Taste on the big screen in Palmy. A feature film made in the weekends by a bunch of guys in and around Wellys. Funny and gory.
Fast forward to 'The Hobbitt Law' and the lies Mr and Mrs Jackson told, besmirching a true hero's name, Helen Kelly, all to serve greed and Warners.
Now there is this.
are these guys for realz? why yes they are.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2009/S00109/are-you-close-to-retirement-and-aware-of-upcoming-changes-to-the-nz-superannuation-legislation.htm
ahh, yeah, the 'wellbeing' budget, the kinder gentler bullshit that will leave all a bit poorer, but never mind the Queen and her consorts are all in this together. Why vote fro the no – mates party when Labour does it so well.
You can scrub and get the surface free of the neolib bullshit, nice seeming, shiny, but it soaks through the skin and stays. You never get rid of it.
Actually super not being on an individual basis was causing a lot of problems. Particularly for anyone who had an overseas partner from some countries who were not eligible despite being so if they were single.
Nor do I think super should be used as a de facto payment for individual nursing.
It was also propping up a lot of the internet bride market – where very young women could be included in the claim and then when the male partner died they would have to transit onto some thing else. if they had any skills
It also had a funny downside where if the couple of not too different ages claimed – one over and one under and the older partner died then the not quite 65 year old had to attempt to go back to or find work or go onto an unemployment benefit for a few years. However, a single person under 65 has no choice but continue to work or be on unemployment benefit so at least it isn't discriminating on the basis of partnership status
But I don't like the hard edge cut off that they did Personally if a partner was under say 50 or under I would have given them 18 months to 2 years to get themselves off super and into employment or unemployment.
As the non eligible partner got older a sliding scale to maintain some level of eligibility for those within in say 5 years of retiring would have been a fairer take.
Any way most retirement policy doesn't do a lot for women who live longer and are more likely to go into retirement alone or to live alone in retirement.
i know full well that retirement for women means in many cases abject poverty, but then so does being a women on the benefit – specially if your partner actually has an income as the benefit then reduces to nothing. So that is hte other side.
But women tend to be younger then their male partners, and they also tend to look after their partners and or sick children/parents etc. So again, its women that are being hit the hardest with this change of rules.
Nevermind, when it comes to benefits and beneficiaries all the parties are full of shit. All of them.
They have had from 30/5/19. It is not retrospective so those who were on the books as at July 2020 will cary-on.
There is a safety net.
The outlook is far bleaker for singles whether male or female.
I agree with the move to prevent younger partners piggybacking on much older partners/husbands super. it is part of a series of moves to treat people in marriages etc as individuals. And it has been well signalled since the Wellbeing budget in in May 2019, the previous cut-off was July 2020 so it has been extended because of Covid-19 I guess.
'Pensioners who are currently including their partner will be able to continue to do so. But if their partner is not already included in their payment at July 1, they will not be able to be included.
A spokeswoman for Minster of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said non-qualified partners of pensioners would be able to access support through the welfare system in the same way as other people.'
Stuff Jan 25 2020
The previous system was rife with abuse from older men with much younger overseas spouses, who were often in very short duration marriages because of the death of the very much older spouse, had no real ties to NZ and were then able to receive various benefits without having to work, pay tax etc.
As the changes are not retrospective those receiving this piggybacking will continue to receive it until the younger one qualifies for super.
If the younger spouse is entitled to receive pension from overseas then the rule that saw it deducted from the spouses pension here in NZ has been dropped.
'From 1 July 2020, the direct deduction of a government-administered overseas pension received by a superannuitant’s partner from that superannuitant’s New Zealand Super or Veteran’s Pension will be removed.'
and
'The Spousal Provision clearly has been a source of extreme distress for so long for the 500 or so couples affected and the removal will greatly improve their financial situation, say the retirement experts.'
https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/06/04/praise-for-amendment-to-superannuation-.html
So it fixed up the genuine problem with super payments that younger overseas pension qualified spouses had while tightened the loophole, with plenty of notice 18months or more, for the other set.
We have assurances that the safety net will remain and those affected will be able to access support through our welfare system.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/425810/govt-to-help-stranded-immigrants-fly-home
Good, but to finish the job they need to have enough money for food when they get there, and a train/bus to get home. No use dumping them in their country and bye bye. Many of these people have no resources left after just existing for months while no-one knew what would happen next.
Be good to get a list of the countries who are refusing to help their own citizens and leaving us with the financial hit – NZ advances money to it's citizens stuck overseas with no funds
NZ Hasn't always been perfect in this. We hear about the good things.
COVID and Vitamin D.
I listened to the first 17 minutes. I usually use powdered milk with Vitamin D3 added. I realise a level and the absorption of vitamin D3 is required. There probably is a safe level of Vitamin D3. Just like folate is added to bread, adding Vitamin D3 to milk would be one way of getting some of the vitamin. Ordinary milk could still be purchased.
There needs to be a larger study. I personally think getting ahead of Covid is the way to go just by ensuring your diet has plenty of Vitamin D3.
Yes the trial numbers are low, but the statistical significance is still extremely strong. And as Campbell says it also it aligns strongly with a substantial body of empirical evidence from clinicians all over the world.
By all means larger and better trials should be run to confirm this study; indeed if they’re not conducted it would truly bring into question the integrity of the entire system.
Of course I can only hope that Trump doesn't come out and endorse it; if that happens next thing there will be a scam study showing that historically safe doses of Vitamin D3 are now dangerously toxic and WHO will recommend banning any clinical use of it. And govts will start making it illegal to sell OTC.
Disclaimer; These media including videos, book, e book, articles, podcasts are not peer-reviewed. They should never replace individual clinical judgement from your own health care provider. No media-based material on this channel is suitable for using as professional medical advice. All comments are also for educational purposed only and must never replace advice from your own health care provider.
Oh FFS it's a commentary on a well designed clinical study that is reporting exactly what anyone who had been paying attention knew since March sometime … that Vitamin D is strongly involved in protecting from the worst of this disease.
If this had been taken seriously six months ago it looks like many hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been avoided.
Shove your sanctimony up your arse.
I second that.
I have read the benefits of Vitamin D3 else where to fight off Covid.
Umm the disclaimer is John Campbell's.
Vitamin D loading dosing for supportive treatment of covid is certainly interesting and more study is warranted.
Normal Vitamin D supplementation of individuals is not going to do the vast majority of the population any harm whatsoever.
Nonsense comments such as ……
'If this had been taken seriously six months ago it looks like many hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been avoided.'
are pretty pointless.
There are a number of shortcomings with the spanish study which I'm sure you're aware of this doesn't mean that Vitamin D supplementation or active high dose treatment in the acute phase are a bad idea just that more study is warranted before making bold statements of efficacy or protective effect of any intervention.
It always helps to include a link and some comment, even with presumed self-explanatory quotes and ‘obvious’ self-evident copy & paste jobs. Moderators on this site have been droning on about this forever, for a reason.
https://www.youtube.com/c/Campbellteaching/about
The only obvious shortcoming is the number of patients in the trial. 76 is midrange, neither large nor small.
However this limitation is largely nullified by the astoundingly strong p value in the results. If you are aware of any other problems how about telling us.
It's very good news if the result can be replicated.
The full citation is as below
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076020302764#
As you have noted the study is with a vey small number of patients, there is no information on the degree of severity of Covid-19 in the patients at admission, and there is no information on their clinical progress other than ICU admission and death – although these are certainly worth measuring.
The study doesn't specify the co-morbidities particularly well for instance an obese patient is more likely have a poor outcome.
The usual care group had more people with high blood pressure and diabetes
There was no measurement of vitamin D levels before or after administering the hormone.
To be fair the researchers acknowledge that the study does not provide definitive answers on whether calcifediol can be beneficial for all Covid-19 patients.
Well if you want a different sort of study around Vitamin D with much larger numbers from Israel:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.04.20188268v1.full.pdf
A lot of interesting discussion included. I won't copy and paste, but again the results have an extremely strong p value.
Martensens coverage of both studies here:
Well labour does seem to be selling out. Nothing resembling a decent tax policy and with the move to allow 10% of incomers to be skilled visa holders 1400 visas a month are coming back in – plus they will check essential skills. There are only around 10,000 that have been here longer than 4 years so that should only be about 6 months worth.
So much for retraining and jobs for locals. Looks like absolutely no immigration reset.
why yes, dear Cunliffe did a whole write up about that one.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12363202
behind the pay wall of course.
and just yesterday a nurse at the shop told me that we have received 100 ventilators, now we only need to import the nurses that can actually work these machines becasue we don't have that talent and skill here in NZ .
Yeah, but instead of free training for nurses to bond them to NZ for a few years it must still be more profitable to charge an arm a leg and a first born to NZ'lers who would like to work in the profession and then import from overseas when the same NZ trained nursed disappear overseas for better wages and less hassle with the student loan repayments and high living costs.
National/Labour cause neither one of them cares.
Did!in!t dislike Cunliffe, he would have had a cleanout, see the change them egit engineers replaced, same like the Nat!s mistake, replacing, Spud, with their appointed first female leader, and New Zealand!s first MANOUVERED without those working outside the farm fence, female Prime Minister, who when the people decided the First ever New Zealand Female appointed Prime Minister to deliver the biggest ()ever) National Party defeat at the ballot box.
RBCV is there a link for that bit about the visa holders please. This is very disappointing.
Looks like the screechy ones (tourist ops, farmers, horticulturalists) have had an influence then.
Afternoon show on RNZ – farmers talking about getting people back
Plus this i found on Stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122737787/election-2020-labour-promises-10-per-cent-quota-at-border-facilities-for-critical-workers?rm=a
Great to see shareholder revolt forcing the Board of Rio Tinto to get the resignations of CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques, the head of iron ore mining, and the head of corporate affairs, after massively damaging an aboriginal cave occupied 40,000 years ago.
Shouldn't need shareholders to revolt on a board to do it, but good result.
Blew it up didn't he? (Off piste – for those who would like a rest thinking about the present and the future, with foreboding.)
French like blowing up things apparently. Panama Canal. The Rainbow Warrior. What will be the next French venture?
google fact: There was approximately about 30,000,000lbs of explosives used to help clear the way for the canal.
(Some would have been those of USA though. And it is interesting that the Frenchman was not an engineer but a diplomat. He could talk the talk but not walk the walk. I wonder how many big ideas are agreed to on the basis of the rhetoric?)
https://www.pancanal.com/eng/history/history/french.html
De Lesseps then decided that another ceremony should inaugurate the section of the canal that would have the deepest excavation, the cut through the Continental Divide at Culebra. A ceremony was arranged, and on January 10, 1880, appropriate officials and guests gathered at Cerro Culebra (later known as Gold Hill) for the ceremony, which included witnessing the blast from an explosive charge set to break up a basalt formation just below the summit. After blessings by the local bishop, young Ferdinande again performed the honors, pushing the button of the electric detonator that set off the charge that hurled a highly satisfactory amount of rock and dirt into the air.
As de Lesseps was a trained diplomat and not an engineer, a fact that he should perhaps have more often remembered during canal design decisions, his son Charles took on the task of supervising the daily work. De Lesseps himself handled the important work of promoting and raising money for the project from private subscription.
Not having the least scientific or technical bent, de Lesseps relied upon a rather naive faith in the serendipitous nature of emerging technology. Thus he worried little about the problems facing this gigantic undertaking, feeling sure that the right people with the right ideas and the right machines would somehow miraculously appear at the right time and take care of them. His boundless confidence and enthusiasm for the project and his consummate faith in the miracles of technology attracted stockholders.
And there we have the quintessence of managerialism which has found its way onto our shores and is now blighting our government and private business.
Greed and determination to take.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/425823/loggers-fake-gazette-notice-harvest-protected-solomons-tree-species
Sep.11/20A foreign logging company in Solomon Islands is being investigated for using fake government documents to gain access to and cut down a protected tree species.
Local media reported the government was moving to seize a consignment of Queen Ebony, known locally as Tubi, harvested in Isabel Province.
.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/01/deforestation-in-the-solomon-islands/
Jan.3/20Up on the ridge, a Malaysian logging company named Gallego Resources had begun carving great scores through the forest— its men felling the tall, grey-barked kwila and the akwa strung with fruit, then dragging them off the slopes for export, leaving nothing to stop the rains from taking the topsoil…
The rivers burst their banks not long after, flooding the flatland where the coconuts, mangoes, and yams grew, and laying down impermeable clay that made the earth unusable.
So the villagers walked to the little patches of cell phone reception and called Philip Manakako, a son of Marasa who lived 30 miles across the mountains in Honiara, the capital. His father, Philip Senior, told him that there were no more fish in the rivers. The water was making children sick, an uncle said. A woman who lived nearby explained how her plants all died three days after the floods first came, and the ground around them smelled of petrol….
Capitalism at its finest. Some shareholders got quite good payouts on that – guaranteed.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/09/do-new-covid-rules-mean-gyms-pubs-restaurants-universities/
What do the new Covid rules mean for gyms, pubs, restaurants and universities?
Resurgence of infections prompts stricter curbs, including bar and restaurant curfews and 'Covid-secure marshals'
In the UK Boorish will lead them out of the depths, playing his flute and with any luck the mountains will close behind him and we will never see him again. You may be able to see a vid clip from the above or look up on google news.
Bad timing for the Labour party….and is yet another example of the disconnect between the rhetoric and the act.
"Some questions are too sensitive for Gullery and White.
They won’t say if they’re surprised this has happened under a Labour Government. There’s silence when they’re asked if it’s galling to watch the Government splash Covid-19 stimulus cash around the country, and spend wads of money around Christchurch on things like new sports stadiums, when they’re having to cut health services."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/why-we-left-ex-dhb-bosses-speak-out
"spend wads of cash on Christchurch like stadiums and things" while I agree dhb's desperately need cash the spending on infrastructure is non negotiable and is miles away from what it should be for a center of around half a million people. This is replacing what was broken and the rebuild job by both Labour and national (it's been three years so Labour is just as guilty ) has been horrendous. East chch left to rot because it's a labour safe seat so why bother, a city the size of chch deserves a stadium and functioning roads and infrastructure, it's been a decade and that city is still a bloody mess. Damn right , they deserve every penny they get and more and it's not extra spending it's replacing what was taken. A decade. It's appalling. Labour mayor, labour council every electorate bar one is labour and sweet bugger all has happened in three years. I honestly can't believe anyone in my home town has to pay rates to live there half the cbd is still full of rubble and half the building that need to come down are just standing supported by crates cos some do gooder thinks it's heritage. I digress don't act like money going into Chch for stadiums is extra spending, extra spending would be giving that city light rail or luxuries. It's still broken as hell despite govt of all kinds praising the rebuild progress.
Sorry for the rant every time I visit home I get furious and people seem to think chch is getting stuff it doesn't deserve
"They won’t say if they’re surprised this has happened under a Labour Government. There’s silence when they’re asked if it’s galling…"
From CHumm "Damn right , they deserve every penny they get and more and it's not extra spending it's replacing what was taken. A decade. It's appalling. "
A decade!! Labour has only been in three years and been under constant attack by National. Give over Pat.
You miss the point (as does Corey)….after a decade of National the sector was promised some relief only to find that not only was the relief not forthcoming but the burden was to be increased….meanwhile the sector observes the apparent plenty for others.
The journalist observes this and unsuccessfully seeks opinion…..that opinion may not be expressed publicly but the voting booth is private.
Will be doing a quick shutdown and restart at 2130 (9:30pm) to change to a UPS with fresh batteries.
Less quick than I'd like.
Thank you for fixing the cell phone reply issue. I still like to find time to comment. I was absent for several months from late last year until lockdown. It took me returning to realise how much you do and you do it so well. Your main authors as well deserve a big thank you.
Edit if you are still working on the reply issue it appears to be fixed for me.
Yeah – looks like it got fixed elsewhere – probably in the wordpress 5.5.1 update that came through last week. I just turned off the JQuery Migration plugin
It looks like there was a fix in wp-includes/js/comment-reply.js which is where the problem is. Can’t be bothered to install smartsvn, dig out the repo and diff to see what changed.
In fact I haven’t used svn since 2014. I switched to git and smartgit then, and never returned. Mind you it isn’t as bad as pvcs. I dug out some 20 yera old boot loaders from a pvcs archive virtual machine earlier this year. Now that was terrifying experience.
If you can tweak something without too much trouble, it would be good if the search could be on again. At present I get one thing from 2014.
Good point. I noticed that early in the week. I suspect that there is a problem with the sphinxsearch server running.
Nope, and the issue is only with the comments. Ok gotta get some food down.
Grumble.. It is something about how it is figuring out comments to add to the search interface
Nice one Treetop, always good to get some positive feedback.
Also a big thank you to the moderators.