“…The Republican kingmaker – with his own Youtube channel and obsession with radical Islam – shot in to the spotlight this week on the shoulder of Rick Santorum.
Yes Chris, a great story well told. But not sure how it helps. I bet many of the writers and many posters here on the Standard can tell of similar courageous climbs. And what you do has much more importance than what your parents did. I am intrigued at the way that children lay claim to their wealth, and their possessions but it is really by the sweat of their mother or father’s efforts.
In which Whaleoil indulges in some public family therapy relating his admiration for the hardships his father had to overcome, to eventually be rich and powerful.
Interesting for a couple of reasons. W/O says he is answering his many critics who have apparently said his father was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He must be confused. I doubt he could produce even one criticism of him that expresses this. But I’m sure his critics often suggest that W/O himself was born into considerable privilege.
My own grandparents on both sides (and probably most people’s) had similar stories of women abandoned and imoverished with large families to support, and considerable suffering and hardship. Difference is, their experiences led them to political convictions that no-one should have to suffer similarly unnecessarily, and they actively supported political movements that brought about social welfare provision for people in similar circumstances. Whaleoils’s father seems to have taken the opposite tough-hearted political approach.
But Matthew you overlook three rather important aspects:
1. POAL is the ideal place to land cargo, right in the middle of the biggest urban centre of the country. You could land it all in Tauranga and truck it up but you would then have nearly 900,000 significant truck movements a year presuming they transported one container each. That is 2,500 a day. Sure they happen already but that many trips from Tauranga to Auckland a day will clog up the southern motorway.
2. POAL provides considerable wider economic benefits for the city. Sure you can turn a blind eye to the greater economic good but why would you. Shouldn’t a public entity actually try and work for the greater good? Is you want to see an attempted quantification of these have a look here.
3. Valuing the port area at the same price of nearby land is nonsensical. You can’t build multi high-rise buildings on the wharves. They have a somewhat limited use and would require extensive strengthening if any sort of construction was anticipated.
I think the difference is in the employment possibilities. At a time of relatively high employment a young person could walk down the road and get that full time job in the butchery or whatever. And be paid at Union rates. Now, if they are lucky, they will get 15 to 20 hours a week at the minimum wage at the supermarket. Can’t keep a family on that! Can’t even keep themselves on that.
A question for lefties. Do you support the right for people to leave an inheritance to their descendants when they die. (Whether small or big) Also do you think that it should be taxed?
For me who is a moderate RWNJ I think that if a person has managed to save some wealth through hard work, sweat and tears that they should be able to pass it on to whom ever they will.
But I know some lefties think it is evil or should be taxed.
I think its good so then the following generation do not have to ‘start again’ but can use the inherited capital to help them in their way through life.
We all want our children to inherit what we have accumulated. The difference is that some of us realise that those who have inherited assets etc accumulate faster by dint of the initial advantage. In the normal scheme of things you can pretty much rely on the fat cat psychology that comes with privelege to stuff it all up in a few generations.
You might be better to ask the question in a different way: perhaps should we tax more in life and have no death duties, or vice versa? Or perhaps when does accumulated wealth become anti social and anti economic (in my mind the same thing), and how can we discourage it?
As an aside: my businesses pay fair tax, we dont try and avoid. Neither do I. When talking to the accountants I realise what a rarity this is.
I’m ever increasingly less inclined to view that it should not be taxed.
As the right wing premise is that you should be able to accumulate wealth to support yourself and your family independently and not be reliant on the state and therefore the state should leave it alone then the sad reality is, is that many of the wealthy simply do not follow that principle.
The reality I see is that many well off people arrange their affairs to access state assistance that they do not actually need to access.
I know millionaires who have community services cards, they wish the state to pay for their retirement, they wish the state to pay for their residential care.
In my lifetime this access has clearly increased by the well off at the same time as they have reduced the level of tax they pay, removed aspects such as income testing of NZS, tucked more and more money away in trusts so it doesn’t get counted as personal income and assets.
At the same time businessmen have reduced wages so that those who are working struggle – it’s sad my kids have worse pay and conditions than I had when I started work. They’ve taken more profit and my kids pay the price.
Wealth is not regarded as evil by the left but the hypocrisy of many of the wealthy who lambast the poor for accessing assistance when they have no jobs, while all the time seeking and obtaining state assistance.
And of course it’s not all hard work, and sweat and tears – much of it is luck and circumstance, some of it is family support, some of it is not having an accident or illness or injury or not being born with a disability, or not being ripped off by an unscrupulous finance company……
Lets take the simple example of residential care.
If I’ve worked hard and saved my money, are these savings
1. To help me get through my non-working years in a degree of comfort and to provide for my care when I am unable to care for myself
2. To pass on to my children while the state pays for my care
Surely the priority should be to take care of oneself first.
Tax it over a certain level. Back in the 1980s in NZ it used to be $450,000. Make it a million now and have a sliding scale. But there is truly something wrong with the concentration of so much wealth in the hands of so few and a death tax will help prevent this.
BTW I’m never heard anyone from the left say leaving an inheritance is evil.
Taxed yes – evil no. Conflating the two in the way you do suggests you are trolling to get some sort of reaction.
So I’d be interested in your thoughts back as to whether the first priority of that wealth should be to provide for your own care.
Secondly should that wealth be then used to provide for your children’s costs while they are alive – is there any reason it should be left until you actually die to provide for your descendants?
Lets take Social Security as an example:
The purpose of this Act is—
(a) to enable the provision of financial and other support as appropriate—
(i) to help people to support themselves and their dependants while not in paid employment; and
(ii) to help people to find or retain paid employment; and
(iii) to help people for whom work may not currently be appropriate because of sickness, injury, disability, or caring responsibilities, to support themselves and their dependants:
(b) to enable in certain circumstances the provision of financial support to people to help alleviate hardship:
(c) to ensure that the financial support referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) is provided to people taking into account—
(i) that where appropriate they should use the resources available to them before seeking financial support under this Act; and
(ii) any financial support that they are eligible for or already receive, otherwise than under this Act, from publicly funded sources
How much should one of the resources available to the children of the wealthy who may find themselves out of work or unwell be the use of this accumulated wealth without having to wait until the parent dies.
Should trusts have to be accessed first where you are a beneficiary of the trust. Should there be a register of beneficiaries so that this can be monitored and enforced?
(I also think there should be a register of beneficiaries of trusts so that beneficiaries also know they are. A friend I know just dealt with a case where a father left the income of his assets to his disabled son with the money going to his siblings upon his (the son’s) death. The problem was his siblings were the trustees and so weren’t distributing any income so they got it all when he died. The disabled son was living in poverty completely unaware that he could have had an additional income stream of about $20,000 per annum.)
Does the right wing mantra I started with nothing and only got there because of all my personal effort and anyone else can do the same if they want too – they are just lazy bastards if they can’t) mean that all estates should go 100% to the state? This might ensure the mantra is given full effect?
Well obviously yes it should be used for your care in your old age – I guess means testing is only fair though if I get in that situation it would be nice if I could see out my last days living with family rather than some impersonal rest home.
As to providing for your children prior to death – I guess it depends on their age and attitude to life. If they are of age and have the right work ethic then I wouldn’t have a problem helping them get started however I have seen a situation that I know of (around 5 years ago) where a wealthy widow had 3 kids who sucked her for $$ left right and centre. None of them had work and felt like they never had to as mama was always there with her chequebook. (She was a hard worker herself – just didn’t have the strength to stand up to her kids)
Up until recently there were also issues with gift duty liabilities which created a practical limit to giving – however that is no longer the case.
I believe that the more people in society that can fend for themselves the more productive and independent that society will be.
I also realise that there are some people often through no fault of their own who do need a helping hand (I have a friend who has suffered from cerebal palsy since he was 14 for example)
I also know that a fair number of people in society will take advantage of handouts that they are not really entitled to and will chose the easy option over chosing to wean them selves off state dependency.
The biggest challenge with state welfare ( & I think you need the wisdom of Solomon to do this) is is figure out a system so that those who need help get it and those who are trying to cheat the system and the lazy get told to take a hike.
Also how do you encourage young people to not look to the easy option as a lifestyle choice.
If I was the Minister of Education I would change the focus of secondary education to include the following compulsory subjects.
Budgeting skills, driver licence training, work ethics skills, studies relating to choices & consequences, house keeping skills, basic skills relating to loans & banking, and job hunting skills. Throw into the mix goal keeping and career planning as well.
From what I have seen over the last 21 years of being in the work force as a worker and an employer is that kids are coming out of school ill prepared for life as a working adult.
Once upon a time you could rely on parents to teach these basic skills but not anymore in some cases sadly.
I’m not against genuine beneficaries just those who chose the lifestyle rather than work.
I also know that a fair number of people in society will take advantage of handouts that they are not really entitled to and will chose the easy option over choosing to wean them selves off state dependency.
This is only a small number. The problem when people look at the stats they forget about churn through the benefit system. It’s easy to say there are x number on benefit for 10 years but when you take the number of people who have been on benefit in that 10 years it is miniscule.
As however we all “know someone” then it’s easy to extrapolate that emotionally to lots of people. Then when you consider that many of those people are in rural areas or have significant disability or are raising children then you need to think about what removing such assistance would do – as opposed to say removing the right of underage partners to be included in NZS many of whom are more than capable of working and will often be on for 10 years or more.
In reality the vast majority of people go in and out of work and the benefit system as required.
The biggest challenge with state welfare ( & I think you need the wisdom of Solomon to do this) is is figure out a system so that those who need help get it and those who are trying to cheat the system and the lazy get told to take a hike.
Nope the biggest challenge is finding productive employment for people. When there are jobs people will work. We are in a recession and people didn’t become unemployed because they wanted to – they became unemployed because their jobs went, were cut down to part time, their firms went bust, export orders were cancelled, bad weather affected crops, work was casualised, etc etc
What the benefit system also has to find is a balance between ensuring that people are willing to access help when they need it and not being too intrusive in peoples lives to the extent that genuine people in need don’t apply. There’s no doubt in the 80’s when I was an advocate that many women stayed in abusive relationships because somehow the ordeal they had to go through at Social Welfare to apply was just another step in abuse – they used to have staff who would come into your homes, make an excuse to go to the toilet so they could look in your bathroom to see if there were two toothbrushes for instance, male boots at the door and so on.
Again it seems to me we are heading down the road of being intrusive on the poor but allowing the wealthy to hide their financial circumstances (e.g. the gifting situation you refer to which will also make it harder for women to access their matrimonial property rights upon separation).
And when you think about where you want the staff at WINZ to spend their time (particularly if you believe the jobs are out there) consider how much you want to resource them rounding up the miscreants versus helping people find the jobs that are there. Consider that each hour they spend interviewing someone who has been on benefit for 654 years is an hour they cannot spend helping someone else find a job.
Where do we as taxpayers at this point in time want those staff to spend their effort?
Equally you can’t focus on the benefit system without focusing on employers – if they would take a bit less profit and were prepared to invest in youth then maybe we’d have less of an issue. Ryman for instance could employ more people in their residential homes and pay them more without any undue suffering of profit.
I believe that the more people in society that can fend for themselves the more productive and independent that society will be
Then you’d be wrong. Not everybody can do everything for themselves and so we live in a community. We are interdependent and that interdependence means that we look out for each other and make sure that everybody in the community has enough to live reasonably. When we try any other way we end up with poverty, crime and corruption – just as we have now.
The biggest challenge with state welfare ( & I think you need the wisdom of Solomon to do this) is is figure out a system so that those who need help get it and those who are trying to cheat the system and the lazy get told to take a hike.
The problem is that the system has been designed by those who should have been told to take a hike – the capitalists. Quite simply, the system has been designed so that, if you’re in the right position, you can legally cheat and steal.
Also how do you encourage young people to not look to the easy option as a lifestyle choice.
By default, people want to do things and be challenged. The problem comes when they work hard and get nowhere but see other people getting ahead due to their work. As I learned when I first did Amway: You can’t get rich by working but only through having others work for you.
Which is the basis of capitalism – skimming off the wealth created by others.
If I was the Minister of Education I would change the focus of secondary education to include the following compulsory subjects.
The system is the problem and yet you want to entrench it forever?
I’m not against genuine beneficaries just those who chose the lifestyle rather than work.
Everybody wants to work, the problem is that some want to be rich and in their efforts to become rich they invent reasons for some not to receive anything and others not to receive their due. One of those reasons is that some people aren’t working due to circumstances outside of their control but within the control of the people who want to be rich. Everybody should be able to work and the reason why they can’t is because having unemployment helps keep wages down allowing those few to become richer.
“I believe that the more people in society that can fend for themselves the more productive and independent that society will be.”
I would have thought that someone who believed that would not want to leave much money/wealth to their children.
People I’ve known who have been well provided for during their upbringing and then have either received or are in expectation of receiving a sizeable inheritance tend to be less inclined to make the most productive use of their capacities or potential.
That makes sense since there will have been no ‘incentive’ to work actively towards being independent and providing for themselves.
I can’t remember which ones, but I seem to recall that several very wealthy people have made deliberate decisions not to pass on the ‘family’ wealth to their children, for just these sorts of reasons.
Good column from John Armstrong today, examining the noticeable change in Key’s demeanour and apparently confirming that the rumours that he hasn’t got long to go in the job may have some substance.
But who would replace him? Despite the surfeit of MP’s, the Tory talent pool is pretty shallow. None of his best ministers (Joyce, Brownlee) are personable enough to take NZ with them and the worst, but higher profile ones, (Bennett, Tolley) are too divisive to win an election.
So they may be forced to go for a malleable idiot who can also smile and wave and talk non stop bollocks. Simon Bridges? Nathan Guy?
Actually, it looks to me like Armstrong first acknowledges people’s around tghe traps think Key has lost interest and won’t last the term. Then Armstrong gets into apologetics as to why that view is wrong, and Key just has a lot of diffficult things to deal with.
But the commetns so far are less than enamoured with Key’s performance.
And as for Armstrong’s comment that Key isn’t as addicted to power as Clark…? Actually, I’d say with Key it’s all about power and status, and little about what good he will do for most Kiwis.
I was left wondering if Armstrong had infact past his use by date, the article was was full of contradictory statements..
Key loves the limelight, or is that loves himself – But is now realising that the job is much “harder” than he invisaged, most likely because he was maneuvered into the position using the resistentless paths which saw him elevated effortlessly into the leadership role. Now the gloss has worn off, the smile turned upside down, Key is, like all meglomaniacs, losing patience with it all, as its making him look bad. Simple as that!
Just had a thought. Voters feel disengaged with politics and politicians and often don’t vote. Connect that to “consultations” about issues and you get a strong feeling that minds of this Government’s lawmakers are already made up and the “consultation” is just a mockery. For example I believe that the current hui/English Asset sales amounts to an hour talk by English and an hour for opinions of Iwi and then gone with Mr English’s follow up interviews saying exactly the same as before the “consultation.”
Select Committees? Same. Talk then carry out previous decision. (Reminds me of a boss who used to write up the minutes before the meeting, read the minutes to the assembled people then close the meeting.)
ahhh, ok, ignore. Wasn’t quite what I was asking, I just thought it was exceptionally nasty & incredible to be published in the Herald, I understand this kinda thing comes out of his mouth while on the radio but to see it printed just gave me a shake.
Yeah I know what you mean, you’d think writing it down would give him cause to think about it – that’s kinda why I took it as trolling.
32 comments on the article now, 28 (I think) of them glowing praise, mostly variations on “you’re saying what all kiwis really think” and “finally the rich white man gets a voice in this country, about bloody time”.
edit: best comment on the article:
JH (428)
03:29 PM Saturday, 11 Feb 2012
Thanks for your insight. Very thought provoking. The main thought that comes to mind is your an idiot.
Yes idlegus, felt so angry when I read it I considered writing a letter to the Herald suggesting he be tested for dementia. Then I decided a) he wasn’t worth it, and b) it was an insult to those who suffer from dementia.
I had to read it now, as normally would not bother with Holmes who is the empitomy of whilte middle class, shit doesn’t stink, self righteous hack, my ex wife had a maori name so I cant be called racist, when I blatantly am. who is clearly getting more viscious with age instead of mellowing!
“I know that later that evening, the news will show us irrational Maori ghastliness with spitting, smugness, self-righteousness and the usual neurotic Maori politics, in which some bizarre new wrong we’ve never thought about will be lying on the table”
Yes Paul thats right, the media like to frame the narrative in such a way that makes white people tsk tsk at the savages, all the while it means that the real issues (not the ones you mention), but those which the protestors were there because of, such as land sales, asset sales, and the general attack on “lower end ” kiwis, you seem so keen to put the boot into..
Terrible article, but now seems this is what he is writing….last weeks attack on the warfies showed what he is about!
Māori can be blamed for all of society’s problems. Māori parents are especially at fault. They should follow the example of exemplary parents like myself. The children of perfect, white parents like ME never develop $1000-a-day P habits.
Thanks for that QoT. I think this paragraph sums it up:
I am a washed up, former TV presenter who was fired almost ten years ago but tries to cling to my D-grade celebrity status by writing a column for an even lower-brow news website. I use long strings of adjectives to reach my word count.
The debate concerning the partial privatisation of our state owned assets is starting to heat up, with propaganda and a lack of objective opinion being all too apparent in the MSM…
*sigh* – the article, and Shearer’s comments as reported, seem to be pandering to the old myths peddled by the right and the MSM about Labour – fiscally and economically untrustworthy and too much into irresponsible spending, need to get beneficiaries to be more responsible, pandering to unions and identity politics.
… so nothing really new about Shearer it seems… still pandering to the neoliberal myths and values. Nothing here to attract me from The Greens or possibly Mana.
Yeah, another ‘Labour must become National-lite in order to win’ article.
If we want a party where union is a dirty word and the party is made up of rich, old white men with a few token ‘diversity’ positions, we know where to find one.
Labour connected with people once, by offering them practical ideas that helped improve their everyday lives. That’s all they need to do. If they can sell Kiwis a vision where they can own their own home, provide for their families and save for their future, then they will win.
Labour connected with people once, by offering them practical ideas that helped improve their everyday lives.
Dunno about that ‘Blue’. It was workers who formed the Labour Party and used it as a vehicle to promote and express their interests. So there was absolutely no issue around Labour ‘connecting with people’. The question would seem to ‘when was it that the Labour Party became a ‘law unto itself’ and began preaching back to workers their (supposed) best interests. ‘Cause that’s when they had already lost touch. And the interum between then (whenever that was, but it was certainly pre 84) and now, has been Labour simply riding a wave of nostalgia and ‘what if’s’.
To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Labour Party was to disappear over the medium term.
I was wondering if anybody has further information on voter fraud? I recall a comment a while ago on The Standard concerning the matter that outlined a number of instances of personation in the last election, however the Electoral Commission has responded to my OIA saying:
There is currently no information available regarding fraud at the 2011 General Election as there are no confirmed cases of fraud at this point. The Electoral Commission is still considering whether there are any potential instances of personation that will need to be referred to Police for further investigation. For this reason, your request is refused under section 18(g) of the Official Information Act. You may wish to inquire with Police regarding this information in the New Year.
Not one case of voter fraud? Seems a bit too good to be true.
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The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
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 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
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http://whoar.co.nz/2012/foster-friess-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-sugar-daddy-atop-the-horse/
“…The Republican kingmaker – with his own Youtube channel and obsession with radical Islam – shot in to the spotlight this week on the shoulder of Rick Santorum.
But who really is he?..”
[email look alike deleted].
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/02/whales-budgeting-tips-for-the-poor-ctd-2/
Whether you like him or loathe him its always interesting when someone opens up like this
Not quite as amusing as this though chris73 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eDaSvRO9xA
I prefer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpU4mOCLdkw
Yes Chris, a great story well told. But not sure how it helps. I bet many of the writers and many posters here on the Standard can tell of similar courageous climbs. And what you do has much more importance than what your parents did. I am intrigued at the way that children lay claim to their wealth, and their possessions but it is really by the sweat of their mother or father’s efforts.
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/
Some of the reasons why it actually costs more to live when you are poor.
In which Whaleoil indulges in some public family therapy relating his admiration for the hardships his father had to overcome, to eventually be rich and powerful.
Interesting for a couple of reasons. W/O says he is answering his many critics who have apparently said his father was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He must be confused. I doubt he could produce even one criticism of him that expresses this. But I’m sure his critics often suggest that W/O himself was born into considerable privilege.
My own grandparents on both sides (and probably most people’s) had similar stories of women abandoned and imoverished with large families to support, and considerable suffering and hardship. Difference is, their experiences led them to political convictions that no-one should have to suffer similarly unnecessarily, and they actively supported political movements that brought about social welfare provision for people in similar circumstances. Whaleoils’s father seems to have taken the opposite tough-hearted political approach.
For those who were interested in the port debate this week, NBR has now moved my column to this side of the paysall. See http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/wr-opening-salvo-auckland’s-container-port-must-go-108818
But Matthew you overlook three rather important aspects:
1. POAL is the ideal place to land cargo, right in the middle of the biggest urban centre of the country. You could land it all in Tauranga and truck it up but you would then have nearly 900,000 significant truck movements a year presuming they transported one container each. That is 2,500 a day. Sure they happen already but that many trips from Tauranga to Auckland a day will clog up the southern motorway.
2. POAL provides considerable wider economic benefits for the city. Sure you can turn a blind eye to the greater economic good but why would you. Shouldn’t a public entity actually try and work for the greater good? Is you want to see an attempted quantification of these have a look here.
3. Valuing the port area at the same price of nearby land is nonsensical. You can’t build multi high-rise buildings on the wharves. They have a somewhat limited use and would require extensive strengthening if any sort of construction was anticipated.
micky, Matthew isn’t interested in “the greater good”. Only what’s in it for him and his mates.
I think the difference is in the employment possibilities. At a time of relatively high employment a young person could walk down the road and get that full time job in the butchery or whatever. And be paid at Union rates. Now, if they are lucky, they will get 15 to 20 hours a week at the minimum wage at the supermarket. Can’t keep a family on that! Can’t even keep themselves on that.
A question for lefties. Do you support the right for people to leave an inheritance to their descendants when they die. (Whether small or big) Also do you think that it should be taxed?
For me who is a moderate RWNJ I think that if a person has managed to save some wealth through hard work, sweat and tears that they should be able to pass it on to whom ever they will.
But I know some lefties think it is evil or should be taxed.
I think its good so then the following generation do not have to ‘start again’ but can use the inherited capital to help them in their way through life.
We all want our children to inherit what we have accumulated. The difference is that some of us realise that those who have inherited assets etc accumulate faster by dint of the initial advantage. In the normal scheme of things you can pretty much rely on the fat cat psychology that comes with privelege to stuff it all up in a few generations.
You might be better to ask the question in a different way: perhaps should we tax more in life and have no death duties, or vice versa? Or perhaps when does accumulated wealth become anti social and anti economic (in my mind the same thing), and how can we discourage it?
As an aside: my businesses pay fair tax, we dont try and avoid. Neither do I. When talking to the accountants I realise what a rarity this is.
I’m ever increasingly less inclined to view that it should not be taxed.
As the right wing premise is that you should be able to accumulate wealth to support yourself and your family independently and not be reliant on the state and therefore the state should leave it alone then the sad reality is, is that many of the wealthy simply do not follow that principle.
The reality I see is that many well off people arrange their affairs to access state assistance that they do not actually need to access.
I know millionaires who have community services cards, they wish the state to pay for their retirement, they wish the state to pay for their residential care.
In my lifetime this access has clearly increased by the well off at the same time as they have reduced the level of tax they pay, removed aspects such as income testing of NZS, tucked more and more money away in trusts so it doesn’t get counted as personal income and assets.
At the same time businessmen have reduced wages so that those who are working struggle – it’s sad my kids have worse pay and conditions than I had when I started work. They’ve taken more profit and my kids pay the price.
Wealth is not regarded as evil by the left but the hypocrisy of many of the wealthy who lambast the poor for accessing assistance when they have no jobs, while all the time seeking and obtaining state assistance.
And of course it’s not all hard work, and sweat and tears – much of it is luck and circumstance, some of it is family support, some of it is not having an accident or illness or injury or not being born with a disability, or not being ripped off by an unscrupulous finance company……
Lets take the simple example of residential care.
If I’ve worked hard and saved my money, are these savings
1. To help me get through my non-working years in a degree of comfort and to provide for my care when I am unable to care for myself
2. To pass on to my children while the state pays for my care
Surely the priority should be to take care of oneself first.
Tax it over a certain level. Back in the 1980s in NZ it used to be $450,000. Make it a million now and have a sliding scale. But there is truly something wrong with the concentration of so much wealth in the hands of so few and a death tax will help prevent this.
BTW I’m never heard anyone from the left say leaving an inheritance is evil.
Taxed yes – evil no. Conflating the two in the way you do suggests you are trolling to get some sort of reaction.
Nah I was actually interested to hear what you guys had to say – its not really a subject that comes up all that often.
So I’d be interested in your thoughts back as to whether the first priority of that wealth should be to provide for your own care.
Secondly should that wealth be then used to provide for your children’s costs while they are alive – is there any reason it should be left until you actually die to provide for your descendants?
Lets take Social Security as an example:
Well obviously yes it should be used for your care in your old age – I guess means testing is only fair though if I get in that situation it would be nice if I could see out my last days living with family rather than some impersonal rest home.
As to providing for your children prior to death – I guess it depends on their age and attitude to life. If they are of age and have the right work ethic then I wouldn’t have a problem helping them get started however I have seen a situation that I know of (around 5 years ago) where a wealthy widow had 3 kids who sucked her for $$ left right and centre. None of them had work and felt like they never had to as mama was always there with her chequebook. (She was a hard worker herself – just didn’t have the strength to stand up to her kids)
Up until recently there were also issues with gift duty liabilities which created a practical limit to giving – however that is no longer the case.
I believe that the more people in society that can fend for themselves the more productive and independent that society will be.
I also realise that there are some people often through no fault of their own who do need a helping hand (I have a friend who has suffered from cerebal palsy since he was 14 for example)
I also know that a fair number of people in society will take advantage of handouts that they are not really entitled to and will chose the easy option over chosing to wean them selves off state dependency.
The biggest challenge with state welfare ( & I think you need the wisdom of Solomon to do this) is is figure out a system so that those who need help get it and those who are trying to cheat the system and the lazy get told to take a hike.
Also how do you encourage young people to not look to the easy option as a lifestyle choice.
If I was the Minister of Education I would change the focus of secondary education to include the following compulsory subjects.
Budgeting skills, driver licence training, work ethics skills, studies relating to choices & consequences, house keeping skills, basic skills relating to loans & banking, and job hunting skills. Throw into the mix goal keeping and career planning as well.
From what I have seen over the last 21 years of being in the work force as a worker and an employer is that kids are coming out of school ill prepared for life as a working adult.
Once upon a time you could rely on parents to teach these basic skills but not anymore in some cases sadly.
I’m not against genuine beneficaries just those who chose the lifestyle rather than work.
Heres where I think you are wrong:
This is only a small number. The problem when people look at the stats they forget about churn through the benefit system. It’s easy to say there are x number on benefit for 10 years but when you take the number of people who have been on benefit in that 10 years it is miniscule.
As however we all “know someone” then it’s easy to extrapolate that emotionally to lots of people. Then when you consider that many of those people are in rural areas or have significant disability or are raising children then you need to think about what removing such assistance would do – as opposed to say removing the right of underage partners to be included in NZS many of whom are more than capable of working and will often be on for 10 years or more.
In reality the vast majority of people go in and out of work and the benefit system as required.
Nope the biggest challenge is finding productive employment for people. When there are jobs people will work. We are in a recession and people didn’t become unemployed because they wanted to – they became unemployed because their jobs went, were cut down to part time, their firms went bust, export orders were cancelled, bad weather affected crops, work was casualised, etc etc
What the benefit system also has to find is a balance between ensuring that people are willing to access help when they need it and not being too intrusive in peoples lives to the extent that genuine people in need don’t apply. There’s no doubt in the 80’s when I was an advocate that many women stayed in abusive relationships because somehow the ordeal they had to go through at Social Welfare to apply was just another step in abuse – they used to have staff who would come into your homes, make an excuse to go to the toilet so they could look in your bathroom to see if there were two toothbrushes for instance, male boots at the door and so on.
Again it seems to me we are heading down the road of being intrusive on the poor but allowing the wealthy to hide their financial circumstances (e.g. the gifting situation you refer to which will also make it harder for women to access their matrimonial property rights upon separation).
And when you think about where you want the staff at WINZ to spend their time (particularly if you believe the jobs are out there) consider how much you want to resource them rounding up the miscreants versus helping people find the jobs that are there. Consider that each hour they spend interviewing someone who has been on benefit for 654 years is an hour they cannot spend helping someone else find a job.
Where do we as taxpayers at this point in time want those staff to spend their effort?
Equally you can’t focus on the benefit system without focusing on employers – if they would take a bit less profit and were prepared to invest in youth then maybe we’d have less of an issue. Ryman for instance could employ more people in their residential homes and pay them more without any undue suffering of profit.
Then you’d be wrong. Not everybody can do everything for themselves and so we live in a community. We are interdependent and that interdependence means that we look out for each other and make sure that everybody in the community has enough to live reasonably. When we try any other way we end up with poverty, crime and corruption – just as we have now.
The problem is that the system has been designed by those who should have been told to take a hike – the capitalists. Quite simply, the system has been designed so that, if you’re in the right position, you can legally cheat and steal.
By default, people want to do things and be challenged. The problem comes when they work hard and get nowhere but see other people getting ahead due to their work. As I learned when I first did Amway:
You can’t get rich by working but only through having others work for you.
Which is the basis of capitalism – skimming off the wealth created by others.
The system is the problem and yet you want to entrench it forever?
Everybody wants to work, the problem is that some want to be rich and in their efforts to become rich they invent reasons for some not to receive anything and others not to receive their due. One of those reasons is that some people aren’t working due to circumstances outside of their control but within the control of the people who want to be rich. Everybody should be able to work and the reason why they can’t is because having unemployment helps keep wages down allowing those few to become richer.
“I believe that the more people in society that can fend for themselves the more productive and independent that society will be.”
I would have thought that someone who believed that would not want to leave much money/wealth to their children.
People I’ve known who have been well provided for during their upbringing and then have either received or are in expectation of receiving a sizeable inheritance tend to be less inclined to make the most productive use of their capacities or potential.
That makes sense since there will have been no ‘incentive’ to work actively towards being independent and providing for themselves.
I can’t remember which ones, but I seem to recall that several very wealthy people have made deliberate decisions not to pass on the ‘family’ wealth to their children, for just these sorts of reasons.
I should have added a ‘smiley’ after the second to last paragraph, as I was enjoying myself employing a standard, right-wing homily.
My house + contents Insurance has risen by $195 since last year. Yuck!
Good column from John Armstrong today, examining the noticeable change in Key’s demeanour and apparently confirming that the rumours that he hasn’t got long to go in the job may have some substance.
But who would replace him? Despite the surfeit of MP’s, the Tory talent pool is pretty shallow. None of his best ministers (Joyce, Brownlee) are personable enough to take NZ with them and the worst, but higher profile ones, (Bennett, Tolley) are too divisive to win an election.
So they may be forced to go for a malleable idiot who can also smile and wave and talk non stop bollocks. Simon Bridges? Nathan Guy?
Actually, it looks to me like Armstrong first acknowledges people’s around tghe traps think Key has lost interest and won’t last the term. Then Armstrong gets into apologetics as to why that view is wrong, and Key just has a lot of diffficult things to deal with.
But the commetns so far are less than enamoured with Key’s performance.
And as for Armstrong’s comment that Key isn’t as addicted to power as Clark…? Actually, I’d say with Key it’s all about power and status, and little about what good he will do for most Kiwis.
I was left wondering if Armstrong had infact past his use by date, the article was was full of contradictory statements..
Key loves the limelight, or is that loves himself – But is now realising that the job is much “harder” than he invisaged, most likely because he was maneuvered into the position using the resistentless paths which saw him elevated effortlessly into the leadership role. Now the gloss has worn off, the smile turned upside down, Key is, like all meglomaniacs, losing patience with it all, as its making him look bad. Simple as that!
Simone Bridges – 100% Tory Stooge in waiting!
Hekia Parata. Not just a female PM, but an acceptable first Maori PM of NZ. That will be the pitch.
BTW Key lost interest after the Royal Wedding and photo op with Obama, i.e. after his scrapbook was full.
Just had a thought. Voters feel disengaged with politics and politicians and often don’t vote. Connect that to “consultations” about issues and you get a strong feeling that minds of this Government’s lawmakers are already made up and the “consultation” is just a mockery. For example I believe that the current hui/English Asset sales amounts to an hour talk by English and an hour for opinions of Iwi and then gone with Mr English’s follow up interviews saying exactly the same as before the “consultation.”
Select Committees? Same. Talk then carry out previous decision. (Reminds me of a boss who used to write up the minutes before the meeting, read the minutes to the assembled people then close the meeting.)
Aye the timeframe is that short that the only possible interpretation is that they are going through the motions and have made their minds up already.
To add insult to injury to choose to announce the “consultation” a week out from Waitangi day was only ever going to cause dissent to occur.
A nasty rant from Paul Holmes, I’m wondering if it flies pretty close to ‘Hate Speech’ ? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10784735 I’m also curious that there hasn’t been any comments on this all day.
Given up reading Holmes a long time ago.
I guess Holmes wants a reaction. Best just to ignore such drivel.
No comments because no-one cares what Paul thinks.
Troll-bait fail.
ahhh, ok, ignore. Wasn’t quite what I was asking, I just thought it was exceptionally nasty & incredible to be published in the Herald, I understand this kinda thing comes out of his mouth while on the radio but to see it printed just gave me a shake.
Yeah I know what you mean, you’d think writing it down would give him cause to think about it – that’s kinda why I took it as trolling.
32 comments on the article now, 28 (I think) of them glowing praise, mostly variations on “you’re saying what all kiwis really think” and “finally the rich white man gets a voice in this country, about bloody time”.
edit: best comment on the article:
Good one JH.
+1.
I always hate the “Its what 99% of kiwis think”. Makes me feel very angry. But yes I agree, Paul Holmes is largely irrelevent.
Yes idlegus, felt so angry when I read it I considered writing a letter to the Herald suggesting he be tested for dementia. Then I decided a) he wasn’t worth it, and b) it was an insult to those who suffer from dementia.
I had to read it now, as normally would not bother with Holmes who is the empitomy of whilte middle class, shit doesn’t stink, self righteous hack, my ex wife had a maori name so I cant be called racist, when I blatantly am. who is clearly getting more viscious with age instead of mellowing!
“I know that later that evening, the news will show us irrational Maori ghastliness with spitting, smugness, self-righteousness and the usual neurotic Maori politics, in which some bizarre new wrong we’ve never thought about will be lying on the table”
Yes Paul thats right, the media like to frame the narrative in such a way that makes white people tsk tsk at the savages, all the while it means that the real issues (not the ones you mention), but those which the protestors were there because of, such as land sales, asset sales, and the general attack on “lower end ” kiwis, you seem so keen to put the boot into..
Terrible article, but now seems this is what he is writing….last weeks attack on the warfies showed what he is about!
I feel dirty writing about it!
An excellent response here:
Māori can be blamed for all of society’s problems. Māori parents are especially at fault. They should follow the example of exemplary parents like myself. The children of perfect, white parents like ME never develop $1000-a-day P habits.
Thanks for that QoT. I think this paragraph sums it up:
A chance to give Stuff some feedback:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/blogs/from-the-newsroom/6398952/Help-us-give-Stuff-a-makeover
Are they paying? If they’re not then don’t do it as you’re being ripped off.
I do note that capitalist businesses like to use commun1sm to benefit themselves.
John Roughan – Asshole of the Week
The debate concerning the partial privatisation of our state owned assets is starting to heat up, with propaganda and a lack of objective opinion being all too apparent in the MSM…
The Listener asks: The new Labour leader says his party is ready for a change, but does that include confronting the union muscle within the party?
http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/david-shearer-interview/
*sigh* – the article, and Shearer’s comments as reported, seem to be pandering to the old myths peddled by the right and the MSM about Labour – fiscally and economically untrustworthy and too much into irresponsible spending, need to get beneficiaries to be more responsible, pandering to unions and identity politics.
… so nothing really new about Shearer it seems… still pandering to the neoliberal myths and values. Nothing here to attract me from The Greens or possibly Mana.
Yeah, another ‘Labour must become National-lite in order to win’ article.
If we want a party where union is a dirty word and the party is made up of rich, old white men with a few token ‘diversity’ positions, we know where to find one.
Labour connected with people once, by offering them practical ideas that helped improve their everyday lives. That’s all they need to do. If they can sell Kiwis a vision where they can own their own home, provide for their families and save for their future, then they will win.
Dunno about that ‘Blue’. It was workers who formed the Labour Party and used it as a vehicle to promote and express their interests. So there was absolutely no issue around Labour ‘connecting with people’. The question would seem to ‘when was it that the Labour Party became a ‘law unto itself’ and began preaching back to workers their (supposed) best interests. ‘Cause that’s when they had already lost touch. And the interum between then (whenever that was, but it was certainly pre 84) and now, has been Labour simply riding a wave of nostalgia and ‘what if’s’.
To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Labour Party was to disappear over the medium term.
Not really about Shearer was it but mostly a vehicle for Ruth Laugesen to express her opinion. Whoever she is.
I was wondering if anybody has further information on voter fraud? I recall a comment a while ago on The Standard concerning the matter that outlined a number of instances of personation in the last election, however the Electoral Commission has responded to my OIA saying:
Not one case of voter fraud? Seems a bit too good to be true.