The bush fire season starts early in Australia. Spring time temperatures of 30 degrees C, mixed with high winds are fanning a large number of fires in New South Wales.
Briefing parliament on Tuesday, NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell said 59 bush and grassfires were burning across the state with more than 500 firefighters and 200 appliances on the ground.
You can only wonder if it will be politically feasible for Tony Abbot to be able to deliver on his promise to the fossil fuel industry to scrap the carbon tax, when the cost of fighting these fires and dealing with the aftermath continues to grow. Axing the carbon tax will remove $billions from the government’s accounts, can it be politically tenable for the industry responsible to pay nothing?
The population of Australia may have reason to regret electing a climate change denier as Premier.
It’s probably worse than that. While fighting fires around the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor it was – anecdotally – discovered that one of the firefighters was nicking out the back and lighting a few. Something to do with the drama and glory ..
I personally saw the 2011 ‘Black Christmas’ fires – the longest continuous bushfire emergency in NSW history. It so systematically moved S, SW, W, NW, N around the outskirts of Sydney that there was strong suspicion of arson ..
Tony Abbot is the dumbest and most insensitive world leader since Ronald Reagan, who suffering advanced age, the onset of Alzheimers and with a background as a hollywood cowboy could at least deliver his lines when called to.
The population of Australia may have reason to regret electing a climate change denier as Premier.
We think the heads of many of our voters need to be ‘seen to”, but we’re Einsteins compared to that lot on the other side of the ditch. I haven’t an ounce of sympathy for them. Let them sink in a mire of their own making.
As a volunteer firefighter, Abbott sees fires as a photo opportunity. The real firefighters just hope and pray that he won’t turn up with his media circus to help them.
As was pointed out during the piece, some of the biggest players in the industry, ie Sanfords, fund the National Party, and it is they who are benefiting the most from the stupid quota system.
As per usual, John Key and National only act on behalf of wealthy vested interests, actual ordinary people can go hang.
Unfortunately the dynamics of the fish quota system resulted in smaller fishing interests selling their portion to the bigger ones. It should have been a lease system that had to be re-allocated fairly every now and then. The whole thing needs to be reorganised. I get the feeling that business has captured the agencies.
Indeed something need be ‘done’ about the quota management system, something along the lines of carrot and stick perhaps, where commercial fishers who dump fish immediately lose everything and get to sit in a cold jail cell for a period so as to have time to consider their crimes,
On the other hand the system must be arranged so as to allow the whole catch to be landed without overt penalty and this may possibly allow for the by-catch to be written off of the other quota that a fishing entity holds,
The problem there i would envisage would be fishers deliberately targeting the more lucrative fish to write off against their quota,
The system needs to be far more flexible where if in a year too much of the total catch is centered on the more lucrative fish then overall quota for those fishing commercially would have to be lowered as a deterrent…
And for those of you who still think that we have a democracy and that Cunliffe is going to make a flying fuck of difference if he ever makes it to Prime Minister here is a hint of why he is not.
9/11 changed the world for good. It was the day the global coup took place and yes that includes the government of NZ. Watch this 5 hour new film from film director Massimo Mazzuccoto learn more on what took place on the day and why it should matter to you today.
The wetiko virus is like a parasite that literally feeds off, takes over and aberrates the curren(t)cy of the infected system. The wetiko pathogen originally manifests as a disturbance in the field of the collective unconscious of humanity itself, creating the psychic ley lines upon which world events are erected and energized.
So how do I know you are not part of the wetiko yourself? When you say Cunliffe having more power won’t make any difference, I find both your motives and your awareness of reality suspect.
😆 If you want to believe Cunliffe can make a difference be my guest.
We are all infected with the Wetiko virus but like a with a cold sore how able is our immune system to resist!
I personally think that unless we all become aware of our own personal Wetiko infection and cast the damn virus out no individual (high powered politician or not) can make a damn bit of a difference.
But I find it thoroughly uplifting to find the name and the concept back on this blog. Especially since I was the first one to introduce it here! It gives me hope! Let’s name the Wetiko. It’s part of the disinfection process. Let there be light on this evil and let’s eradicate it!
Note to David Cunliffe, when using ‘attack’ lines on Slippery the Prime Minister don’t use the ‘yelly voice’, it comes across as ‘strident’,
Cunliffe should use His more gutteral speech, it ‘connects’ and comes across far better, think ‘deep voice’ Mr Cunliffe let the microphone do the amplification…
Thursday 12 September from 9am, Cunliffe, Jones and Robertson will be on Radio Live with Plunket for three hours. Not sure if an hour each or all on together.
Does raising the minimum wage lead to higher unemployment, another in my little series of those who say emphatically NO,
Of interest is the fact that very little weight is given by economists to the spending power produced by raising the minimum wage where those suffering in the low waged economy have little choice but to spend their gains from having the minimum wage raised into their local economy,
Of course once the money trail is followed it simply leads back to the very people doing the paying recouping the raised amount of money in the economy as profit from the extra being spent, i am starting to form the impression as i dig out these various links, that opposition to raising the minimum wage has as much to do with politics as it does with economics,
One of those posting comments in this blog does allude to the extra spending/extra profits in the economy from raising the minimum wage using Mcdonalds as an example…
“i am starting to form the impression as i dig out these various links, that opposition to raising the minimum wage has as much to do with politics as it does with economics”,
That would make sense bad12. The argument that an increased minimum wage leads to higher unemployment seem counter to the ideals of business in the sense that successful profitable trade relies upon customers with money to make that goal happen.
So, why the resistance? Is is the thought of people becoming more financially comfortable and actually making ends meet at the end of the pay week that freaks out those that support low wages? Does that make them somehow a little bit closer to being more equal to the business classes? Does that little bit more financial empowerment in the working masses somehow threaten the power dynamic and could that be at the core of the resistance rather than any logical economic argument?
Geez, imagine the freeing up of household cash if GST were removed, and replaced with the Robin Hood tax. Shops would open up instead of close down, money would flow instead of being constipated. Everyone would be happy would they not?
PS, in addition to that, and its probably already been said before, but who profits from a low income society? The Banks do. Our debt supports them and contributes to their record profits at a time when so many can’t cope financially.
Correct. The corporate sector, instead of paying out monies to workers in adequate wages, instead LEND that some money to workers to cover for their inadequate pay, and CHARGE interest on the sums.
Yes, then to lock in their wealth cropper machine they introduce a flat tax that insures everyone who should be paying more than 40% of tax (its call progressive taxation not cutoff for the richest progressive taxation), and the super wealthy are laughing.
Posting this TED talk on the Standard may be the blog equivalent of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs (BTW ?!?), but as bad12 is still trying to educate those who say NO – here is an “idea worth spreading”…Nick Hanaeuer: Why Rich People Don’t Create Jobs
i had to LOLZ at the fact that He put the organization which He was speaking to’s nose so far out of joint that they initially wouldn’t allow the Vid to go on-line and were then forced to relent because of public pressure,
He is of course right, the obvious point is that if you want an economy to fully function you have to throw monies into the bottom of that economy which then ‘lo and behold’ immediately tracks upward in that economy,
There’s another point that He probably knows but did not address, and that is that people like Nick Hanauer will always make money no matter what economic conditions they operate in, of course the harder it is for the Nick Hanauer’s of the world to gather together the wealth they seem hard-wired to seek, the harder they will work in their efforts to gain that wealth,
Raising taxes on such wealth simply leads the wealthy to work harder and by that i mean employ more people to produce the goods and services which create for them that wealth,
Once i have finished with my little series on the minimum wage i will do some more digging and address the very question of taxation that Nick Hanauer so ably addresses in that link….
David Cunliffe just said on RNZ that ” ….John Key is funnier than I am….”
Sorry David but that is one statement I can NOT agree with. Key is a total f***wit who has never made me laugh, though there have been many occasions where I have laughed AT him for some ridiculous dribble more commonly heard around closing time at the pub by some intoxicated fool.
Hi fender. I didn’t hear the statement but I’m wondering was Cunliffe meaning exactly what you say, that you can laugh AT Key, at his expense, rather than the fact that he’s a humourous guy? (Which he clearly isn’t)
Saw a book of Keyisms in a book store the other day.While it wasn’t as funny as my copy of “Bad President”, a book of Bushisms, it was poking fun at Key’s gaffe’s over the years, and is worthy of a good guffaw.
I’ll keep an eye out for that book, it can’t be too hard to find, it must be the size of and have as many pages as the Auck. phone book considering all the mangled words constantly flowing from the lips of our worst ever PM.
lol fender. Well, you’d think it would be the size of the Akld phone book given the ample material the PM has provided over the years but it is in fact more like a booklet. Sorry, I didn’t take notice of the name or author of the book. I saw it at Paper Plus.
Headlines on TheStandard today Cunliffe shows leadership steeland Reviewing the media coverage of the leadership campaign…..put into perspective by a walk yesterday along Lambton Quay.
As I strolled to a meeting, well fed, well clothed, money card in pocket I passed 6 individuals each holding a cardboard card. The cards all told tales of woe, and asked for a donation to help alleviate the suffering. I had no cash on me, and feel as guilty as sin that I offered nothing: note to self, have a few dollars cash when heading that way.
This is the face of NZ after the Clark and Key years, welfare nets and employment so denuded that we see the face directly on the streets. If you look into the eyes of these people there is something missing that is deeply disturbing: hope. Hope in something better.
So to the media: why would we expect them to cover a leadership race properly when they are incapable of even highlighting the state of the nation? When have they ever reported it as it is? They must be wandering blind along Lambton Quay or any other city in NZ.
To Cunliffe and steel: if you win David you will need it. It will take a lot of steel to force “comfortable” NZ into trading some discomfort so that the people with no hope in their eyes actually begin to see hope. It will take more steel to deliver a future that encompasses all those currently passed by. And that is what is at stake in this race.
Good luck: to the rest of us when walking keep some change free. “Buddy can you spare me a dime”?
I have the same issue at three lamps, the only shopping area I walk through on a daily basis when I’m hunting lunch if I forget to take it. Also the charities. But alas cash and myself have long departed each other. The floor and under the bed usually owns it.
Well that rules out Labour. The great wealth from the arrival of cheap high density arabian oil caused a radical shift in the politics of western nations who throttled the money into leveraging while promising to only allow a trickle of it to get to the masses. Now that the GFC has washed over us for the last 6-7 years, we can see what’s happening, the profits must be kept up no matter what, who ends up begging, what services are cut. They built the bridge to gather up the huge energy burst of the last thirty and now they don’t want to demolish it. Labour aren’t about to do anything serious.
Just as thirty years ago we should have gone to Mars, built sustainability, demanded ever increasing demands on produces for recyclable and/or longer lasting products… sorry. recyclable is the wrong word since it implicitly means valueless and in fact any true close system would intrinsically not have any waste. Food scraps used to be fed to the chickens and pigs, now they are waste. Metal would be picked up by a rag and bone man. Everything got used and had a value. Nowadays the idea that waste shouldn’t be ut in the ground, is only matched by the absurdity of very low paid people shifting through it for the odd recyclable.
We live in the 21st and have a parasitical view of the planet.
and of course there is one thing you can guarantee..
..that is that when the govt changes..these ‘journalists’ who have spent the last five years grovelling at keys’ feet..
..that they will..(under the instructions from their editors/corporate-owners..)..they will suddenly find that they are able ‘to speak ‘truth’ to power’…
..as this corporate media goes to war with this new progressive government..
..as these journalists..bending the knee to the behest of their masters/mistresses..
..try to ensure this new progressive govt..is just a one term govt..
..so what is very very clear..is that up to and after that progressive-change..
..that the online progressive-media work more together..
..that they celebrate the efforts of others marching in the same direction..
..and not snipe/diss/ignore/compete with each other..
..and this if only for just the reason that they will be all that will stand against what will be a concerted corporate media-blitz against that govt..and all they do/propose..
Thanks Phil, yes most jornos are culturally, historically and politically illiterate: the ones I know have as much knowledge as a common guppy…sweet fa.
Having said that if you are being told what to say, and paid to do so……
Ennui, I hadn’t spent time in the CBD for a while until I had a 2 month work contract based at the eastern end of town. I was shocked to see so many people begging. I’d never seen so many before. These people are the legacy of policy that fails them and fails society. That thought made me feel angry as well as sad. What is worse is that our council further maginalised these people by their stupid authoritarian “alternate giving campaign” which turns out to be a complete failure as well:
I heard that Auckland is also trying to ban begging. It seems that our civic authorities are uncomfortable with the true face of poverty and despair and it would be nicer if it were brushed under the carpet, away from the small handful of retailers who complained about them.
IF Cunliffe wins and IF we have a change of government and IF they do undertake the tasks they are saying they will, those newly in charge will need to take a long deep breath before beginning to tackle the mountain of problems they have inherited
Rosie, our councillors in Wellington are in general pillocks. A few exceptions true, but those setting policy including the mayor are so out of touch its unreal. Worse, they have allowed debt to spiral…enough!
On Cunliffe, we should observe the success of future Labour governments by counting the number of beggars and observing youth unemployment stats.
a friend of mine, who was chair of a charity made the following observation to me when the recession began
“the high earners close their wallets faster than a trap on a mouse… the low earners continue to give their 10 a week or whatever, whether they can really afford it or not.”
Heh! The Labour Party leader-hopefuls think they can talk sensibly about the environment. Gimme a break. Here, boys, have a look at what’s actually needed, starting with a carbon tax, and stop with the banal cliches, puhleeeze.
What’s actually needed is way beyond any Social Democratic party that (almost by definition?) operates within a capitalist/market context. Doesn’t prevent some, inadequate as they may be, steps being made in the right direction though, eh?
I’m not buying the “its impossible” excuse. The inadequate steps are actually worse than inadequate because they mask reality and provide false assurance that something is being done while all the time momentum builds up. Having said that, I have come to accept that it is most likely going to take a catastrophic event before politicians garner the courage required to speak truth to those they claim to represent and put in place what little and constantly diminishing mitigation steps that can be taken.
It’s not impossible. But it’s an impossible task for social democracy. Or maybe you can explain to me how a social democratic form of governance can take sufficient action on AGW when they all exist to keep the market functioning and it’s the demands of the market that have brought us to this pass?
By the time you’ve figured out that your tank is empty 30m under the water, you’re fucked. Like starting running only when you see the tsunami. Fucked.
Having said that, I have come to accept that it is most likely going to take a catastrophic event before politicians garner the courage required to speak truth to those they claim to represent and put in place what little and constantly diminishing mitigation steps that can be taken.
Right. And who would you want in govt when that catastrophic event happens? A govt like we currently have that is intent on stripmining democracy and will most like impose martial law if the shit hits the fan hard, or one that is slowly shifting left again and which has a coalition partner that has been preparing for years?
And in the meantime, given that many people are doing crucial work preparing for the catastrophic event and its aftermath, do you think their job will be easier under NACT or Labour/GP?
Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, I see. The 2014 election is going to be close. I’ll wait until Aotearoa has spoken before answering your question. When it comes to preparing for the climate catastrophe the Greens might well have more clout outside of a coalition with Labour. At this stage, Labour’s quest for the Beemers could all come down to keeping Winston onside, or, God forbid, Dunne . . . like the last time, remember?
Yes I do remember, which is why I don’t think it’s realistic, useful or wise for Labour to make major changes to its CC policy before the next election.
“I’ll wait until Aotearoa has spoken before answering your question”
Do you mean that having NACT as govt is one of the preferred options when the shit hits the fan? Really?
weka – getting onto some social issues again, here are some links to a new website that covers stuff that was already presented, but maybe not quite so well on ACC Forum some time ago.
I see this as a potentially “evolving” site, it is not quite a “blog” at this stage, but has started to offer some interesting information, that should be more easily readable than perhaps on other sites.
Your sharing is welcome, and we will see, what happens with that.
Surely you’re not suggesting Labour adopt National Ltd™ tactics and hide its real intentions so as to lure the swingers into voting for it? Anyhow, such FPP concerns your question implies are irrelevant in an MMP parliament. Also, going on Labour’s past performance, there’s not really that much difference between it and National Ltd™ when it comes to things like social justice, civil liberties, the environment, and economics. While missing out on the baubles of office, it may well suit the Greens, and Aotearoa, if the Greens avoid a formal coalition with either major party. Power and government are not necessarily the same thing.
It’s nothing to do with FPP. You are expecting Labour to make a serious policy shift 12 mths out from an election it hopes to win (a win which is desparately needed in this country). You either think that Labour can keep its voters and pick up enough of the missing 800,000 to win, or you don’t care if they win or not.
If you think there is no appreciable difference between NACT and Labour, you really haven’t been paying attention in the past 5 years.
If you think there is no appreciable difference between NACT and Labour, you really haven’t been paying attention in the past 5 years.
Correct. While it wasn’t until National Ltd™ tried to split my hapu with its Iwi/Kiwi acid that I actually bothered to engage, I’ve been paying attention for the last 30 years, never mind the last five. While I support, in part, Labour’s actual environmental policy, the platitudinal pap pumped out by the leadership-hopefuls yesterday could easily have come from the office of Amy Adams.
Tariana and Le Coif unite to save the RMA !!! WOW! Thank you ! Think I need a brandy I’m so shocked ….
“We say the changes to remove emphasis on the ‘maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment’ fundamentally rewrite the Act and put a spanner in the works of the legal system, that will take years of litigation to fix up,” they said in a joint statement this morning.
Mr Dunne said that in the 20 years since the RMA was created, the environment was in a worse state by nearly every measure, and government’s proposals to facilitate development would make matters worse.
“I do not accept that commercial interests should override the environmental principles of the Resource Management Act.”
A ray of hope yeshe but then like the GCSB gesture it might trickle away into nothing but another gesture. Hope they carry through with their concerns.
Mediocrity Watch: Professor Robert Patman The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 11 September 2013
Noelle McCarthy, Tino Pereira, Simon Pound
Anybody who listens regularly to Radio New Zealand will know that it has a small list of commentators it uses to “discuss” questions about “the middle east”. Almost without exception these commentators are right wing, reflexively pro-Israel and uncritically pro-American. These substandard pundits are a grimly uninspired lot, including Liat Collins, Irris Makler, Simon Marks, and the gruesome Professor Steve Hoadley. Unbelievably, though, they are not even the worst: just last week the race-baiting fanatic Daniel Pipes was given a respectful, uninterrupted hearing on Nights.
Today, long-suffering listeners to The Panel were inflicted with another of these go-to “experts”—Robert Patman, the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago. Unfortunately for Prof. Patman, this grand-sounding job-title fails to cover up the poverty and partiality of his “analysis”. In a comically inept attempt to sum up Russian and U.S. policy towards Syria, Patman told a silent and unquestioning Noelle McCarthy that Hezbollah is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime.” McCarthy failed to challenge that piece of nonsense, and neither did Simon Pound nor Tino Pereira. A minute later, Patman frothed about “the Assad regime, this GANGSTER regime” and sneered that Putin was “a master of bluff.”
Of course, Professor Patman did not use such prejudicial and incendiary language to describe the regime that has used chemical weapons in Southeast Asia, and which also stood firmly beside its protégé Saddam Hussein after he used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians in 1988. But of course, if he did have the nerve to speak plainly and honestly, he would never have become the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago.
I don’t think Patman is actually saying anything that controversial about Hizballah though. He may be overstating it slightly but Hizballah’s own original Manifesto (An Open Letter: Hizballah’s Programme) openly acknowledges its links to Iran. The English translation of the first paragraphs:
“We are often asked: Who are we, the Hizballah, and what is our identity? We are the sons of the umma (Muslim community) – the party of God (Hizb Allah) the vanguard of which was made victorious by God in Iran. There the vanguard succeeded to lay down the bases of a Muslim state which plays a central role in the world. We obey the orders of one leader, wise and just, that of our tutor and faqih (jurist) who fulfills all the necessary conditions: Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini. God save him!”
The translation of Faqih as “Jurist” is a bit clumsy as there is no real equivalence in English – the Islamic concept is kind of combined expert scholar/warrior(in the Jihadist sense)/religious leader. Faqih also has a special significance in Twelver Shia’ism.
Fair comment, Greg, in that Hezbollah is a Shi’ite party, and there are of course affinities with Iran and the Iranian revolution. However, Hezbollah was and remains a Lebanese organization, formed for the purpose of fighting the Israeli army. When Patman uttered his astonishing claim that it is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime” he was distorting and exaggerating for a purpose: to amplify and reiterate standard U.S. and Israeli propaganda. Patman is either a dutiful liar or unfeasibly ignorant; either way he is not a serious or credible commentator.
It was formed from the Lebanese Shia community (roughly 40 per cent of the population) in 1982. It’s a Lebanese organization, which Patman no doubt knew perfectly well when he uttered his ridiculous statement.
Certainly fighting Israel was one of its purposes but it’s other purpose was described by Nasrallah as having:
“two main axis: firstly, a belief in the rule by the just jurisconsult and adherence to Khomeini’s leadership; and secondly, the continued need to struggle against the Israeli enemy.”
You can’t ignore the religious dimension of Hizballah’s raison d’être however – and its desire for an Islamic Revolution that institutes Velayat-e faqih (Islamic Government with Guardianship by the Faqih or the “Jurist”). Certainly although one of its original goals was the creation of a Lebanese Islamic Republic it always had in mind the wider goals of the Iranian Revolution to create a wider Islamic Shia State. (Although recently it has modified its political stance for a more nuanced approach to be inclusive within the Lebanese Political system). It’s close links to Iran and the Iranian religious leadership are fairly clear though – “creature” perhaps not – very, very close ally – definitely.
“Just about all of the many calls I’ve had in support of Grant have talked mostly about David. ”
This is a very telling line from Mike Williams writing about how he came around to voting for Cunliffe.
Grant, you and your crew just can’t help yourselves.
Next week go away from your normal Wellington milieu for a few days. Do some thinking about why Jones, of all people, gets more public support. That is not a true reflection of your relative decency and prospects.
You have sold yourself short. You are better than this.
“The Vote” TV3 now………Jesus I broke my rule…….here I am watching this shit. On housing affordability and your mesmeric “young couples” first home-buyers.
Notice the teams – Sam the Sham, Le Bouffant, and (Woody Allen) Botox Banks. Fuck what a team !
On the other side Winnie, Metiria and Twyford.
Been trying to get hold of a close mate of mine who’s reasonably close aiga of Sam’s. No answer. Man, that guy (my mate) is just dying to get a hold of his nephew’s ear.
And isn’t that Garner a Gooner ? Phil Twyford anticipating what Labour will do and the plump, rugby boy, cheapie Gooner triumphantly fires at him – “Will you stake your political career on that ?” Will you, will you……? Studied looks of horror all around by Gooner.
Faarrk ! What a man in a suit under the lights !!!
Would loved to have been Twyford and fired back – “Will you stake your career on me being wrong Mr Gooner ?”
Yeah i am not one to watch ‘the vote’ either but seeing as it was about housing i tuned in for what was quite entertaining and enlightening on a number of levels besides housing affordability for the children of the middle class where incidentally National are in big big trouble if that audience was a relative cross section of middle class Auckland,
Small wonder Nick Smith the Minister chose not to show up for what would have shown Him to be as empty a suitcase as Sam the Patsy from National’s back bench they threw to the wolves to be eviscerated, turned out to be,
It’s interesting to watch a program like that and see Winston working in conjunction with both Labour’s Phil Twyford and the Green’s Metiria Turei and i have to wonder(foolishly perhaps)whether a Government could quite conceivably be formed out of all 3 Party’s,
Banks, the political corpse of ACT that refuses to go quietly to it’s grave looks every part an expensive piece of Botox awaiting a District Court conviction to put Him out of His misery,
Wasn’t the ‘Hairdo’ in fine spitting form tho, outright nastiness emanated from Dunne which i suppose is where you have to go when ‘sensible’ just don’t cut the mustard anymore, Wee Petey showed all the venom and lack of grace and judgement of a man who’s very life-blood as a politician is being slowly undermined by a serious underground campaign in the Ohariu electorate to unseat Him…
“Ms Turei’s now being attacked by all sides of the political spectrum after telling more than 1 million Kiwi homeowners she wants to reduce the value of their biggest asset.”
Is this at all an accurate description of Turei’s performance?
[It’s there now – the result appears to be; 72 opposition to 28 government, though it doesn’t mention sample size, or representativeness to voting population. I guess I should endure the swill to see for myself.]
Nah that was a large Strawman constructed by Garner where Garner claims that the Labour/Green housing plan will cause the prices in the Auckland market to collapse,
Garner is an economic illiterate, building a swag of affordable housing in Auckland is unlikely to effect the market in any way in the short term, in the medium to long term tho if enough houses are built then obviously people wanting to sell what they have bought at the height of the price bubble are going to have trouble selling at those prices,
My view is that there will be a ‘high end’ market that will maintain it’s current price structure around the current level no matter what and it will be only the short term ‘speculators’ who are likely to be seriously burned as the Government build takes away the ‘demand’,
My view is that Labour and the Green’s need a set of rules around their housing proposals where those put into the houses government build have to hold the house for 10 years or sell it back to the Government at fair value based upon the price the Government sold it for,
Doing this would put a stop to these houses being used for speculation and stop the sale of them from acting to collapse the current house prices…
Thanks bad12. I only got as far as the; meet the teams snippet, and then the “voting” instructions before being distracted by various papers I had been meaning to get onto for weeks. The prospect of an hour show with; Banks, Dunne, Gower & Espiner; making up half the voices just drains me of the will to live. Still – enough procrastination; sooner started, sooner finished!
Welcome, the point that i don’t quite get across in the comment above is that Labour/Green plans target specifically ‘first home buyers’,
The rest of the market is still going to be there with people in it constantly wanting to do the ‘upwardly mobile’ thing and buy a bigger/better/flasher place so prices will hardly collapse and if like i suggest the Kiwibuild is restricted from going into the market that’s already there then such can have little bearing on current prices…
I Seem to have trouble leaving comments on Red-Alert blog. Ordinary comments just seem to disappear. I realise it is moderated but is it now being censored as well?
And honestly it was not critical of a certain MP from Dunedin South
Tooooo true. Mallard is in San Fran so Claire and some of Robertson’s Victoria groupies have their hands on the tiller, the same prats whose rudeness at meetings drove votes to Cunliffe.
I’ve voted online and now I’m just waiting for Sunday. Sadly (but gladly in a way) there will be no Warriors competing for my attention. There is significant history to be witnessed here. Pity for Ms Curran she don’t have a clue about that.
For one of my age it’s quite comforting that I’m pretty sure I voted like Helen has/will.
@ North….Matthew possum on nine to noon……also believes Cunliffe will win ….and i think he said, at least on one occasion that he is the best for the job …. however later he undercut this….and gave the reasons why he wasn’t…..( smirk)
Former president and also torture victim Bachelet de Chile visits torture camp, where she was 40 years ago, like thousands others in Chile’s dictatorship under Pinochet. Those that know little or none about this, google, search and learn, about Allende, Pinochet, and what came out of it!
I am unsure what of the following links will deliver, as we have this all the time, some internet links leading to results or not so. Anyway, I am disillusioned and furious about bias and crap going on in NZ media, where the Labour leading candidate competition has already been rubbished.
We have as social, internationalist, and caring people a lot more to worry about. There are developments overseas that should remind us of what history tells us, and what we can expect, or rather have to face and answer to. The “left” in NZ has been far too damned kind, liberal and tolerant. We must take a more solid and firm stand, to stand up for what we believe in. We are sadly, by a shit media, they even dare to claim they represent public opinions, who shit on us, who betray anything that is independent, informed and different. We must stand up against a commercialised agenda, a gang, that is commercially controlled, that is owned by corporates, and that do all to corrupt reporting and discredit anything that progressive people say and write. The time has come to take the media, and that is the mainstream media, to account, right now, do not let them continue to corrupt reporting on events in NZ!
For history lessons see what happened elsewhere, and what they learned from it. I just add a few musical entertainments for reflection here, more can be retrieved by way of true documentaries:
There is little hope in any people, who grow up with total commercial media inundation 24/7, who have not even any awareness of being brainwashed, who swallow all, think it is “normal” to be exposed to “choices” between endlessly drummed in “services” and “products”, but who do not even know basics about laws being passed, let alone anything about basic living issues.
The modern media, the modern machinery of dumbing down inundation ensures that all fall for the lemming like easy going mainstream “cause”, so they all adhere to consistency and ask NONE.
That is the perfect recipe for future disaster. There is not even any collective spirit, or whatever you call it. The “left” should be extremely alarmed about the state of affairs, but too many seem to now trust in Labour and Cunliffe again. Sorry but you will be very disappointed again, I fear.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
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. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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The bush fire season starts early in Australia. Spring time temperatures of 30 degrees C, mixed with high winds are fanning a large number of fires in New South Wales.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/9147915/Fire-engulfs-NSW-homes-threatens-others
You can only wonder if it will be politically feasible for Tony Abbot to be able to deliver on his promise to the fossil fuel industry to scrap the carbon tax, when the cost of fighting these fires and dealing with the aftermath continues to grow. Axing the carbon tax will remove $billions from the government’s accounts, can it be politically tenable for the industry responsible to pay nothing?
The population of Australia may have reason to regret electing a climate change denier as Premier.
The population of Australia may have reason to regret electing a climate change denier as Premier.
Only “may” Jenny? It’s a f*$%ing disaster…
Only as big a disaster as the ALP and it’s carbon tax revoking, boat people incarcerating leadership.
It’s probably worse than that. While fighting fires around the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor it was – anecdotally – discovered that one of the firefighters was nicking out the back and lighting a few. Something to do with the drama and glory ..
I personally saw the 2011 ‘Black Christmas’ fires – the longest continuous bushfire emergency in NSW history. It so systematically moved S, SW, W, NW, N around the outskirts of Sydney that there was strong suspicion of arson ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Christmas_(bushfires)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming_on_Australia
http://www.bushfirecrc.com/centre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFDI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Saturday_bushfires
Tony Abbot is the dumbest and most insensitive world leader since Ronald Reagan, who suffering advanced age, the onset of Alzheimers and with a background as a hollywood cowboy could at least deliver his lines when called to.
Abbottalypse Now
That Rhodes Scholar with bachelor’s degrees in Law and Economics and the double MA in Politics and Philosophy from Oxford, he sure sounds dumb.
We think the heads of many of our voters need to be ‘seen to”, but we’re Einsteins compared to that lot on the other side of the ditch. I haven’t an ounce of sympathy for them. Let them sink in a mire of their own making.
That mire will hurt many Kiwis as well (on both sides of the ditch). Let’s hope it doesn’t get too bad.
It will. But it’s nice to have a little hope.
As a volunteer firefighter, Abbott sees fires as a photo opportunity. The real firefighters just hope and pray that he won’t turn up with his media circus to help them.
This seems to be very appropriate today ..
http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/guest-writers/7138-powerful-symbols-and-the-british-zionist-alliance-approaching-the-centenary-of-the-belfour-declaration
http://www.dailycensored.com/cooking-intelligence-war-syria/
Campbell Live did a really good piece on the fish dumping last night.
http://www.3news.co.nz/An-investigation-into-fish-dumping/tabid/817/articleID/312670/Default.aspx
As was pointed out during the piece, some of the biggest players in the industry, ie Sanfords, fund the National Party, and it is they who are benefiting the most from the stupid quota system.
As per usual, John Key and National only act on behalf of wealthy vested interests, actual ordinary people can go hang.
Unfortunately the dynamics of the fish quota system resulted in smaller fishing interests selling their portion to the bigger ones. It should have been a lease system that had to be re-allocated fairly every now and then. The whole thing needs to be reorganised. I get the feeling that business has captured the agencies.
Indeed something need be ‘done’ about the quota management system, something along the lines of carrot and stick perhaps, where commercial fishers who dump fish immediately lose everything and get to sit in a cold jail cell for a period so as to have time to consider their crimes,
On the other hand the system must be arranged so as to allow the whole catch to be landed without overt penalty and this may possibly allow for the by-catch to be written off of the other quota that a fishing entity holds,
The problem there i would envisage would be fishers deliberately targeting the more lucrative fish to write off against their quota,
The system needs to be far more flexible where if in a year too much of the total catch is centered on the more lucrative fish then overall quota for those fishing commercially would have to be lowered as a deterrent…
Isn’t Jones in the pocket of one of the fishing companies?
and I think it would be naive to assume that was his only corporate conflict of interest.
And for those of you who still think that we have a democracy and that Cunliffe is going to make a flying fuck of difference if he ever makes it to Prime Minister here is a hint of why he is not.
9/11 changed the world for good. It was the day the global coup took place and yes that includes the government of NZ. Watch this 5 hour new film from film director Massimo Mazzuccoto learn more on what took place on the day and why it should matter to you today.
clicked thru to bookmark it for a later five hours viewing, but could find no film link on the website ? thx travellerev
My bad! Here is the correct link
If not there, I linked to the three parts on my site too:
The wetiko virus is like a parasite that literally feeds off, takes over and aberrates the curren(t)cy of the infected system. The wetiko pathogen originally manifests as a disturbance in the field of the collective unconscious of humanity itself, creating the psychic ley lines upon which world events are erected and energized.
So how do I know you are not part of the wetiko yourself? When you say Cunliffe having more power won’t make any difference, I find both your motives and your awareness of reality suspect.
😆 If you want to believe Cunliffe can make a difference be my guest.
We are all infected with the Wetiko virus but like a with a cold sore how able is our immune system to resist!
I personally think that unless we all become aware of our own personal Wetiko infection and cast the damn virus out no individual (high powered politician or not) can make a damn bit of a difference.
But I find it thoroughly uplifting to find the name and the concept back on this blog. Especially since I was the first one to introduce it here! It gives me hope! Let’s name the Wetiko. It’s part of the disinfection process. Let there be light on this evil and let’s eradicate it!
Oops did something wrong with the link to the wetiko article: http://www.realitysandwich.com/lets_spread_word_wetiko
First up on Nine-to-Noon, RNZ after 10am news, 3 Labour leadership candidates.
Note to David Cunliffe, when using ‘attack’ lines on Slippery the Prime Minister don’t use the ‘yelly voice’, it comes across as ‘strident’,
Cunliffe should use His more gutteral speech, it ‘connects’ and comes across far better, think ‘deep voice’ Mr Cunliffe let the microphone do the amplification…
Thursday 12 September from 9am, Cunliffe, Jones and Robertson will be on Radio Live with Plunket for three hours. Not sure if an hour each or all on together.
Hour each I think.
Does raising the minimum wage lead to higher unemployment, another in my little series of those who say emphatically NO,
Of interest is the fact that very little weight is given by economists to the spending power produced by raising the minimum wage where those suffering in the low waged economy have little choice but to spend their gains from having the minimum wage raised into their local economy,
Of course once the money trail is followed it simply leads back to the very people doing the paying recouping the raised amount of money in the economy as profit from the extra being spent, i am starting to form the impression as i dig out these various links, that opposition to raising the minimum wage has as much to do with politics as it does with economics,
http://www.simontaylorblog.com/…/why-raising-the-minimum-wage-will-...
One of those posting comments in this blog does allude to the extra spending/extra profits in the economy from raising the minimum wage using Mcdonalds as an example…
“i am starting to form the impression as i dig out these various links, that opposition to raising the minimum wage has as much to do with politics as it does with economics”,
That would make sense bad12. The argument that an increased minimum wage leads to higher unemployment seem counter to the ideals of business in the sense that successful profitable trade relies upon customers with money to make that goal happen.
So, why the resistance? Is is the thought of people becoming more financially comfortable and actually making ends meet at the end of the pay week that freaks out those that support low wages? Does that make them somehow a little bit closer to being more equal to the business classes? Does that little bit more financial empowerment in the working masses somehow threaten the power dynamic and could that be at the core of the resistance rather than any logical economic argument?
Geez, imagine the freeing up of household cash if GST were removed, and replaced with the Robin Hood tax. Shops would open up instead of close down, money would flow instead of being constipated. Everyone would be happy would they not?
PS, in addition to that, and its probably already been said before, but who profits from a low income society? The Banks do. Our debt supports them and contributes to their record profits at a time when so many can’t cope financially.
Correct. The corporate sector, instead of paying out monies to workers in adequate wages, instead LEND that some money to workers to cover for their inadequate pay, and CHARGE interest on the sums.
It’s brilliant, really.
Yes, then to lock in their wealth cropper machine they introduce a flat tax that insures everyone who should be paying more than 40% of tax (its call progressive taxation not cutoff for the richest progressive taxation), and the super wealthy are laughing.
Posting this TED talk on the Standard may be the blog equivalent of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs (BTW ?!?), but as bad12 is still trying to educate those who say NO – here is an “idea worth spreading”…Nick Hanaeuer: Why Rich People Don’t Create Jobs
Molly, good link, and intelligent intuitive comments from a seriously rich and seriously intelligent Nick Hanauer,
http://www.en.wikipedia.org/nick_hanauer
i had to LOLZ at the fact that He put the organization which He was speaking to’s nose so far out of joint that they initially wouldn’t allow the Vid to go on-line and were then forced to relent because of public pressure,
He is of course right, the obvious point is that if you want an economy to fully function you have to throw monies into the bottom of that economy which then ‘lo and behold’ immediately tracks upward in that economy,
There’s another point that He probably knows but did not address, and that is that people like Nick Hanauer will always make money no matter what economic conditions they operate in, of course the harder it is for the Nick Hanauer’s of the world to gather together the wealth they seem hard-wired to seek, the harder they will work in their efforts to gain that wealth,
Raising taxes on such wealth simply leads the wealthy to work harder and by that i mean employ more people to produce the goods and services which create for them that wealth,
Once i have finished with my little series on the minimum wage i will do some more digging and address the very question of taxation that Nick Hanauer so ably addresses in that link….
opponents see their laziest method of divrting more wealth to themselves slipping away so they squeal.
David Cunliffe just said on RNZ that ” ….John Key is funnier than I am….”
Sorry David but that is one statement I can NOT agree with. Key is a total f***wit who has never made me laugh, though there have been many occasions where I have laughed AT him for some ridiculous dribble more commonly heard around closing time at the pub by some intoxicated fool.
Slippery the Prime Minister is intoxicated, on His own ego, prick said ego and He comes across as a simpering child…
Who can forget his Rugby World Cup performance, for instance. Actually, there were was that other hilarious Rugby World Cup performance to savour.
Hi fender. I didn’t hear the statement but I’m wondering was Cunliffe meaning exactly what you say, that you can laugh AT Key, at his expense, rather than the fact that he’s a humourous guy? (Which he clearly isn’t)
Saw a book of Keyisms in a book store the other day.While it wasn’t as funny as my copy of “Bad President”, a book of Bushisms, it was poking fun at Key’s gaffe’s over the years, and is worthy of a good guffaw.
Hi Rosie, yes I think you are correct.
I’ll keep an eye out for that book, it can’t be too hard to find, it must be the size of and have as many pages as the Auck. phone book considering all the mangled words constantly flowing from the lips of our worst ever PM.
lol fender. Well, you’d think it would be the size of the Akld phone book given the ample material the PM has provided over the years but it is in fact more like a booklet. Sorry, I didn’t take notice of the name or author of the book. I saw it at Paper Plus.
I believe that is Paul Little’s latest book, ’50 Shades of Key’.
http://www.paullittlebooks.co.nz.hostbaby.com/books/
Thanks CJ. That is the one:-)
“Sorry David but that is one statement I can NOT agree with. “
Me neither, but apparently plenty of other people find him amusing. Which makes humour one of his strengths, which is why Cunliffe is minimising it.
Headlines on TheStandard today Cunliffe shows leadership steeland Reviewing the media coverage of the leadership campaign…..put into perspective by a walk yesterday along Lambton Quay.
As I strolled to a meeting, well fed, well clothed, money card in pocket I passed 6 individuals each holding a cardboard card. The cards all told tales of woe, and asked for a donation to help alleviate the suffering. I had no cash on me, and feel as guilty as sin that I offered nothing: note to self, have a few dollars cash when heading that way.
This is the face of NZ after the Clark and Key years, welfare nets and employment so denuded that we see the face directly on the streets. If you look into the eyes of these people there is something missing that is deeply disturbing: hope. Hope in something better.
So to the media: why would we expect them to cover a leadership race properly when they are incapable of even highlighting the state of the nation? When have they ever reported it as it is? They must be wandering blind along Lambton Quay or any other city in NZ.
To Cunliffe and steel: if you win David you will need it. It will take a lot of steel to force “comfortable” NZ into trading some discomfort so that the people with no hope in their eyes actually begin to see hope. It will take more steel to deliver a future that encompasses all those currently passed by. And that is what is at stake in this race.
Good luck: to the rest of us when walking keep some change free. “Buddy can you spare me a dime”?
I have the same issue at three lamps, the only shopping area I walk through on a daily basis when I’m hunting lunch if I forget to take it. Also the charities. But alas cash and myself have long departed each other. The floor and under the bed usually owns it.
I recommend to everyone to keep a few $1 and $2 coins on them for just this purpose.
I recommend that everybody vote for a party that will change the purpose of the economy from profit to providing for everybody.
Well that rules out Labour. The great wealth from the arrival of cheap high density arabian oil caused a radical shift in the politics of western nations who throttled the money into leveraging while promising to only allow a trickle of it to get to the masses. Now that the GFC has washed over us for the last 6-7 years, we can see what’s happening, the profits must be kept up no matter what, who ends up begging, what services are cut. They built the bridge to gather up the huge energy burst of the last thirty and now they don’t want to demolish it. Labour aren’t about to do anything serious.
Just as thirty years ago we should have gone to Mars, built sustainability, demanded ever increasing demands on produces for recyclable and/or longer lasting products… sorry. recyclable is the wrong word since it implicitly means valueless and in fact any true close system would intrinsically not have any waste. Food scraps used to be fed to the chickens and pigs, now they are waste. Metal would be picked up by a rag and bone man. Everything got used and had a value. Nowadays the idea that waste shouldn’t be ut in the ground, is only matched by the absurdity of very low paid people shifting through it for the odd recyclable.
We live in the 21st and have a parasitical view of the planet.
@ ennui..+ 1..
..the ignoring of the plights of the poorest..(by most of our fourth estate..)
..is clear evidence of an epic-fail on their part..
..i think that for them..(and as for most ‘doing ok’..’the winners’ from this toxic/poor-bashing/ayn-rand-based-ideology..)
..i think that they..and those they associate with..they just don’t give a fuck..eh..?
..they are doing ok..so fuck everyone else..
..and of course..the poor aren’t ‘cool’..eh..?
..and could someone explain why/how our journalism-schools turn out these ‘journalists’..
..’journalists’ who seem to view any semblance of ‘crusading’/speaking-truth-to-power..(what they should be fucken doing..)
..as a no-go area..
…most of them are just chimps..chattering along/finger-pointing/nose-picking/arse-scratching..on the sidelines of the circus..
..and aren’t worth a journalists’ arse-hole..
phillip ure..
and of course there is one thing you can guarantee..
..that is that when the govt changes..these ‘journalists’ who have spent the last five years grovelling at keys’ feet..
..that they will..(under the instructions from their editors/corporate-owners..)..they will suddenly find that they are able ‘to speak ‘truth’ to power’…
..as this corporate media goes to war with this new progressive government..
..as these journalists..bending the knee to the behest of their masters/mistresses..
..try to ensure this new progressive govt..is just a one term govt..
..so what is very very clear..is that up to and after that progressive-change..
..that the online progressive-media work more together..
..that they celebrate the efforts of others marching in the same direction..
..and not snipe/diss/ignore/compete with each other..
..and this if only for just the reason that they will be all that will stand against what will be a concerted corporate media-blitz against that govt..and all they do/propose..
..and this from day one..
..can anyone not see this..?
..phillip ure..
Thanks Phil, yes most jornos are culturally, historically and politically illiterate: the ones I know have as much knowledge as a common guppy…sweet fa.
Having said that if you are being told what to say, and paid to do so……
Well said.
Steel indeed.
Ennui, I hadn’t spent time in the CBD for a while until I had a 2 month work contract based at the eastern end of town. I was shocked to see so many people begging. I’d never seen so many before. These people are the legacy of policy that fails them and fails society. That thought made me feel angry as well as sad. What is worse is that our council further maginalised these people by their stupid authoritarian “alternate giving campaign” which turns out to be a complete failure as well:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/9056882/Beggars-miss-out-in-costly-campaign
I heard that Auckland is also trying to ban begging. It seems that our civic authorities are uncomfortable with the true face of poverty and despair and it would be nicer if it were brushed under the carpet, away from the small handful of retailers who complained about them.
IF Cunliffe wins and IF we have a change of government and IF they do undertake the tasks they are saying they will, those newly in charge will need to take a long deep breath before beginning to tackle the mountain of problems they have inherited
Rosie, our councillors in Wellington are in general pillocks. A few exceptions true, but those setting policy including the mayor are so out of touch its unreal. Worse, they have allowed debt to spiral…enough!
On Cunliffe, we should observe the success of future Labour governments by counting the number of beggars and observing youth unemployment stats.
a friend of mine, who was chair of a charity made the following observation to me when the recession began
“the high earners close their wallets faster than a trap on a mouse… the low earners continue to give their 10 a week or whatever, whether they can really afford it or not.”
‘
Heh! The Labour Party leader-hopefuls think they can talk sensibly about the environment. Gimme a break. Here, boys, have a look at what’s actually needed, starting with a carbon tax, and stop with the banal cliches, puhleeeze.
What’s actually needed is way beyond any Social Democratic party that (almost by definition?) operates within a capitalist/market context. Doesn’t prevent some, inadequate as they may be, steps being made in the right direction though, eh?
‘
I’m not buying the “its impossible” excuse. The inadequate steps are actually worse than inadequate because they mask reality and provide false assurance that something is being done while all the time momentum builds up. Having said that, I have come to accept that it is most likely going to take a catastrophic event before politicians garner the courage required to speak truth to those they claim to represent and put in place what little and constantly diminishing mitigation steps that can be taken.
It’s not impossible. But it’s an impossible task for social democracy. Or maybe you can explain to me how a social democratic form of governance can take sufficient action on AGW when they all exist to keep the market functioning and it’s the demands of the market that have brought us to this pass?
‘
Lets see what happens when petrol gets to $5 a litre and the climate emits a few more early warnings. Won’t be long.
By the time you’ve figured out that your tank is empty 30m under the water, you’re fucked. Like starting running only when you see the tsunami. Fucked.
Having said that, I have come to accept that it is most likely going to take a catastrophic event before politicians garner the courage required to speak truth to those they claim to represent and put in place what little and constantly diminishing mitigation steps that can be taken.
Right. And who would you want in govt when that catastrophic event happens? A govt like we currently have that is intent on stripmining democracy and will most like impose martial law if the shit hits the fan hard, or one that is slowly shifting left again and which has a coalition partner that has been preparing for years?
And in the meantime, given that many people are doing crucial work preparing for the catastrophic event and its aftermath, do you think their job will be easier under NACT or Labour/GP?
‘
Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, I see. The 2014 election is going to be close. I’ll wait until Aotearoa has spoken before answering your question. When it comes to preparing for the climate catastrophe the Greens might well have more clout outside of a coalition with Labour. At this stage, Labour’s quest for the Beemers could all come down to keeping Winston onside, or, God forbid, Dunne . . . like the last time, remember?
Yes I do remember, which is why I don’t think it’s realistic, useful or wise for Labour to make major changes to its CC policy before the next election.
“I’ll wait until Aotearoa has spoken before answering your question”
Do you mean that having NACT as govt is one of the preferred options when the shit hits the fan? Really?
weka – getting onto some social issues again, here are some links to a new website that covers stuff that was already presented, but maybe not quite so well on ACC Forum some time ago.
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/09/07/the-health-and-disability-panel-and-its-hand-picked-members/
http://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/medical-and-work-capability-assessments-based-on-the-controversial-bio-psycho-social-model/
I see this as a potentially “evolving” site, it is not quite a “blog” at this stage, but has started to offer some interesting information, that should be more easily readable than perhaps on other sites.
Your sharing is welcome, and we will see, what happens with that.
Good night, X
“Here, boys, have a look at what’s actually needed, starting with a carbon tax, and stop with the banal cliches, puhleeeze.”
A question BLiP: if Labour announced a carbon tax policy before the next election, what do you think their chances are of forming a govt with the GP?
‘
Surely you’re not suggesting Labour adopt National Ltd™ tactics and hide its real intentions so as to lure the swingers into voting for it? Anyhow, such FPP concerns your question implies are irrelevant in an MMP parliament. Also, going on Labour’s past performance, there’s not really that much difference between it and National Ltd™ when it comes to things like social justice, civil liberties, the environment, and economics. While missing out on the baubles of office, it may well suit the Greens, and Aotearoa, if the Greens avoid a formal coalition with either major party. Power and government are not necessarily the same thing.
Nice avoidance of answering my question.
It’s nothing to do with FPP. You are expecting Labour to make a serious policy shift 12 mths out from an election it hopes to win (a win which is desparately needed in this country). You either think that Labour can keep its voters and pick up enough of the missing 800,000 to win, or you don’t care if they win or not.
If you think there is no appreciable difference between NACT and Labour, you really haven’t been paying attention in the past 5 years.
Correct. While it wasn’t until National Ltd™ tried to split my hapu with its Iwi/Kiwi acid that I actually bothered to engage, I’ve been paying attention for the last 30 years, never mind the last five. While I support, in part, Labour’s actual environmental policy, the platitudinal pap pumped out by the leadership-hopefuls yesterday could easily have come from the office of Amy Adams.
” the platitudinal pap pumped out by the leadership-hopefuls yesterday could easily have come from the office of Amy Adams.”
QFTT
HRW report on the Ghouta attack.(careful, disturbing images)
http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/syria_cw0913_web.pdf
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11123005
Tariana and Le Coif unite to save the RMA !!! WOW! Thank you ! Think I need a brandy I’m so shocked ….
“We say the changes to remove emphasis on the ‘maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment’ fundamentally rewrite the Act and put a spanner in the works of the legal system, that will take years of litigation to fix up,” they said in a joint statement this morning.
Mr Dunne said that in the 20 years since the RMA was created, the environment was in a worse state by nearly every measure, and government’s proposals to facilitate development would make matters worse.
“I do not accept that commercial interests should override the environmental principles of the Resource Management Act.”
A ray of hope yeshe but then like the GCSB gesture it might trickle away into nothing but another gesture. Hope they carry through with their concerns.
maybe join me in a brandy, ianmac ??
please excuse my black-hearted cynicism..
..but for ‘the coiffed one’..this is just another lever to screw some more out of key/this govt..
..this is exactly the same game-plan he used over the spooking bill..remember..?
..will we really all just ‘get fooled again?’…
..the self-interest of this man/charlatan knows no bounds..
..phillip ure..
So Nats, how’s that sale of the century going? Not very well it seems. It’s not like they haven’t been warned:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9151324/Govt-expected-to-revise-asset-sale-target
Mediocrity Watch: Professor Robert Patman
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Wednesday 11 September 2013
Noelle McCarthy, Tino Pereira, Simon Pound
Anybody who listens regularly to Radio New Zealand will know that it has a small list of commentators it uses to “discuss” questions about “the middle east”. Almost without exception these commentators are right wing, reflexively pro-Israel and uncritically pro-American. These substandard pundits are a grimly uninspired lot, including Liat Collins, Irris Makler, Simon Marks, and the gruesome Professor Steve Hoadley. Unbelievably, though, they are not even the worst: just last week the race-baiting fanatic Daniel Pipes was given a respectful, uninterrupted hearing on Nights.
Today, long-suffering listeners to The Panel were inflicted with another of these go-to “experts”—Robert Patman, the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago. Unfortunately for Prof. Patman, this grand-sounding job-title fails to cover up the poverty and partiality of his “analysis”. In a comically inept attempt to sum up Russian and U.S. policy towards Syria, Patman told a silent and unquestioning Noelle McCarthy that Hezbollah is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime.” McCarthy failed to challenge that piece of nonsense, and neither did Simon Pound nor Tino Pereira. A minute later, Patman frothed about “the Assad regime, this GANGSTER regime” and sneered that Putin was “a master of bluff.”
Of course, Professor Patman did not use such prejudicial and incendiary language to describe the regime that has used chemical weapons in Southeast Asia, and which also stood firmly beside its protégé Saddam Hussein after he used chemical weapons against Kurdish civilians in 1988. But of course, if he did have the nerve to speak plainly and honestly, he would never have become the Professor of International Relations at the Department of Politics at the University of Otago.
I don’t think Patman is actually saying anything that controversial about Hizballah though. He may be overstating it slightly but Hizballah’s own original Manifesto (An Open Letter: Hizballah’s Programme) openly acknowledges its links to Iran. The English translation of the first paragraphs:
“We are often asked: Who are we, the Hizballah, and what is our identity? We are the sons of the umma (Muslim community) – the party of God (Hizb Allah) the vanguard of which was made victorious by God in Iran. There the vanguard succeeded to lay down the bases of a Muslim state which plays a central role in the world. We obey the orders of one leader, wise and just, that of our tutor and faqih (jurist) who fulfills all the necessary conditions: Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini. God save him!”
The translation of Faqih as “Jurist” is a bit clumsy as there is no real equivalence in English – the Islamic concept is kind of combined expert scholar/warrior(in the Jihadist sense)/religious leader. Faqih also has a special significance in Twelver Shia’ism.
Fair comment, Greg, in that Hezbollah is a Shi’ite party, and there are of course affinities with Iran and the Iranian revolution. However, Hezbollah was and remains a Lebanese organization, formed for the purpose of fighting the Israeli army. When Patman uttered his astonishing claim that it is “totally a creature of the Iranian regime” he was distorting and exaggerating for a purpose: to amplify and reiterate standard U.S. and Israeli propaganda. Patman is either a dutiful liar or unfeasibly ignorant; either way he is not a serious or credible commentator.
Formed by whom, Moz?
It was formed from the Lebanese Shia community (roughly 40 per cent of the population) in 1982. It’s a Lebanese organization, which Patman no doubt knew perfectly well when he uttered his ridiculous statement.
Certainly fighting Israel was one of its purposes but it’s other purpose was described by Nasrallah as having:
“two main axis: firstly, a belief in the rule by the just jurisconsult and adherence to Khomeini’s leadership; and secondly, the continued need to struggle against the Israeli enemy.”
You can’t ignore the religious dimension of Hizballah’s raison d’être however – and its desire for an Islamic Revolution that institutes Velayat-e faqih (Islamic Government with Guardianship by the Faqih or the “Jurist”). Certainly although one of its original goals was the creation of a Lebanese Islamic Republic it always had in mind the wider goals of the Iranian Revolution to create a wider Islamic Shia State. (Although recently it has modified its political stance for a more nuanced approach to be inclusive within the Lebanese Political system). It’s close links to Iran and the Iranian religious leadership are fairly clear though – “creature” perhaps not – very, very close ally – definitely.
Your points are well made, Greg. Your analysis is more thorough and more honest than anything I have heard on the BBC, ABC or Radio NZ.
“Just about all of the many calls I’ve had in support of Grant have talked mostly about David. ”
This is a very telling line from Mike Williams writing about how he came around to voting for Cunliffe.
Grant, you and your crew just can’t help yourselves.
Next week go away from your normal Wellington milieu for a few days. Do some thinking about why Jones, of all people, gets more public support. That is not a true reflection of your relative decency and prospects.
You have sold yourself short. You are better than this.
+1
“The Vote” TV3 now………Jesus I broke my rule…….here I am watching this shit. On housing affordability and your mesmeric “young couples” first home-buyers.
Notice the teams – Sam the Sham, Le Bouffant, and (Woody Allen) Botox Banks. Fuck what a team !
On the other side Winnie, Metiria and Twyford.
Been trying to get hold of a close mate of mine who’s reasonably close aiga of Sam’s. No answer. Man, that guy (my mate) is just dying to get a hold of his nephew’s ear.
And isn’t that Garner a Gooner ? Phil Twyford anticipating what Labour will do and the plump, rugby boy, cheapie Gooner triumphantly fires at him – “Will you stake your political career on that ?” Will you, will you……? Studied looks of horror all around by Gooner.
Faarrk ! What a man in a suit under the lights !!!
Would loved to have been Twyford and fired back – “Will you stake your career on me being wrong Mr Gooner ?”
Yeah i am not one to watch ‘the vote’ either but seeing as it was about housing i tuned in for what was quite entertaining and enlightening on a number of levels besides housing affordability for the children of the middle class where incidentally National are in big big trouble if that audience was a relative cross section of middle class Auckland,
Small wonder Nick Smith the Minister chose not to show up for what would have shown Him to be as empty a suitcase as Sam the Patsy from National’s back bench they threw to the wolves to be eviscerated, turned out to be,
It’s interesting to watch a program like that and see Winston working in conjunction with both Labour’s Phil Twyford and the Green’s Metiria Turei and i have to wonder(foolishly perhaps)whether a Government could quite conceivably be formed out of all 3 Party’s,
Banks, the political corpse of ACT that refuses to go quietly to it’s grave looks every part an expensive piece of Botox awaiting a District Court conviction to put Him out of His misery,
Wasn’t the ‘Hairdo’ in fine spitting form tho, outright nastiness emanated from Dunne which i suppose is where you have to go when ‘sensible’ just don’t cut the mustard anymore, Wee Petey showed all the venom and lack of grace and judgement of a man who’s very life-blood as a politician is being slowly undermined by a serious underground campaign in the Ohariu electorate to unseat Him…
I couldn’t find the show up yet on the TV3 “The Vote” page. Masupial had seen this ad masquerading as journalism on the 6PM news:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Metiria-Turei-caught-in-housing-U-turn/tabid/421/articleID/312837/Default.aspx
“Ms Turei’s now being attacked by all sides of the political spectrum after telling more than 1 million Kiwi homeowners she wants to reduce the value of their biggest asset.”
Is this at all an accurate description of Turei’s performance?
[It’s there now – the result appears to be; 72 opposition to 28 government, though it doesn’t mention sample size, or representativeness to voting population. I guess I should endure the swill to see for myself.]
Nah that was a large Strawman constructed by Garner where Garner claims that the Labour/Green housing plan will cause the prices in the Auckland market to collapse,
Garner is an economic illiterate, building a swag of affordable housing in Auckland is unlikely to effect the market in any way in the short term, in the medium to long term tho if enough houses are built then obviously people wanting to sell what they have bought at the height of the price bubble are going to have trouble selling at those prices,
My view is that there will be a ‘high end’ market that will maintain it’s current price structure around the current level no matter what and it will be only the short term ‘speculators’ who are likely to be seriously burned as the Government build takes away the ‘demand’,
My view is that Labour and the Green’s need a set of rules around their housing proposals where those put into the houses government build have to hold the house for 10 years or sell it back to the Government at fair value based upon the price the Government sold it for,
Doing this would put a stop to these houses being used for speculation and stop the sale of them from acting to collapse the current house prices…
Thanks bad12. I only got as far as the; meet the teams snippet, and then the “voting” instructions before being distracted by various papers I had been meaning to get onto for weeks. The prospect of an hour show with; Banks, Dunne, Gower & Espiner; making up half the voices just drains me of the will to live. Still – enough procrastination; sooner started, sooner finished!
Welcome, the point that i don’t quite get across in the comment above is that Labour/Green plans target specifically ‘first home buyers’,
The rest of the market is still going to be there with people in it constantly wanting to do the ‘upwardly mobile’ thing and buy a bigger/better/flasher place so prices will hardly collapse and if like i suggest the Kiwibuild is restricted from going into the market that’s already there then such can have little bearing on current prices…
I Seem to have trouble leaving comments on Red-Alert blog. Ordinary comments just seem to disappear. I realise it is moderated but is it now being censored as well?
And honestly it was not critical of a certain MP from Dunedin South
you take your life into your own hands going on to that blog.
Tooooo true. Mallard is in San Fran so Claire and some of Robertson’s Victoria groupies have their hands on the tiller, the same prats whose rudeness at meetings drove votes to Cunliffe.
New grad career aspirations paid for by Parliamentary Services.
I’ve voted online and now I’m just waiting for Sunday. Sadly (but gladly in a way) there will be no Warriors competing for my attention. There is significant history to be witnessed here. Pity for Ms Curran she don’t have a clue about that.
For one of my age it’s quite comforting that I’m pretty sure I voted like Helen has/will.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9153223/Cunliffe-gets-leadership-boost
Oh Thanks Mike…….that’s a promising independence from – “I agree with Mathew……”
@ North….Matthew possum on nine to noon……also believes Cunliffe will win ….and i think he said, at least on one occasion that he is the best for the job …. however later he undercut this….and gave the reasons why he wasn’t…..( smirk)
I know that but sometimes I get so annoyed plus I have innumerable email accounts for occasions like that.
I am disappointed that the NZ Labour movement pays little or NO attention and respect to what happened in Chile 40 years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMt7gHOtYX8
Perhaps learn, inform and pay some respect for the over 2000 that were murdered and killed under Pinochet?!
Former president and also torture victim Bachelet de Chile visits torture camp, where she was 40 years ago, like thousands others in Chile’s dictatorship under Pinochet. Those that know little or none about this, google, search and learn, about Allende, Pinochet, and what came out of it!
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2013/09/10/1563715/chile-bachelet-visita-campo-de.html
http://ver.bo/index.php/movile-mundo/item/7289-chile-michelle-bachelet-visita-donde-estuvo-detenida-en-el-golpe
I am unsure what of the following links will deliver, as we have this all the time, some internet links leading to results or not so. Anyway, I am disillusioned and furious about bias and crap going on in NZ media, where the Labour leading candidate competition has already been rubbished.
We have as social, internationalist, and caring people a lot more to worry about. There are developments overseas that should remind us of what history tells us, and what we can expect, or rather have to face and answer to. The “left” in NZ has been far too damned kind, liberal and tolerant. We must take a more solid and firm stand, to stand up for what we believe in. We are sadly, by a shit media, they even dare to claim they represent public opinions, who shit on us, who betray anything that is independent, informed and different. We must stand up against a commercialised agenda, a gang, that is commercially controlled, that is owned by corporates, and that do all to corrupt reporting and discredit anything that progressive people say and write. The time has come to take the media, and that is the mainstream media, to account, right now, do not let them continue to corrupt reporting on events in NZ!
For history lessons see what happened elsewhere, and what they learned from it. I just add a few musical entertainments for reflection here, more can be retrieved by way of true documentaries:
There is little hope in any people, who grow up with total commercial media inundation 24/7, who have not even any awareness of being brainwashed, who swallow all, think it is “normal” to be exposed to “choices” between endlessly drummed in “services” and “products”, but who do not even know basics about laws being passed, let alone anything about basic living issues.
The modern media, the modern machinery of dumbing down inundation ensures that all fall for the lemming like easy going mainstream “cause”, so they all adhere to consistency and ask NONE.
That is the perfect recipe for future disaster. There is not even any collective spirit, or whatever you call it. The “left” should be extremely alarmed about the state of affairs, but too many seem to now trust in Labour and Cunliffe again. Sorry but you will be very disappointed again, I fear.
So true….
Young ones, learn from Camilla, please:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V3p2MPB2UE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBih0c689cI
I am damned sure some young Kiwi women can live up to this also!!!
I am waiting!
Solidaridad de Latin America, questo es Presidente the Pinera?
Crusty old US actor thinks Obama is a good person so it must be true. Yeah right…..
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/entertainment/18789300/robert-de-niro-on-barack-obama-hes-a-good-person-period/
Oh God, how depressing. Poor old Clint Eastwood is not the only Hollywood A-lister to have lost his marbles.