The government is looking to support property developers to build homes to lease or rent, rather than to sell….
…..”It is at an early stage but I think it is a particularly promising thing,” Mr Twyford said.
What the Hell?
Is this a misquote?
Is Madison Reidy spreading ‘Fake News’
Surely this can’t possibly be right
Haven’t we got enough private landlords milking low income families already?
Subsidising private developers was bad enough. Now Kiwibuild is subsidising private landlords. Has Phil Twyford lost his mind?
You gotta be joking
Even contemplating such a move is political suicide..
Seriously, How can this possibly work?
Will the government rule that the private landlords who buy these houses, will not be allowed charge more than a quarter of the income of their tenants, as is the case with State House tenants?
Or will the private ‘Kiwibuild’ landlords be allowed to charge market rents?
How could this possibly solve the housing crisis?
There is no real shortage of rentals, there is a shortage of affordable rentals
….A researcher at CBRE, Tamba Carleton, said the government needed to look harder at the idea of building homes to rent long-terEm.
“We need to look at what has happened overseas and the potential that build-to-rent has to improve the lives of renters, while providing a return to investors.”
This is New Zealand you are talking about, Mate. We have a long history of building and renting out State Housing at one quarter of a family’s income.
What is wrong with the State building houses and renting them out?
That model was a tremendous success, housing generations of New Zealanders as well as keeping a competitive lid on private rentals. And, making a return for the government.
None of which things this proposal will do.
Unbelievable
John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee
You can’t build affordable housing in the middle, or tail end, of a speculative bubble.
You can’t build affordable housing by partnering with a private sector that needs to extract a profit.
You can’t build affordable housing when your materials suppliers are gouging monopolists/duopolists.
You can’t build affordable housing when a substantial section of your middle class are small-time rentier capitalists seeking tax-free capital gain.
You can’t build affordable housing when wages are miserably low for many and going nowhere.
You can’t build affordable housing when your idea of affordable is inextricably unaffordable.
You can’t build affordable housing when you take a hands off approach to building supply chains and materials.
You can’t build affordable housing if you fail to recognise opportunities for the long term benefit of training apprentices on-site.
You can’t build affordable houses if both local and national governments release publicly owned land to private interests for development, rather than developing it themselves.
You can’t build affordable houses if you are too scared to make effective change because it will spook the voters.
You can’t build affordable houses – to rent – because you don’t have the imagination that allows you to consider that a priority.
The issue I always had with the Kiwibuild proposal is that they identified the priority of the housing crisis as: first time buyers being unable to get into the market.
They gave priority and publicity to that issue. For me, if they put the focus on the provision of houses for our currently unhoused and precariously housed New Zealanders, they would have determined to build state housing at a rapid rate. Taking away the pressure on the rental market, reducing the high percentage of income being spent on housing, and minimising the high accommodation subsidy which we pay to boost the rental market ever upwards. Further down the track – along proper restrictions on overseas ownership of residential households and land – we would most likely find a depression of the housing market that allows incomes to catch up. Taxation changes that address the issue of landbanking, casual rentals during a housing crisis, and unused housing should also be included – because there is a lack of available housing, and people are essentially hoarding for themselves in order to make an individual profit from the scarcity of housing.
If the article is correct – if appears we are still down the rabbit hole in identifying the many causes that make up the current crisis, and making the effective changes necessary to deal with them. Mad Hatter’s tea party anyone?
Especially on page 26 where they identify the mistaken interchangeable use of state and social housing, and then go ahead and do it anyway.
There is little indication in that document of the recognition of the SROI for government to fully commit to providing state housing by itself. As long as they continue from this perspective the problem of housing access will continue.
I haven’t had the heart to follow this closely after the initial hope that this coalition government would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first, and did not, so the report may have been updated by now.
Also, interesting to note that Housing NZ was always required to pay taxes, even when private landlords were negative gearing. (Obviously, because the houses were already owned, yet, we use lost capital gains potential to sell them.) Perhaps, a change to the tax system for what is essentially a service provision at reduced cost should not be liable to such taxation. And by 2018 we are paying 2.3 billion in Accommodation Supplement with the aim of paying more, as well as providing $50 million for the provision of administration for external social housing.
The cost of the provision social housing compared to state housing is financially and socially high, without overall responsibility being transparent.
“would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first”
Not alongside the ‘budget responsibility rules’ straitjacket. That’s the culprit for them favouring housing programmes that recycle state funding rather than being a one-off cost.
I also have the impression that the current government does not actually believe in “state housing”. They have not articulated – so far – the benefit to all of the provision of state housing, or recognised the social and community benefits of a strong state housing sector to stablise neighbourhoods, and reduce the rising housing cost impact on lower income households.
They can’t tell us about it convincingly, if they don’t believe it its worth.
I still am not convinced that was merely a monumental PR balls up. Perhaps Ardern actually does think that Kiwibuild is analogous to Savage’s State Housing.
Yeah, WTF? If the Nats came up with this the “left” would be spitting fury. I’m in Dunedin and normal 3 bedroom (admittedly brand new) houses are going for $750,000 up in Concord, no view, packed tightly together, insane. Concord used to be a statehouse showcase suburb.
Builders should be forced to work for the state only, rather than for the wasteful private market. In that way their grotesque use of resources can be curbed and we can go some way to mitigate climate change.
I had an interesting conversation with our roofer a couple of weeks ago. He was contracted to do the roofing on a subdivision in Auckland. While there he saw the council inspector come in and check the steels in the slab, and go to the car and fill out the form as compliant. The on-site workers then removed the steel and took it to the next house foundation, and poured the slab on the now non-reinforced slab. The same process happened with the insulation inspection.
When he approached the council about the issue nothing was done. He decided to extricate himself from the project. But it makes you wonder about the effectiveness of the current method, and the reduced value of what people are paying inflated prices for. They are not even getting the barest minimum in terms of the building code, in order for others to increase financial returns.
His suspicion – strengthened when the council response was that the site was compliant when inspected – was that the inspector was part of the process.
To act with integrity, Auckland Council would have to demand – and accept the cost if found to be incorrect – of opening up the slab or walls to check. That would mean that they don’t have control of the process, or that the process can be manipulated with ease, which they are unlikely to admit.
Then, if found to be true – they would have to take some time to prepare a case of fraud. And reluctantly investigate whether the inspector was involved – if pushed.
They are very adept at requiring individual homeowners to comply, and practice this often. But dealing with large businesses and their lawyers is another prospect altogether.
Don’t really understand the gist of your comment. Poking a hole in the gib would only determine if there is insulation there. (Probably unscrewing a few power points would be less destructive, but an easy safeguard for fraud, rather than a random hole).
I wasn’t suggesting the hole created would fix the housing problem.
The theme for our society Molly.
Physical sport with skills mixed with bursts of violence, to achieve a narrow end goal – kick-boxers.
Having certain flexibilities within regulations to enable business to get things done without hindrance, and then inspecting projects not to ensure their compliance with said regulations, but just to observe there’s a physical presence to match the address on the application form – tick-boxers.
The combination of these parallel drives in our society leads to a rather hollow, cold and unimaginative society where imagination is used to invent new ways of withdrawing from society while still having pipelines in place to feed back to the fringes any advantages becoming available.
Funnily enough I got told the same story a year ago by an aging chippie the only difference in his story was the builders were Asian. Urban myth or fact do you think.?
If you spend any time at all in Asia it’s immediately and obviously apparent that construction standards, from every aspect including health, safety, efficiency and durability are much lower.
Is there any particular reason why you think someone accustomed to working with these lower standards, would with little training nor extra supervision and enforcement, suddenly adopt much higher ones that cost more?
And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.
Oh and like almost everything anyone says here, yes there is an element of generalisation in my claim above. I’m sure there are some very competent Asian building industry people around.
But having to endlessly qualify every damn thing; just in case someone gets offended at the margins just comes across as tedious and weaselly at best.
It’s obvious what my point was; allowing way too many building workers to arrive here from places with much lower standards, with no extra training, supervision and enforcement … was just a recipe for failures of the type we’re discussing.
“And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.”
The entire industry has a problem with this; but on what grounds do you imagine that importing workers whose background experience is clearly substandard … is going to improve matters?
If you can think of a reasonable explanation why, I’m all ears.
Wow is that evidence of “There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.”
Well, someone here may be able to give more details, but I remember an interview with Tim Shadbolt years ago when he spoke about working on some of the taller buildings in Auckland.
By the time they got the cement up to the level they were working on, it had dried too much to completely fill the forms, which they discovered when they pulled the forms off. So, they threw whatever was handy into the voids, and plastered over it. Can’t recall at the time if I read this or listened to it, but do remember thinking – I wonder which buildings.
Also, heard a few bizarre stories from people who said they worked on the construction of SkyCity, where construction was happening faster than the plan changes were being approved.
Builders should be forced to work for the state only,
Yeah, forced labour will surely reforge perceived wrongdoers into the types of New Zealanders needed in the Pure and Pristine Progressive society you so desire.
Thanks for that link. We enjoyed the watch – and the idea. Whether it helps my son get enthused for that second language learning will be interesting – but unlikely. He just wants to try and ride that bike.
WtB
If you see this and know about it could you give me the link – I can’t find it again.
Someone I think you, put up a link where Geoff Lawton I think, showed us the way that his plant covered swale? system withstood a flood without banks getting washed away. The plants just bent over, the water was slowed, and the advantages were excellent.
But I can’t find the link. Do you know it and if so please pass on again so I can
keep. Thanks in anticipation. Of course it could be Robert but I did think it was you who put it up.
As an added bonus. Here’s something you might want to repost for How to Get There on a slow day. A kiwi no-dig garden video that’s had over 400 000 views.
I’m always scouring for this type of thing. Decades of searching permaculture and ecology gives many other keywords, and every day, I try watch something I can learn from.
I’ve tried a lot of garden methods that require a lot of work. I really like no-till and deep mulch for home gardening. It does most of the work for you (much of the watering, weeding, fertilising). My systems different as I had different start materials (a storm damaged tree). so I got log surround with woodchip mulch beds, classy lookin. 😀
Thanks i watch you watching and learn from you. And keep an eye out for other stuff.
But must not weaken on my resolve to collect links, as my personal treasure trove of archives for when i want to remember how to do something or illustrate something to someone else who knows about as much as me and wants to learn too.
So thanks mate. I think I may look to see how much to hire wood mulcher and start building up my beds. The next doors have one but I hesitate to borrow as if something goes wrong, then it’s me that is my fault and I’d be obliged to replace. I like being on reasonably good terms with neighbours, and these are A1 so thinking of mulch as you suggest might lead to making a hire visit.
Phone a few local contractors. Ask if you can have some mulch next time they chip a tree. Many are quite happy to drop it off – but be aware it often comes in large lots eg mine gets here 6 metres at a time. That’s a considerable amount of work typically it’ll block the drive so you have to take the side off the pile to get access for pedestrians and bins, then hit the main pile.
Great stuff to build up beds
Newspaper and card
Leaves
Sticks and logs, rotten wood is especially good – makes a great potting soil ingredient too to replace peat
Lawn clippings (thin layers, or mixed with leaves)
Cow, horse and sheep manure
These ingredients are free bar the effort required to forage for em.
Put the unsightly (scraps, papers, manure) underneath the more aesthetic to make it aesthetic.
Plants hide a myriad of mistakes. If in doubt, add more flowers.
thanks
I’ve tried this after 45 years of digging in the same soil. But the only way it can work for me is by netting the whole area, which makes tending to the crop and topping up mulch difficult.Bloody birds!
Blackbirds and Thrush in particular kick the place to bits, dislodging plants as they strip mine for worms
And inevitably they get trapped inside the net
But I was pleased with the results
I get a bit of blackbird action but not so much. Occasionally lose a seedling, or get my greens or fruit pecked. The peaches season just finishing here I’ve been under the same tree each day with a knife feasting on the best fruit – the ones the birds hit once and they drop. Nick out the pecked bit and gorge on em. Leftovers for the chooks. I might net it if i was going to bottle the fruit but it’s still young enough I’ll eat em all – dozens and dozens yum yum yum.
My pet blackbird’s name is Bird D. Bird. It sits in the neighbors tree and calls for me when the door is open. I go out and it flies up to the handrail to sit feet away chirping and doing a wee dance. He loves to show off to other birds that we’re mates and will make a racket to get my attention when minahs are about. I can call him, and he’s a few houses away, he flies straight to the rail across from me, checks it’s me, flies over. He’s got old now his head like a vulture at this time of year. Grey and pin feathers in a motley mix. I pick him blackberries he takes them to the fence rail feet away and finishes them off. He never steals the berries (except strawberries, which I now net). He steals cat food for his fledgelings. he has no fledgelings this year. I put out a birdbath for him and others, and let him know when I’m off to feed the chooks so he can join the sparrows raiding their food.
Nice. Amazing how simple some solutions are you simply forget them. I’ve had success keeping cats off freshly disturbed areas with flax and cabbage tree type leaves laid down. When I think back, the birds damage was minimised also.
So… large mulch, as opposed to chip mulch, might work better for areas with high bird populations. Or as you’ve suggested, large mulch on top.
NZ used to cycle nutrients via the sea. The bird numbers were, as a professor says, beyond comprehension. Each day they ate at sea then came up and nested and pooped on land.
Birds are an integral part of NZ ecology, my own section never really gained fertility till the chooks arrived, and then trees for nesting sites. Now I don’t need fertilisers per se – just thoughtful redistribution of excesses.
Here’s another related link. Nothing special in most respects, but it’s exactly the kind of story that connects with the wider farming community and potentially persuasive in changing minds:
Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott has experienced the immense toll of drought on his cattle, his business and his wellbeing, but he has found a way through it all.
Fifteen years ago, reeling from the effects of the Millennium drought, he attended a workshop on regenerative agriculture that radically changed the way he farmed and, he believes, saved his life.
RL
That’s a good story. Thanks for the link.
I have picked out the main points so it can be shown to others as a summary. Everybody should be reading this.
The experience in Australia has been forced on them by worsening conditions. One farmer says it is hard to go against practices that his father taught him.
One anecdote: For years he struggled to pay back the farm debt, but that changed when he stopped spending money on chemicals and fertilisers.
“Every 10 years we’d run into a dry period and take a large step in reverse, but now our costs are so low it’s hard not to make a profit,” he said.
Farmers are not rushing to change their farming practices however.
For Mr Marsh, Mr Arnott and many others, it can be difficult to make the initial change….
Another farmer’s story:
The cost of setting up a farm for rotational grazing can also be an obstacle because it requires additional fencing and watering points, plus it takes time to move the stock every day, but the Kimptons have been surprised at how quickly their land has responded….
Such as:
The other key change he made was to switch from a “set stocking” rate to planning grazing according to what the landscape could support.
He has a mob of more than 300 cattle, many with calves at foot, and he grazes them in small areas, leaving most of the farm free of animals so it can recover.
“We’ve got over 100 paddocks and [the cattle] are gradually moving around the place through all those paddocks.
If conditions are dry he destocks….
“We meet people at their level and encourage them to make some changes on their properties and the way that they do their grazing management,” Ms Cavanagh said.
Support is also available through the NSW Farm Innovation Fund, which can provide money to fence off paddocks, wildlife corridors and riverbanks for regeneration, or to works to control erosion and soil degradation.
A study commissioned by the Federal Department of Environment found that regenerative management practices “have the potential to increase the health of Australia’s grassy woodlands and at the same time improve financial and farmer wellbeing”.
Mark Gardner from Vanguard Business Services said the survey of 16 farms compared incomes against conventional farming systems using ABARES and Australian Bureau of Statistics figures over a 10-year period.
It showed that regenerative farmers had above average profit levels, especially in dry years.
This is the way to go, and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level, instead they would interact at a working farmer level (all bumboot farmers can stay in their offices)!
and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level
I like that. In many ways the two countries, while dramatically different in a geographic sense, share so much in common. I find it disappointing that we have drifted apart politically in the past 40 odd years.
Specifically in the agricultural arena, the far harsher Australian climate has compelled some of their more innovative types to experiment with some great responses like this. It also helps that their land is so much cheaper, which lowers the barrier to change.
I know this because I was at the Wanaka Rodeo when the Minister-for-Rodeo Ron Mark rode a horse out and told 10,000 cowboys and cowgirls they had their Government’s support.
I can remember one from my childhood. It all seemed a bit mean and unnecessary at the time. Now i understand that it is cruel and an obscene from of ‘entertainment’.
It would appear the this government supports the animal torture – after all having a government minister ride out at a rodeo and tell the crown that this government supports them is a pretty good endorsement.
James wasn’t there this year, so couldn’t do a head count.
Last year, the smoke from his never-ending BBQ got in his eyes and made counting difficult. Give the guy a break; counting’s hard at the best of times and the distraction of all that veal, as yet un-cooked and bounding temptingly out there in the ring, is too much for a flesh-eatin’, chap-slapping’ cowboy like James.
Be fairer to have people doing Ultimate Fighting. Also the old-style community fairday boxing where you pays your money and has a go against the master.
If we like violence, perhaps at a distance – second-hand, we should make arrangements to have some informal bouts. Gloves to be checked for knuckle dusters etc. though, run to a fair standard.
Wrestling would be popular too. Give the horses a rest – they are nicer animals than we are. And males hard on males, but in understandable simpler ways I think.
Is Barry Soper the next “bunny boiler” in Shane Jones pot, or should the “big cheese” of the north get serious and take notice of particular irritating media poodles.
Hoskings is an excitable nobody. It is possible that has screamed at his various wives and girl friends forever and a day.
But you see Jacinda is a female. And shitsheads like Hoskings slug themselves into women as often as they can. They rip into them using verbal pollution.
As you heard him do today !
Obviously Simon Bridges, a male that Hosking is very fond of (he has away with men, has told Hosking to always refer to Jacinda as “She”.
I have no idea why Speaker Mallard allows this. But I have reached the point where I will request Apologies from Mallard and Hosking. Both male hoods.
Hosking was only doing what the MSM should do more often.
The PGF was a multi billion dollar slush fund for NZF, Labour’s path to power funded by the tax payer. Hosking was holding Jones accountable to the Cabinet Manual, and the PM was floundering. Likewise on KiwiBuild. Hosking simply called the PM out for her dithering responses to the woeful performance of what is one of Labour’s flagship policies. Got on him.
No wonder national is on the slippery slope. How about you grow up. The Tax Payers have paid a huge amount for You.
Perhaps you could do become constructive. Hosking is like Soper – and entrapment worm. Has never earned a days pay. His scribble is nonsense. So is yours.
Mike Hosking was simply asking some tough questions. Unfortunately Jacinda can rarely answer any of them and comes across terribly. Some one like Helen Clark would have had no problem.
So Bridges and the National Party machine are to be investigated by the SFO. This is serious (heh) stuff!
They’re currently in court for plagiarism, got caught forcing bullied women to sign NDAs, and now they are being investigated for electoral fraud. Anyone see a pattern here?
Unfortunately, I think the SFO will be under such pressure to minimise intention and fault they will produce a report saying the usual – that some things could have been done better and for the Nats to improve their processes, yada, yada, yada, but that Bridges isn’t personally complicit or accountable. The Nats will then crow about vindication while solemnly accepting the wet bus ticket.
The only bright spot will be that a lot of damage will have been done to Brand National.
Yes given simons comments about Shane Jones “he’s donkey deep in it”…….(ridiculous barking at cars response), I wonder what he would say about his on situation……….
I really hope NZders start to put 2 + 2 together about the National Party.
And to Jami Lee Ross, thank you. What ever your motivation was, thank you
Matthew Montgomery, a bridge engineer from Northern Ireland, decided to move away from the UK shortly after the referendum.
Matthew said that when he got a call about a job here, he didn’t have to think twice and has committed to staying in New Zealand for another four years.
“I said yep, without any hesitation. Brexit came heavily into that because uncertainty is never a good thing in your job, especially when the whole industry could disappear overnight”.
Matthew is concerned that with issues of trade up in the air, the price of construction materials would shake the foundations of his work. He is also worried about the political landscape in Ireland.
“The economies of Northern and Southern Ireland have been close, and we’ve done very well out of that relationship, but put a hard border in there and who knows what’ll happen”.
More bridges needed in between NorthIre and Eire? Or maybe a good design in new versions of Bailey Bridges?
Sleepless night ahead for lots of rich and famous men.
A federal court of appeals in New York on Monday took the first step in unsealing documents that could reveal evidence of an international sex trafficking operation allegedly run by multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his former partner, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit gave the parties until March 19 to establish good cause as to why they should remain sealed and, failing to do so, the summary judgment and supporting documents will be made public. The court reserved a ruling on the balance of the documents in the civil case, including discovery materials.
Kurt Vonnegut, who knows a lot of things, and thinks about them deeply, offers a suggestion that his Uncle Alex taught him – that people don’t take enough time being happy and enjoying what good thing is happening.
Sometimes he would say, Stop! And look around him and say ‘Look at all this. Is this nice or what!’ That’s the gist anyway. (He also gives hints on how to write best-sellers.)
Depends what sector they in BM. The trade Unions have a bit of demarcation going on. If public sector PSA, private and service industry E tū, or Unite Union. So the industry is important.
Or if they want to join a revolutionary union there is the IWW and IWA.
I assume this is a private sector employer. As far as I know, there isn’t a clerical workers union per se, however the union that looks after his or her industry would be the go. ie Meat Workers or Dairy Workers in those sectors, First Union for retail, transport and supply chains, E Tu for just about everything else.
Yep. Generally, they’re Ok with signing individuals, although it’s unlikely the worker would be covered by the collective agreement, if there was one on site. Some unions have limits on signing up people with hire and fire powers, so that might be a factor. They might also shy away from taking on an existing case (ie somebody joining up to save the expense of getting a lawyer).
There were quite a few times working in NZ when as an individual I joined EPMU as a ‘courtesy’ even though strictly speaking I didn’t have to.
But as a techie working in and around others who were members, it seemed to me common sense and an expression of good faith. Plus it avoided any issues if I was seen holding a screwdriver 🙂
The fees were pretty modest really and I figured they were good value in that the union did provide the heavy lifting in terms of negotiating and setting workplace conditions that we all enjoyed.
Here is a wonderful little physics video. In my 6th form year we had a rather cool physics teacher … we called him The Thin White Duke because we had this weird synch going on with David Bowie. At some point in the year he diverted majorly from the standard curriculum and spent some weeks showing us the Lagrangian model.
You mean an entrapment – a bullying given not by yourself but by one of your admirers. Your sweet close friend Hosking.
All of it trash – Nothing that could be pinned on your Prime Minister, who unlike you is world renowned as honest, and likewise Nothing that could be attached or used as an attack on Shayne Jones.
The PM had nothing to say about the contrived hoax your Hosking con boy raised.
Always remember that Hosking will lead you down any foul toilet he can find Shadrach.
Accidentally listened to the Urgent Debate just now on Shane Jones. A bit hard to know what the Opposition is trying to prove.
The Document was signed off by David Parker before the meeting in question.
The Meeting was about several projects of the Fund.
Conflict of interest can be if a person benefits money from a decision through to in this case Shane meeting a proposer about 5 years ago who has since died. No money will come to Shane from the project. Shane didn’t need to declare a conflict of interest.
What Goldsmith and others are trying is to paint a dreadful failure by Jones but they are factually wrong. So they rabbit on and on in incoherent and terrible jumble.
And they declare that the Opposition will carry on this week with more of the same. What a waste of time though Audrey will declare it a great victory for National.
At its centre, a huge pivot irrigator, responsible in good seasons for watering large-scale crops, sits unused and silent.Irrigators here have received 0 per cent of their water allocation this year.That means, despite their licence and entitlement, they have had access to no water for their crops….
That irrigators in those states could receive their full entitlement, is a result of complex water sharing arrangements drawn up long ago….
In Victoria and South Australia irrigators soak up a high-reliability water share, while the New South Welshmen await what is called a general security allocation.
High reliability is generally a more expensive entitlement, which is allocated first and all-but-guaranteed.
What is left then makes up the general security allocation.
(Sounds as if they have gone for low price and niche supply and ‘clever’ management instead of going for 100% reliability and paying upfront.)
Red Logix and yourself both are up with the play. He saw the very same item
and put it up near the top at 2.2.23. I thought it was really informative and
sounded so effective that I took out the high points and put up a summary.
It is soundly based, evidence based though heavier on the anecdote than pure stats and science. Anyway farming is understanding all the factors and that they are variable. I feel no-one who has some vim left after all the drought and fire worries would fail to be fascinated and hopefully enthused. We might get somewhere if enough of us can keep stirring the pot.
While I was going back and forth and building up the quotes, I saw that piece on NT and selling/ leasing the port to the Chinese. So many of these people who have risen to places of eminence are either past their use-by date or have reached their level of incompetence, but know enough to cling to the peak and not climb down for any contenders till they fall down. Actually that fits in with Barnaby Sludge doesn’t it?
Sunday thread – asks everyone it meets How to Get There?
Yep, the sale/ lease back of the Port of Darwin is so bloody dodgy that it makes the Fine Cotton stitch up look quite tame compared to this wee folly by the then CLP “So believe faithful Leaders/ Party that should be ruling the NT”.
Those that aren’t CLP supporters or voters know we are going to get strung with Giles folly in one way or another.
Old mate Gunner and his merry band of Labour MP’s, is making sure that Labour NT is going to be a one term wonder with more spin and bull dust than willie willie that you would find in the Aussie bush.
Getting back to port saga, it’s going to be interesting when the Naval Base and the RAAF Base redevelopment starts soon. As there is going to be a lot of sea and land traffic coming through the port for the next 5-10yrs. That’s on top the annual Navy and Airforce Ex’s that happen during the Dry Season especially when the 5th Gen NAC Aircraft start operating out of Darwin and Tindal AFB to South of Darwin at weather we would see an increase of China’s intelligence gathering in Northern Australia either as Covert, Overt intelligence gathering missions.
A number of the major players with the Port aka CLP, The National and Liberal Parties ended up working with the Chinese or in Giles’s case Gina Rineheart Companies and it’s Chinese connections. Funny that and they all said the deal was at arm’s length? Yeah right mate, someone’s got very short arms as the locals say up here in Darwin.
Kia ora The AM Show Yes it school students strike tommow it won’t be as affective to March on a Saturday Eco Maori says that climate change is the biggest issue our school students will face in 20 life times.
I don’t think Britain will settle for a no deal brexit.
Your poll seem to not register the people actually view on climate change 65 % believe its a major threat.???? See last year it was a no no to talk about hybrid cars time are changing but we need to step the changes up by %100 Using the poll to minupulate the people.
Yes paul manafrort deserves the xtra years added on to his jail time.
Neanderthals (don’t have a happy healthy future) looking after ones future is of the utmost importance why make plans for the future if the future is not of the utmost I see the bulges in your hip pockets lol. I, Donna as a grandparents you think about the Mokopunas tamarikis future more than when we were parents empty nessters ect. Climate change
We are like a frog in hot water if the pot is boiling a frog will hop out of the boiling water but if the water is increased slowly the frog will stay in the water and slowly cook that is what climate change is going to do to human kind if we don’t change NOW. Ka pai Donna for you championing climate change and becoming Maori Climate Commissioner .
Yes its very important that people take their children in to get their vaccination done all people need to make sure they get Vaccnaed. Thanks for talking about the student strike for climate The AM Show
O it’s OK to take time off for a holiday while air fares are cheaper we all. Know the air fares are cheaper before and after school and public holidays. Yes our cousin in the Pacific are going to feel the brunt of sea levels rising because of climate change we need to Respect our nabours situation and fight climate change together.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show a budget is a must to plan for your future Eco Maori backs budgeting %100 have a budget running in my mind all the time Ka kite ano
Eco Maori know what to focouse on and that is no Britian WE NEED to focouse on climate change I CHAMPION OUR Students striking for FASTER ACTION mitergating climate change Kia kaha tamariki its your futures you are fighting FOR
We won’t stop striking’: the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change
Alexandria Villasenor is among the American student activists joining the global fray and helping to organize the first nationwide strike on 15 March
‘My generation knows that climate change will be the biggest problem we’ll have to face,’ said student climate activist Alexandria Villasenor. Photograph: SARAH BLESENER/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Alexandria Villasenor looks a slightly incongruous figure to stage a lengthy protest over the perils of catastrophic global warming. The 13-year-old, wrapped in a coat and a woolen hat, has spent every Friday since December seated on a frigid bench outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City with signs warning of climate change’s dire consequences.
Most passersby, probably hardened to confronting New York street scenes, scurry past, eyes diverted downwards. But some mutter words of support, while the odd passing driver rolls down their window to offer a thumbs up.
There is media interest, too. On a recent Friday protest stint, a microphone was being pinned to a shivering Villasenor by an NBC crew. “I stayed out there for four hours and I lost circulation in my toes for the first time,” she said afterwards.
Cold weather in winter is routinely used by Donald Trump to disparage climate science – in January the president tweeted “Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!” – but Villasenor has experienced enough in her nascent years to grasp the scale of the threat.
Her concern has driven her to help organize the first nationwide strikes by US school students over climate change, on 15 March. More than 100,000 young people are expected to skip school on the day and attend rallies demanding radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Villasenor was born and raised in Davis, California, in the teeth of the state’s fiercest drought in at least 1,200 years. She recalls seeing the dead and dying fish on the shores of nearby Folsom Lake as it dried up. In November, Davis was shrouded in a pall of smoke from record wildfires that obliterated the town of Paradise, 100 miles to the north.
“I have asthma so it was a very scary experience for me, I couldn’t leave my house at all,” Villasenor said. “Just walking to the car would make my eyes sting. We rolled up towels and put them under the windows. A lot of my friends were going out in the smog and I was texting them to see if they were OK, as I’m the mom of the group.”
Villasenor’s family subsequently moved to New York, the switch hastened by concerns over her health due to the smoke. The young student then swiftly became an activist after reading how warming temperatures are making the western US far more prone to the sort of huge wildfires that menaced her hometown.
After bouncing around a few youth-led climate groups, Villasenor struck up a rapport with fellow students Isra Hirsi, in Minnesota, and Haven Coleman, from Colorado. The trio set about creating Youth Climate Strike US, the first .
Ka kite ano links below OUR MOKOPUNAS futures is a taonga/treasured by ECO MAORI
Burnie knows a con when he see one this confidentiality agreement is just a coverup agreement .
Cannot have crown civil servents held accounable for all the cheating that has gone on at Pike River Mine they NEVER admit to being BENT as a dogs hind leg they just keep turning this into a bigger MESS .
Pike River families’ spokesperson Bernie Monk quits after confidentiality agreement
The leading spokesperson for a group representing victims of the Pike River mine disaster has quit over requests to sign a confidentiality agreement.
The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) works in partnership with Pike River Families Reference Group, which has created a confidentiality agreement to ensure officials will trust them with sensitive information.
The group acts as a conduit between the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010, and police and officials leading the re-entry effort.
The members were not forced to sign the agreement but did so voluntarily.
“Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
“Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
Spokesperson Bernie Monk told Morning Report some of the families he represented were upset they might be excluded from information.
“The thing is that the family group was set up to be the eyes and ears for the recovery of the drift – as far as I’m concerned that job has been done.
“If a family member rings me up today and asks me a question, I want to be able to tell them today. As I am still spokesperson for the Pike River families, I’ve always said that my door is open 24 hours a day seven days a week and I want to keep it that way.
“There are things that I want out in the public and I just can’t see it being done the way the FRG is trying to set it up.”
Although he had originally signed the document, Mr Monk said he changed his mind after talking with the families.
“I went back and I said, ‘look, you’ve got to trust us on this and we will feed you the information when it’s better tabled’ and stuff like that. Some of them were quite upset.
“They said ‘Bernie, we’ve gone back to the old days…’
“I thought about it overnight and I thought well these families are right. I shouldn’t be doing that, that wasn’t my job, that wasn’t what I was put there to do.”
Mr Monk said he didn’t want to be muzzled by the agreement.
“I think that just to sign into things and be muzzled, whether it’s a memorandum or confidentiality [agreement] or whatever, I just don’t want to be a part of that so I just walked away.”
Despite leaving his role, Mr Monk said he still expected to receive regular updates from the authorities.
“There’s no reason why I can’t just go to the Agency and ask for myself, the police have already stated that they’ll feed me any information from them, exactly what the FRG are getting.
“If the FRG want to get in contact with me on other things I’m doing, I’m only too pleased to share that with them.”
However, the new spokesperson for the group, Anna Osborne, said Mr Monk wanted to look into the cause of the second explosion at the mine and that was different to the group’s focus.
“We respect what Bernie wants to do, but we’re focused on what we promised to the families and that was to get a phased re-entry of the drift and to make sure that we can get any evidence and stuff like that brought to the surface so that hopefully prosecution can be held in the future.”
Families representatives’ for Pike River Bernie Monk and Anna Osborne. Photo: RNZ/Tracy Neal
The aim of the agreement was to tighten up the way it handled sensitive information it received from PRRA and police, Ms Osborne said.
“Because at some stage, you know, we will be trusted with information that can’t quite go out to the families just yet, whether that be around dates of certain events happening.
“In the past, families have been let down so many times that we don’t want to give them false hope by thinking that there’s something that’s going to happen at a certain date and then it goes by without it happening so to prevent things like that.”
Ms Osborne said it also reinforced the respect they had for the PRRA and police’s trust in them.
“The Agency or the police want to be able to talk openly and freely to the FRG members … so what it is, is just making sure we have everything tight and what we can release we certainly will do, and what we can’t or what we should sit on just for now, is something that we also need to respect. Ka kite ano link below P.S kia kaha Bernie
Kia ora Newshub It’s a shame that there are idiots out there who would do dumb shit like attacking Jamie Shaw
People make mistakes are you advocating that they pay for their mistakes for their whole life the driving instructor with prior conviction .
BUGGER
ECO Maori doesn’t use face book by my tamariki do lol I will give them shit about Facebook crashing.
There is a way to sort out Auckland traffic congestion. We need to invest in RAIL fast what a waste of time and money in traffic jams.
Its a shameful sad state in Syria all those people being killed in the war and dieing in refuge camps this should not be happening in 2019.
Lloyd it looks like Britain wants to stay in the European Union.
I believe that the SFO should have kept a close eye kept on its quiet easy for them to come up with a report clearing simon and letting water flow under the bridge time to let everyone forget about his donations scandle and clear him he has close ties to the NZ police. Ka kite ano P.S it not like these government department are squeaky CLEAN
Kia ora Te ao Maori News it good that the kuia is going to get her whare kitted out to cater for her disabilities being blind and wheelchair bound with no ramps in her whare.
I that was a stupid attack on our Green Party co leader Jamie Shaw
I think that there should be 15 Maori seats not 7 I say we are 20 % of the population.
Ka pai for the first Maori Chief justice to be sworn in Justice Winkelmann Congratulat I do hope that things will change with her appointment I have my doubts though with the way the sandflys treat my right. Ka kite ano P.S don’t believe there spinning it got tutai all through it
Kia ora The AM Show Yes its students climate change strike today I hope that the tamariki rise up and show a united force all around the Papatuanukue . Ka pai young Wahine for your Tau toko the climate change strike for your futures.
Its quite disturbing to hear that nothing about climate change is being taught in our school that shows me how much control the neo liberals rightneck have on our school systems.
I would walk and bike myself more but I would incounter to many muppets puppets.
Come on duncan with the amount of climate change denier money flowing into the system its amazing that our youth even know about climate change + The fact that climate change is happening here and NOW is not being taught in school when this fact has been known for 30 to 50 years tells Eco Maori that oil barron suppression has been emence. Richard that’s what Aotearoa farmers have to do diversify Sheep milk is a great new product that Aotearoa could make heaps of export $$$$$ having all our eggs in one market is not very wise at all as you can see shonky is not as smart as he thought he was putting all OUR eggs in one big kite.
Ka pai Phil that’s the way I could see you are a protector he tangata best interests in Auckland Kia kaha
dick duncan it’s not Maori family’s that the blame of the bad stats of our tamariki lies with it the system of Maori suppression that breaks the family apart is the CAUSE of the bad stats. 10 years ago my whanau were all on a big farm making above average money now we are all stuck in town struggling to keep afloat because shonky decided to flood farm jobs with overseas workers rents are huge the cost of living is huge and ((YOU BLAME MAORI WHANAU.))
How’s whale oil judy you are one of the muppets who forced those changes and suppression on lower class people. I’m going to be rude you look like you still have the viruses judy. Why do you think think that Eco Maori points the true fact out and discridet the rightneck all around Papatuanukue because they have made life extremely hard for the lower classes of Papatuanukue.
Here is the logical phenomenon behind a chase if you CHASE any thing 9/10 they will run bit hard for people with a low IQ to figure that out. If the prosess in the police chasing people in vehicles was excerlint than why Are so many people ending up DEAD after a police chase??? ¿???!?! ¿¿¿!! ¿?? ¡¿!. Not sure about your poll politicising police chasing and people ending up dead The police main job is to provide a save country for us it is public safety that is there formost job discription so chasing people and putting the public at risk is a subject should be taken very seriously. Climate change needs to be risen above the oil barron $$$suppression so a Maori Climate Change Commissioner will get the subject publicity. What is a commissioner going to do for the broken family that this western society system has produced don’t blame the family because a family is not whole with grandparents dieing early because the health system provides inferior services to many Maori. And the unjustifiable system grabs the father and never let’s them go producing broken families.There are many factors that are causing the bad stats for Maori families and they all come back to a system that discriminates against the lower classes who Maori have been forced to join and become a majority of YOU ARE USE THE Stats that you are getting to pick topics to put down Maori and you deserve the WARTH OF ECO MAORI DICK.
Amada the courts of our laws pay more attention to $$££££$$$$ Than They do to provideing fair JUSTICE MJ case point. Ka kite ano P.S bullshit grame this is a very good reason for tamariki to make a strong stand on Wahine are more intelligent than men full stop
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute. https://youtu.be/7UH4erOQ43E
Out of respect for Te tangata that lost there lives I will not be posting today condolences to Te tangata who lost love ones in this tragic event
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Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
This week marks the return of Newsroom’s chart-topping investigative podcast, The Boy in the Water, when investigations editor Melanie Reid will take listeners inside the courtroom during the coronial inquest into the death of three-and-a-half year old Lachlan Jones. Lachie was found floating face up in an oxidation pond on the ...
It took Act’s arts spokesman Todd Stephenson 20 minutes to think of a single New Zealand author and a single New Zealand book. The only artistic experience he could think of is that he went to see Hamilton in New York. His only press release on the arts has been ...
If the council isn’t sure if it wants a bigger airport, it probably shouldn’t own hundreds of millions of dollars worth of airport shares. Any fan of a professional sports team, especially in the big-money US and European leagues, knows how much team success relies on the right owner. Good ...
Plagued by industry lobbying and design flaws, the system may be on the chopping block under National. Is it delivering what it says on the box?At the supermarket, a woman with a baby strapped to her front pushes a trolley piled high with groceries, and two young children sit ...
Opinion: Artificial intelligence is increasingly part of life, and so are anxieties about how it will change life as we know it. How it will change our jobs is just one aspect of the dystopian future we imagine it is creating. Some, if not many, of these concerns warrant serious ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 29 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Crown research institute GNS Science is about to officially open its new green hydrogen lab in Lower Hutt. One day it could contribute to making sure that small rural communities cut off by disaster can still power through, with stored green hydrogen used to establish a kind of micro-grid. Michelle ...
Asia Pacific Report A score of Palestine solidarity protesters draped themselves in white shrouds with mock blood in a sombre “die-in” demonstration at Te Komitanga Square — the heart of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city — today as speakers urged people to take a stronger boycott against Israeli products. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tackling violence against women will be the sole agenda item for a national cabinet meeting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has convened for Wednesday. The meeting, held remotely, follows thousands of Australians attending rallies across ...
The protest outside the White House correspondents’ dinner hotel. Image: Anatolu video screenshot APR More than two dozen Palestinian journalists had called for a boycott of the dinner, writing an open letter urging their American colleagues not to attend. “You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and ...
“Our exporters should, therefore, be deeply concerned that the Fast-track Approvals Bill was not assessed for consistency with any of our free trade commitments prior to being introduced to the House,” says Gary Taylor, Chief Executive of the Environmental ...
NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff is calling on all political parties to support the new Member’s Bill from Labour’s workplace relations and safety spokesperson Camilla Belich MP that would ensure negligent companies are held accountable when their employees ...
A historian with an uncanny track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go very wrong for him. ...
A historian with a track record of predicting US election winners tells RNZ's Sunday Morning that President Biden looks to be on track for another term, but things could still go wrong for him. ...
Ngaio Marsh House is one of Christchurch’s best kept secrets – and contains more than a few mysteries of its own.Trust Ngaio Marsh to leave more than a few mysteries scattered through her house long after her departure. For a start, there’s the curious concrete portal in the garden, ...
Appointment viewing has been lost to the mists of time, but memories of Montana Sunday Theatre can still be conjured by hitting play on a particular piece of classical music. “You’re not going to be able to sell it.” Over 30 years on, Karen Bieleski still recalls how the task ...
Performance Review King Luxon sat behind His massive polished oak desk. It is Performance Review time. There is a knock on the door. “Enter!” says the King. In steps Minister of Disabilities and Carer Pedicures, Penny Simmonds. “I can explain everything …” she begins. “Fine,” says King Luxon, pressing the ...
The pair opened their first fully collaborative exhibition, Nina for Flowers, last Saturday. Gabi Lardies visited their studio to find out who Nina is and what working together was like.‘It didn’t start out like, ‘This is a show about Nina,’” says Josephine Jelicich, gripping a thermos of peppermint tea. ...
Thank you, Dr Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Benner, for your brilliant invention. I’m another mid-20s Kiwi who had an OE last year. I hopped on my bicycle where France meets the Atlantic and cycled east. I pedalled through the Loire Valley, down rivers lined with willows and ancient wisteria-draped chateaus. I relished ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Kiwibuild for landlords
Kiwibuild houses stand empty because low income families can’t afford to buy them.
Now the government are considering building them for private landlords to rent out.
What the Hell?
Is this a misquote?
Is Madison Reidy spreading ‘Fake News’
Surely this can’t possibly be right
Haven’t we got enough private landlords milking low income families already?
Subsidising private developers was bad enough. Now Kiwibuild is subsidising private landlords. Has Phil Twyford lost his mind?
You gotta be joking
Even contemplating such a move is political suicide..
Seriously, How can this possibly work?
Will the government rule that the private landlords who buy these houses, will not be allowed charge more than a quarter of the income of their tenants, as is the case with State House tenants?
Or will the private ‘Kiwibuild’ landlords be allowed to charge market rents?
How could this possibly solve the housing crisis?
There is no real shortage of rentals, there is a shortage of affordable rentals
This is New Zealand you are talking about, Mate. We have a long history of building and renting out State Housing at one quarter of a family’s income.
What is wrong with the State building houses and renting them out?
That model was a tremendous success, housing generations of New Zealanders as well as keeping a competitive lid on private rentals. And, making a return for the government.
None of which things this proposal will do.
Unbelievable
John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee
You can’t build affordable housing in the middle, or tail end, of a speculative bubble.
You can’t build affordable housing by partnering with a private sector that needs to extract a profit.
You can’t build affordable housing when your materials suppliers are gouging monopolists/duopolists.
You can’t build affordable housing when a substantial section of your middle class are small-time rentier capitalists seeking tax-free capital gain.
You can’t build affordable housing when wages are miserably low for many and going nowhere.
You can’t build affordable housing when your idea of affordable is inextricably unaffordable.
You can’t build affordable housing when you take a hands off approach to building supply chains and materials.
You can’t build affordable housing if you fail to recognise opportunities for the long term benefit of training apprentices on-site.
You can’t build affordable houses if both local and national governments release publicly owned land to private interests for development, rather than developing it themselves.
You can’t build affordable houses if you are too scared to make effective change because it will spook the voters.
You can’t build affordable houses – to rent – because you don’t have the imagination that allows you to consider that a priority.
The issue I always had with the Kiwibuild proposal is that they identified the priority of the housing crisis as: first time buyers being unable to get into the market.
They gave priority and publicity to that issue. For me, if they put the focus on the provision of houses for our currently unhoused and precariously housed New Zealanders, they would have determined to build state housing at a rapid rate. Taking away the pressure on the rental market, reducing the high percentage of income being spent on housing, and minimising the high accommodation subsidy which we pay to boost the rental market ever upwards. Further down the track – along proper restrictions on overseas ownership of residential households and land – we would most likely find a depression of the housing market that allows incomes to catch up. Taxation changes that address the issue of landbanking, casual rentals during a housing crisis, and unused housing should also be included – because there is a lack of available housing, and people are essentially hoarding for themselves in order to make an individual profit from the scarcity of housing.
If the article is correct – if appears we are still down the rabbit hole in identifying the many causes that make up the current crisis, and making the effective changes necessary to deal with them. Mad Hatter’s tea party anyone?
They are also building heaps of state houses – just doing a shockingly bad job of telling us about it.
Interesting reading on the Stocktake of NZ housing issued in Feb 2018.
Especially on page 26 where they identify the mistaken interchangeable use of state and social housing, and then go ahead and do it anyway.
There is little indication in that document of the recognition of the SROI for government to fully commit to providing state housing by itself. As long as they continue from this perspective the problem of housing access will continue.
I haven’t had the heart to follow this closely after the initial hope that this coalition government would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first, and did not, so the report may have been updated by now.
Also, interesting to note that Housing NZ was always required to pay taxes, even when private landlords were negative gearing. (Obviously, because the houses were already owned, yet, we use lost capital gains potential to sell them.) Perhaps, a change to the tax system for what is essentially a service provision at reduced cost should not be liable to such taxation. And by 2018 we are paying 2.3 billion in Accommodation Supplement with the aim of paying more, as well as providing $50 million for the provision of administration for external social housing.
The cost of the provision social housing compared to state housing is financially and socially high, without overall responsibility being transparent.
“would prioritise the housing for the most vulnerable first”
Not alongside the ‘budget responsibility rules’ straitjacket. That’s the culprit for them favouring housing programmes that recycle state funding rather than being a one-off cost.
Yes, putting restrictions on effective solutions before even defining the problem is a problem in itself.
Accommodation Supplements are also a one-off cost, yet one of the first moves was to increase it.
Paying for the America’s Cup, likewise – although that money eventually gets to housing, just for the already well housed.
I also have the impression that the current government does not actually believe in “state housing”. They have not articulated – so far – the benefit to all of the provision of state housing, or recognised the social and community benefits of a strong state housing sector to stablise neighbourhoods, and reduce the rising housing cost impact on lower income households.
They can’t tell us about it convincingly, if they don’t believe it its worth.
“They have not articulated – so far – the benefit to all of the provision of state housing”
That’s what I’m saying, yes. Have however been steadily building them.
Steadily building – alongside rapidly increasing housing hardship – is not really a high bar to aim for.
“I also have the impression that the current government does not actually believe in “state housing”.”
But they were not averse to blatantly channeling Savage at the now infamous Papakura Kiwibuild launch back in October.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/ardern-welcomes-first-kiwibuild-families-new-homes
I still am not convinced that was merely a monumental PR balls up. Perhaps Ardern actually does think that Kiwibuild is analogous to Savage’s State Housing.
Things are not looking up methinks.
Yeah, WTF? If the Nats came up with this the “left” would be spitting fury. I’m in Dunedin and normal 3 bedroom (admittedly brand new) houses are going for $750,000 up in Concord, no view, packed tightly together, insane. Concord used to be a statehouse showcase suburb.
Builders should be forced to work for the state only, rather than for the wasteful private market. In that way their grotesque use of resources can be curbed and we can go some way to mitigate climate change.
Yes, obviously armed guards are required.
Na just the treat of being sent to gulag in west Auckland will keep those comrades in line.
I had an interesting conversation with our roofer a couple of weeks ago. He was contracted to do the roofing on a subdivision in Auckland. While there he saw the council inspector come in and check the steels in the slab, and go to the car and fill out the form as compliant. The on-site workers then removed the steel and took it to the next house foundation, and poured the slab on the now non-reinforced slab. The same process happened with the insulation inspection.
When he approached the council about the issue nothing was done. He decided to extricate himself from the project. But it makes you wonder about the effectiveness of the current method, and the reduced value of what people are paying inflated prices for. They are not even getting the barest minimum in terms of the building code, in order for others to increase financial returns.
That is one of the oldest tricks in the book, and is criminal – either theft or fraud.
Should be investigated and charged.
Yet “When he approached the council about the issue nothing was done.”
Regulators who refuse to do their job should lose them.
His suspicion – strengthened when the council response was that the site was compliant when inspected – was that the inspector was part of the process.
To act with integrity, Auckland Council would have to demand – and accept the cost if found to be incorrect – of opening up the slab or walls to check. That would mean that they don’t have control of the process, or that the process can be manipulated with ease, which they are unlikely to admit.
Then, if found to be true – they would have to take some time to prepare a case of fraud. And reluctantly investigate whether the inspector was involved – if pushed.
They are very adept at requiring individual homeowners to comply, and practice this often. But dealing with large businesses and their lawyers is another prospect altogether.
A simple exray should show if the steel is still there.
Or alternatively, poking a hole in the gib…
Yes that is all going to solve the housing problem in Auckland…/sarc
Some builders in jail will free up a few houses.
Don’t really understand the gist of your comment. Poking a hole in the gib would only determine if there is insulation there. (Probably unscrewing a few power points would be less destructive, but an easy safeguard for fraud, rather than a random hole).
I wasn’t suggesting the hole created would fix the housing problem.
The theme for our society Molly.
Physical sport with skills mixed with bursts of violence, to achieve a narrow end goal – kick-boxers.
Having certain flexibilities within regulations to enable business to get things done without hindrance, and then inspecting projects not to ensure their compliance with said regulations, but just to observe there’s a physical presence to match the address on the application form – tick-boxers.
The combination of these parallel drives in our society leads to a rather hollow, cold and unimaginative society where imagination is used to invent new ways of withdrawing from society while still having pipelines in place to feed back to the fringes any advantages becoming available.
Scary story Molly!
Funnily enough I got told the same story a year ago by an aging chippie the only difference in his story was the builders were Asian. Urban myth or fact do you think.?
There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.
Our regulatory agencies seem frightened to act for some reason.
“There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.”
Evidence please.
Not every distinction is racist marty …
If you spend any time at all in Asia it’s immediately and obviously apparent that construction standards, from every aspect including health, safety, efficiency and durability are much lower.
Is there any particular reason why you think someone accustomed to working with these lower standards, would with little training nor extra supervision and enforcement, suddenly adopt much higher ones that cost more?
Just seemed a pretty big generalization to me – wondered if you had evidence – cool that you don’t.
Edit – that fits with the meme discussed in the thread you commented on.
And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.
Oh and like almost everything anyone says here, yes there is an element of generalisation in my claim above. I’m sure there are some very competent Asian building industry people around.
But having to endlessly qualify every damn thing; just in case someone gets offended at the margins just comes across as tedious and weaselly at best.
It’s obvious what my point was; allowing way too many building workers to arrive here from places with much lower standards, with no extra training, supervision and enforcement … was just a recipe for failures of the type we’re discussing.
“And yet you’ve provided no evidence that Asian builders always meet or exceed NZ standards; when they routinely don’t in the country they were trained in.”
do NZers ALWAYS MEET OR EXCEED NZ standards?
lol didn’t think so 🙂
The entire industry has a problem with this; but on what grounds do you imagine that importing workers whose background experience is clearly substandard … is going to improve matters?
If you can think of a reasonable explanation why, I’m all ears.
edited
Sure, I’ll let it go.
You made a fair challenge … and forced me to clarify. No problems.
oh you mean like the visual evidence at the water bottling plant in chch
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/106706600/safety-warnings-for-bottling-plant-days-after-being-caught-illegally-taking-water
Wow is that evidence of “There is no question that Asian builders and labourers have imported some very substandard practices and attitudes with them.”
Thank you for sharing this. As someone whose done a bit of hands on building this kind of story infuriates me, at so many levels.
It’s a deliberate fraud.
It’s cold blooded theft.
It’s dangerous.
It’s grossly incompetent.
Anyone caught doing this should be made an example of to the full extent of the law.
Well, someone here may be able to give more details, but I remember an interview with Tim Shadbolt years ago when he spoke about working on some of the taller buildings in Auckland.
By the time they got the cement up to the level they were working on, it had dried too much to completely fill the forms, which they discovered when they pulled the forms off. So, they threw whatever was handy into the voids, and plastered over it. Can’t recall at the time if I read this or listened to it, but do remember thinking – I wonder which buildings.
Also, heard a few bizarre stories from people who said they worked on the construction of SkyCity, where construction was happening faster than the plan changes were being approved.
Yeah, forced labour will surely reforge perceived wrongdoers into the types of New Zealanders needed in the Pure and Pristine Progressive society you so desire.
/
How stuck are we in our patterns of thinking. this is a very interesting clip in which a bicycle is altered, and nobody can ride it.
Thanks for that link. We enjoyed the watch – and the idea. Whether it helps my son get enthused for that second language learning will be interesting – but unlikely. He just wants to try and ride that bike.
WtB
If you see this and know about it could you give me the link – I can’t find it again.
Someone I think you, put up a link where Geoff Lawton I think, showed us the way that his plant covered swale? system withstood a flood without banks getting washed away. The plants just bent over, the water was slowed, and the advantages were excellent.
But I can’t find the link. Do you know it and if so please pass on again so I can
keep. Thanks in anticipation. Of course it could be Robert but I did think it was you who put it up.
If you click “share” (arrow top right):
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0&feature=youtu.be<
solkta
Thanks not quite what i was getting at in a convoluted way, but advice is never wasted. Hadn’t tried that share arrow.
Here ya go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gytyQS6cyjA
As an added bonus. Here’s something you might want to repost for How to Get There on a slow day. A kiwi no-dig garden video that’s had over 400 000 views.
I’m always scouring for this type of thing. Decades of searching permaculture and ecology gives many other keywords, and every day, I try watch something I can learn from.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXcC0rVhkF0
I’ve tried a lot of garden methods that require a lot of work. I really like no-till and deep mulch for home gardening. It does most of the work for you (much of the watering, weeding, fertilising). My systems different as I had different start materials (a storm damaged tree). so I got log surround with woodchip mulch beds, classy lookin. 😀
Thanks i watch you watching and learn from you. And keep an eye out for other stuff.
But must not weaken on my resolve to collect links, as my personal treasure trove of archives for when i want to remember how to do something or illustrate something to someone else who knows about as much as me and wants to learn too.
So thanks mate. I think I may look to see how much to hire wood mulcher and start building up my beds. The next doors have one but I hesitate to borrow as if something goes wrong, then it’s me that is my fault and I’d be obliged to replace. I like being on reasonably good terms with neighbours, and these are A1 so thinking of mulch as you suggest might lead to making a hire visit.
Phone a few local contractors. Ask if you can have some mulch next time they chip a tree. Many are quite happy to drop it off – but be aware it often comes in large lots eg mine gets here 6 metres at a time. That’s a considerable amount of work typically it’ll block the drive so you have to take the side off the pile to get access for pedestrians and bins, then hit the main pile.
Great stuff to build up beds
Newspaper and card
Leaves
Sticks and logs, rotten wood is especially good – makes a great potting soil ingredient too to replace peat
Lawn clippings (thin layers, or mixed with leaves)
Cow, horse and sheep manure
These ingredients are free bar the effort required to forage for em.
Put the unsightly (scraps, papers, manure) underneath the more aesthetic to make it aesthetic.
Plants hide a myriad of mistakes. If in doubt, add more flowers.
Right, Start with the most appropriate I guess – forget-me-not, perhaps a Chatham Island one.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-plants/chatham-island-forget-me-not/
http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=73
thanks
I’ve tried this after 45 years of digging in the same soil. But the only way it can work for me is by netting the whole area, which makes tending to the crop and topping up mulch difficult.Bloody birds!
Blackbirds and Thrush in particular kick the place to bits, dislodging plants as they strip mine for worms
And inevitably they get trapped inside the net
But I was pleased with the results
I get a bit of blackbird action but not so much. Occasionally lose a seedling, or get my greens or fruit pecked. The peaches season just finishing here I’ve been under the same tree each day with a knife feasting on the best fruit – the ones the birds hit once and they drop. Nick out the pecked bit and gorge on em. Leftovers for the chooks. I might net it if i was going to bottle the fruit but it’s still young enough I’ll eat em all – dozens and dozens yum yum yum.
My pet blackbird’s name is Bird D. Bird. It sits in the neighbors tree and calls for me when the door is open. I go out and it flies up to the handrail to sit feet away chirping and doing a wee dance. He loves to show off to other birds that we’re mates and will make a racket to get my attention when minahs are about. I can call him, and he’s a few houses away, he flies straight to the rail across from me, checks it’s me, flies over. He’s got old now his head like a vulture at this time of year. Grey and pin feathers in a motley mix. I pick him blackberries he takes them to the fence rail feet away and finishes them off. He never steals the berries (except strawberries, which I now net). He steals cat food for his fledgelings. he has no fledgelings this year. I put out a birdbath for him and others, and let him know when I’m off to feed the chooks so he can join the sparrows raiding their food.
Very enjoyable, watching the capers
Apart from netting laying down kanuka brush on top of the mulch in sufficient layers works too
Nice. Amazing how simple some solutions are you simply forget them. I’ve had success keeping cats off freshly disturbed areas with flax and cabbage tree type leaves laid down. When I think back, the birds damage was minimised also.
So… large mulch, as opposed to chip mulch, might work better for areas with high bird populations. Or as you’ve suggested, large mulch on top.
NZ used to cycle nutrients via the sea. The bird numbers were, as a professor says, beyond comprehension. Each day they ate at sea then came up and nested and pooped on land.
Birds are an integral part of NZ ecology, my own section never really gained fertility till the chooks arrived, and then trees for nesting sites. Now I don’t need fertilisers per se – just thoughtful redistribution of excesses.
e.g. compost and worm set ups.
Here’s another related link. Nothing special in most respects, but it’s exactly the kind of story that connects with the wider farming community and potentially persuasive in changing minds:
Boorowa farmer Charlie Arnott has experienced the immense toll of drought on his cattle, his business and his wellbeing, but he has found a way through it all.
Fifteen years ago, reeling from the effects of the Millennium drought, he attended a workshop on regenerative agriculture that radically changed the way he farmed and, he believes, saved his life.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
RL
That’s a good story. Thanks for the link.
I have picked out the main points so it can be shown to others as a summary. Everybody should be reading this.
The experience in Australia has been forced on them by worsening conditions. One farmer says it is hard to go against practices that his father taught him.
One anecdote:
For years he struggled to pay back the farm debt, but that changed when he stopped spending money on chemicals and fertilisers.
“Every 10 years we’d run into a dry period and take a large step in reverse, but now our costs are so low it’s hard not to make a profit,” he said.
Farmers are not rushing to change their farming practices however.
For Mr Marsh, Mr Arnott and many others, it can be difficult to make the initial change….
Another farmer’s story:
The cost of setting up a farm for rotational grazing can also be an obstacle because it requires additional fencing and watering points, plus it takes time to move the stock every day, but the Kimptons have been surprised at how quickly their land has responded….
Such as:
The other key change he made was to switch from a “set stocking” rate to planning grazing according to what the landscape could support.
He has a mob of more than 300 cattle, many with calves at foot, and he grazes them in small areas, leaving most of the farm free of animals so it can recover.
“We’ve got over 100 paddocks and [the cattle] are gradually moving around the place through all those paddocks.
If conditions are dry he destocks….
“We meet people at their level and encourage them to make some changes on their properties and the way that they do their grazing management,” Ms Cavanagh said.
Support is also available through the NSW Farm Innovation Fund, which can provide money to fence off paddocks, wildlife corridors and riverbanks for regeneration, or to works to control erosion and soil degradation.
A study commissioned by the Federal Department of Environment found that regenerative management practices “have the potential to increase the health of Australia’s grassy woodlands and at the same time improve financial and farmer wellbeing”.
Mark Gardner from Vanguard Business Services said the survey of 16 farms compared incomes against conventional farming systems using ABARES and Australian Bureau of Statistics figures over a 10-year period.
It showed that regenerative farmers had above average profit levels, especially in dry years.
This is the way to go, and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level, instead they would interact at a working farmer level (all bumboot farmers can stay in their offices)!
and is a way that NZ and Oz could work together at a sub-government level
I like that. In many ways the two countries, while dramatically different in a geographic sense, share so much in common. I find it disappointing that we have drifted apart politically in the past 40 odd years.
Specifically in the agricultural arena, the far harsher Australian climate has compelled some of their more innovative types to experiment with some great responses like this. It also helps that their land is so much cheaper, which lowers the barrier to change.
Very nice. Even mentions the financial incentives which is important and I typically forget to mention.
Way less inputs = much easier to profit.
Rodeo fans will be happy to hear this government supports rodeo.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/03/patrick-gower-do-nothing-green-mps-are-complicit-in-rodeo-bloodsport.html
I know this because I was at the Wanaka Rodeo when the Minister-for-Rodeo Ron Mark rode a horse out and told 10,000 cowboys and cowgirls they had their Government’s support.
I wonder if they told Jacinda.
… and yet… one would reasonably that since you were present, you are a “rodeo fan” – and you somehow don’t sound happy.
I imagine that even James must tire of barking at every car.
Apologies- that was a quote from the link.
You would know that if you read it.
[Use quotation marks in future, please, James. Even better, preface the quote with ‘Paddy Gower says’ or similar clarifying information. TRP.]
so fake news then lol james you are an idiot
Oh, James … previous experience with your links has given me an aversion to wasting my time.
However, a possible life changing suggestion for you: “” Quotemarks.
It’s a link to Paddy Gower so yes very much a waste of time.
People have copped a ban for that in the past.
Trying to cause trouble again James – wanker.
Enjoy the animal torture and suffering while you can because rodeos are on the way out.
Lol. Not with crowds of 10,000 people and this governments support.
Have you EVER been to an actual rodeo geezer?
Purely out of curiosity Marty, have you?
If so how many?
One I remember but pretty early on in my life I realised I hated the human capacity to commodity and abuse animals for food and entertainment.
I can remember one from my childhood. It all seemed a bit mean and unnecessary at the time. Now i understand that it is cruel and an obscene from of ‘entertainment’.
It would appear the this government supports the animal torture – after all having a government minister ride out at a rodeo and tell the crown that this government supports them is a pretty good endorsement.
lol as if you’d have a clue
So Ron can count on your vote again jimbo?
The protests must be having some affect. I see the turnout at this year’s Wanaka rodeo was only 5000, half what you claim it was a year ago.
James wasn’t there this year, so couldn’t do a head count.
Last year, the smoke from his never-ending BBQ got in his eyes and made counting difficult. Give the guy a break; counting’s hard at the best of times and the distraction of all that veal, as yet un-cooked and bounding temptingly out there in the ring, is too much for a flesh-eatin’, chap-slapping’ cowboy like James.
The 10,000 was paddy gowers not mine.
Wouldn’t trust that guy to count his own fingers.
Be fairer to have people doing Ultimate Fighting. Also the old-style community fairday boxing where you pays your money and has a go against the master.
If we like violence, perhaps at a distance – second-hand, we should make arrangements to have some informal bouts. Gloves to be checked for knuckle dusters etc. though, run to a fair standard.
Wrestling would be popular too. Give the horses a rest – they are nicer animals than we are. And males hard on males, but in understandable simpler ways I think.
Is Barry Soper the next “bunny boiler” in Shane Jones pot, or should the “big cheese” of the north get serious and take notice of particular irritating media poodles.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384509/line-workers-lawyers-prepare-class-action-against-visionstream
Chorus again. Hope they award millions.
Tip of the Iceberg, and all working as designed. A Joyce legacy – and why not? – he fucked up everything else he touched
Mike Hosking needs to be sacked.
His interview of the Prime Minister this morning was unethical and damn right nasty. His aggression was unacceptable.
The Prime Minister should simply refuse to engage with this idiot again
Hi Enough is Enough
Hoskings is an excitable nobody. It is possible that has screamed at his various wives and girl friends forever and a day.
But you see Jacinda is a female. And shitsheads like Hoskings slug themselves into women as often as they can. They rip into them using verbal pollution.
As you heard him do today !
Obviously Simon Bridges, a male that Hosking is very fond of (he has away with men, has told Hosking to always refer to Jacinda as “She”.
I have no idea why Speaker Mallard allows this. But I have reached the point where I will request Apologies from Mallard and Hosking. Both male hoods.
Hosking was only doing what the MSM should do more often.
The PGF was a multi billion dollar slush fund for NZF, Labour’s path to power funded by the tax payer. Hosking was holding Jones accountable to the Cabinet Manual, and the PM was floundering. Likewise on KiwiBuild. Hosking simply called the PM out for her dithering responses to the woeful performance of what is one of Labour’s flagship policies. Got on him.
Shadrach
Do you abuse too?
Sink your teeth into people.
No wonder national is on the slippery slope. How about you grow up. The Tax Payers have paid a huge amount for You.
Perhaps you could do become constructive. Hosking is like Soper – and entrapment worm. Has never earned a days pay. His scribble is nonsense. So is yours.
‘Abuse’? Are you seriously suggesting that a probing interview is ‘abuse’? Is our PM really that fragile? I think not.
Mike Hosking was simply asking some tough questions. Unfortunately Jacinda can rarely answer any of them and comes across terribly. Some one like Helen Clark would have had no problem.
Does sound like abit of a waste of time.
And the P.M’s got stuff to do that probably requires abit of thought.
Breaking news, complaint over political donation made to police in October referred to serious fraud office…….more to come they say
So Bridges and the National Party machine are to be investigated by the SFO. This is serious (heh) stuff!
They’re currently in court for plagiarism, got caught forcing bullied women to sign NDAs, and now they are being investigated for electoral fraud. Anyone see a pattern here?
Unfortunately, I think the SFO will be under such pressure to minimise intention and fault they will produce a report saying the usual – that some things could have been done better and for the Nats to improve their processes, yada, yada, yada, but that Bridges isn’t personally complicit or accountable. The Nats will then crow about vindication while solemnly accepting the wet bus ticket.
The only bright spot will be that a lot of damage will have been done to Brand National.
No need to link. It’s all over the news outlets.
I pity the SFO – it’ll be like having to map out an infinite set.
Yes given simons comments about Shane Jones “he’s donkey deep in it”…….(ridiculous barking at cars response), I wonder what he would say about his on situation……….
I really hope NZders start to put 2 + 2 together about the National Party.
And to Jami Lee Ross, thank you. What ever your motivation was, thank you
If it walks like a donkey and sounds like a donkey..
Brexit, or something, draws closer,,,,,
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/voices/audio/2018685679/brexodus-the-brits-leaving-britain-behind
Matthew Montgomery, a bridge engineer from Northern Ireland, decided to move away from the UK shortly after the referendum.
Matthew said that when he got a call about a job here, he didn’t have to think twice and has committed to staying in New Zealand for another four years.
“I said yep, without any hesitation. Brexit came heavily into that because uncertainty is never a good thing in your job, especially when the whole industry could disappear overnight”.
Matthew is concerned that with issues of trade up in the air, the price of construction materials would shake the foundations of his work. He is also worried about the political landscape in Ireland.
“The economies of Northern and Southern Ireland have been close, and we’ve done very well out of that relationship, but put a hard border in there and who knows what’ll happen”.
More bridges needed in between NorthIre and Eire? Or maybe a good design in new versions of Bailey Bridges?
Bad day? I don’t care buddy – you don’t get to say shit like that to a Māori woman in this country anymore. Pack up and piss off.
“A Māori woman is accusing a Pākehā man of calling her a “black piece of shit” in an ugly tirade of verbal abuse following a road incident.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12211753
I watched the video last night – the comments said a lot…
Looks like BM has been found driving south of the Bombay Hills…
Fuckwit.
Still didn’t deny it.
Gordon Campbell on Shane Jones being another Seymour beat-up: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1903/S00058/gordon-campbell-on-shane-jones-and-a-huawei-update.htm
Sleepless night ahead for lots of rich and famous men.
A federal court of appeals in New York on Monday took the first step in unsealing documents that could reveal evidence of an international sex trafficking operation allegedly run by multimillionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his former partner, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell.
The three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit gave the parties until March 19 to establish good cause as to why they should remain sealed and, failing to do so, the summary judgment and supporting documents will be made public. The court reserved a ruling on the balance of the documents in the civil case, including discovery materials.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article227411649.html#storylink=cpy
Kurt Vonnegut, who knows a lot of things, and thinks about them deeply, offers a suggestion that his Uncle Alex taught him – that people don’t take enough time being happy and enjoying what good thing is happening.
Sometimes he would say, Stop! And look around him and say ‘Look at all this. Is this nice or what!’ That’s the gist anyway. (He also gives hints on how to write best-sellers.)
Asking for someone.
What union would an office/amin person join?
Depends what sector they in BM. The trade Unions have a bit of demarcation going on. If public sector PSA, private and service industry E tū, or Unite Union. So the industry is important.
Or if they want to join a revolutionary union there is the IWW and IWA.
I assume this is a private sector employer. As far as I know, there isn’t a clerical workers union per se, however the union that looks after his or her industry would be the go. ie Meat Workers or Dairy Workers in those sectors, First Union for retail, transport and supply chains, E Tu for just about everything else.
Ok so if the business manufactured stuff you’d join NZ Engineering Printing & Manufacturing Union? which is now etu?
Doesn’t matter that you’re not working in the factory?
Yep. Generally, they’re Ok with signing individuals, although it’s unlikely the worker would be covered by the collective agreement, if there was one on site. Some unions have limits on signing up people with hire and fire powers, so that might be a factor. They might also shy away from taking on an existing case (ie somebody joining up to save the expense of getting a lawyer).
Thanks, I’ll pass that information along.
There were quite a few times working in NZ when as an individual I joined EPMU as a ‘courtesy’ even though strictly speaking I didn’t have to.
But as a techie working in and around others who were members, it seemed to me common sense and an expression of good faith. Plus it avoided any issues if I was seen holding a screwdriver 🙂
The fees were pretty modest really and I figured they were good value in that the union did provide the heavy lifting in terms of negotiating and setting workplace conditions that we all enjoyed.
Plus it avoided any issues if I was seen holding a screwdriver 🙂
Lol, that was always a bit of a danger on a highly unionised worksite.
Here is a wonderful little physics video. In my 6th form year we had a rather cool physics teacher … we called him The Thin White Duke because we had this weird synch going on with David Bowie. At some point in the year he diverted majorly from the standard curriculum and spent some weeks showing us the Lagrangian model.
I’ve never forgotten my joy at discovering it:
Shadrach
You mean an entrapment – a bullying given not by yourself but by one of your admirers. Your sweet close friend Hosking.
All of it trash – Nothing that could be pinned on your Prime Minister, who unlike you is world renowned as honest, and likewise Nothing that could be attached or used as an attack on Shayne Jones.
The PM had nothing to say about the contrived hoax your Hosking con boy raised.
Always remember that Hosking will lead you down any foul toilet he can find Shadrach.
He is not as he seems.
Accidentally listened to the Urgent Debate just now on Shane Jones. A bit hard to know what the Opposition is trying to prove.
The Document was signed off by David Parker before the meeting in question.
The Meeting was about several projects of the Fund.
Conflict of interest can be if a person benefits money from a decision through to in this case Shane meeting a proposer about 5 years ago who has since died. No money will come to Shane from the project. Shane didn’t need to declare a conflict of interest.
What Goldsmith and others are trying is to paint a dreadful failure by Jones but they are factually wrong. So they rabbit on and on in incoherent and terrible jumble.
And they declare that the Opposition will carry on this week with more of the same. What a waste of time though Audrey will declare it a great victory for National.
Just heard on RNZ that Slater has been ordered to pay 70,000 dollars to Auckland businessman, Bloomfield presumably.
Here it is.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12211911
I have not an ounce of sympathy for him.
Will bankruptcy allow him to avoid payment?
As bankruptcy was declared while the case was running is that regarded as acceptable by the courts?
Yep. Unfortunately.
He’s not writing on the whaleoil blog any more – – at long fscken last
after two strokes he may well be incapable
Here are some topical Australian news items that sound like the sort of thing that NZs can understand.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-09/irrigators-signal-electoral-challenge-in-safe-liberal-farrer/10852828
Mr Brooks stops the ute beside one of his failed canola paddocks. It is sparse, barely a few feet high and he hasn’t bothered to harvest it.
NSW irrigator Chris Brooks says the fact farmers have no access to water this year is not about drought, but poor management.
At its centre, a huge pivot irrigator, responsible in good seasons for watering large-scale crops, sits unused and silent.Irrigators here have received 0 per cent of their water allocation this year.That means, despite their licence and entitlement, they have had access to no water for their crops….
That irrigators in those states could receive their full entitlement, is a result of complex water sharing arrangements drawn up long ago….
In Victoria and South Australia irrigators soak up a high-reliability water share, while the New South Welshmen await what is called a general security allocation.
High reliability is generally a more expensive entitlement, which is allocated first and all-but-guaranteed.
What is left then makes up the general security allocation.
(Sounds as if they have gone for low price and niche supply and ‘clever’ management instead of going for 100% reliability and paying upfront.)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/why-did-northern-territory-sell-darwin-port-to-china-what-risk/10755720
‘A seriously dumb idea’: Why did the NT lease Darwin’s port to China?
(Read and find out.)
Don’t need to thank us. You’re welcome:
Australia is ‘frustrated’ by Barnaby Joyce, Nationals deputy says
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/barnaby-joyce-michael-mccormack-national-party-leadership-woes/10889408
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/carnegie-albany-wave-farm-contract-cancelled-by-wa-government/10891934
Taxpayers wave goodbye to $2.6 million as troubled WA energy project scrapped
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-08/farm-labour-report-says-farmers-rely-on-illegal-labour/10881832
It comes a day after the Government committed to a national labour hire licensing scheme, and tougher penalties for people who exploit workers.
The Howe study included a survey of more than 330 growers across Australia, which found 40 per cent had not been able to hire enough workers.
You left this wee gem out of a story, unless you posted it on that Sunday thread which I’ve forgotten the name off.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-03-10/regenerative-agriculture-attracts-solid-backing-amid-success/10871130
Red Logix and yourself both are up with the play. He saw the very same item
and put it up near the top at 2.2.23. I thought it was really informative and
sounded so effective that I took out the high points and put up a summary.
It is soundly based, evidence based though heavier on the anecdote than pure stats and science. Anyway farming is understanding all the factors and that they are variable. I feel no-one who has some vim left after all the drought and fire worries would fail to be fascinated and hopefully enthused. We might get somewhere if enough of us can keep stirring the pot.
While I was going back and forth and building up the quotes, I saw that piece on NT and selling/ leasing the port to the Chinese. So many of these people who have risen to places of eminence are either past their use-by date or have reached their level of incompetence, but know enough to cling to the peak and not climb down for any contenders till they fall down. Actually that fits in with Barnaby Sludge doesn’t it?
Sunday thread – asks everyone it meets How to Get There?
Yep, the sale/ lease back of the Port of Darwin is so bloody dodgy that it makes the Fine Cotton stitch up look quite tame compared to this wee folly by the then CLP “So believe faithful Leaders/ Party that should be ruling the NT”.
Those that aren’t CLP supporters or voters know we are going to get strung with Giles folly in one way or another.
Old mate Gunner and his merry band of Labour MP’s, is making sure that Labour NT is going to be a one term wonder with more spin and bull dust than willie willie that you would find in the Aussie bush.
Getting back to port saga, it’s going to be interesting when the Naval Base and the RAAF Base redevelopment starts soon. As there is going to be a lot of sea and land traffic coming through the port for the next 5-10yrs. That’s on top the annual Navy and Airforce Ex’s that happen during the Dry Season especially when the 5th Gen NAC Aircraft start operating out of Darwin and Tindal AFB to South of Darwin at weather we would see an increase of China’s intelligence gathering in Northern Australia either as Covert, Overt intelligence gathering missions.
A number of the major players with the Port aka CLP, The National and Liberal Parties ended up working with the Chinese or in Giles’s case Gina Rineheart Companies and it’s Chinese connections. Funny that and they all said the deal was at arm’s length? Yeah right mate, someone’s got very short arms as the locals say up here in Darwin.
Kia ora The AM Show Yes it school students strike tommow it won’t be as affective to March on a Saturday Eco Maori says that climate change is the biggest issue our school students will face in 20 life times.
I don’t think Britain will settle for a no deal brexit.
Your poll seem to not register the people actually view on climate change 65 % believe its a major threat.???? See last year it was a no no to talk about hybrid cars time are changing but we need to step the changes up by %100 Using the poll to minupulate the people.
Yes paul manafrort deserves the xtra years added on to his jail time.
Neanderthals (don’t have a happy healthy future) looking after ones future is of the utmost importance why make plans for the future if the future is not of the utmost I see the bulges in your hip pockets lol. I, Donna as a grandparents you think about the Mokopunas tamarikis future more than when we were parents empty nessters ect. Climate change
We are like a frog in hot water if the pot is boiling a frog will hop out of the boiling water but if the water is increased slowly the frog will stay in the water and slowly cook that is what climate change is going to do to human kind if we don’t change NOW. Ka pai Donna for you championing climate change and becoming Maori Climate Commissioner .
Yes its very important that people take their children in to get their vaccination done all people need to make sure they get Vaccnaed. Thanks for talking about the student strike for climate The AM Show
O it’s OK to take time off for a holiday while air fares are cheaper we all. Know the air fares are cheaper before and after school and public holidays. Yes our cousin in the Pacific are going to feel the brunt of sea levels rising because of climate change we need to Respect our nabours situation and fight climate change together.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show a budget is a must to plan for your future Eco Maori backs budgeting %100 have a budget running in my mind all the time Ka kite ano
Eco Maori know what to focouse on and that is no Britian WE NEED to focouse on climate change I CHAMPION OUR Students striking for FASTER ACTION mitergating climate change Kia kaha tamariki its your futures you are fighting FOR
We won’t stop striking’: the New York 13 year-old taking a stand over climate change
Alexandria Villasenor is among the American student activists joining the global fray and helping to organize the first nationwide strike on 15 March
‘My generation knows that climate change will be the biggest problem we’ll have to face,’ said student climate activist Alexandria Villasenor. Photograph: SARAH BLESENER/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Alexandria Villasenor looks a slightly incongruous figure to stage a lengthy protest over the perils of catastrophic global warming. The 13-year-old, wrapped in a coat and a woolen hat, has spent every Friday since December seated on a frigid bench outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City with signs warning of climate change’s dire consequences.
Most passersby, probably hardened to confronting New York street scenes, scurry past, eyes diverted downwards. But some mutter words of support, while the odd passing driver rolls down their window to offer a thumbs up.
There is media interest, too. On a recent Friday protest stint, a microphone was being pinned to a shivering Villasenor by an NBC crew. “I stayed out there for four hours and I lost circulation in my toes for the first time,” she said afterwards.
Cold weather in winter is routinely used by Donald Trump to disparage climate science – in January the president tweeted “Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!” – but Villasenor has experienced enough in her nascent years to grasp the scale of the threat.
Her concern has driven her to help organize the first nationwide strikes by US school students over climate change, on 15 March. More than 100,000 young people are expected to skip school on the day and attend rallies demanding radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Villasenor was born and raised in Davis, California, in the teeth of the state’s fiercest drought in at least 1,200 years. She recalls seeing the dead and dying fish on the shores of nearby Folsom Lake as it dried up. In November, Davis was shrouded in a pall of smoke from record wildfires that obliterated the town of Paradise, 100 miles to the north.
“I have asthma so it was a very scary experience for me, I couldn’t leave my house at all,” Villasenor said. “Just walking to the car would make my eyes sting. We rolled up towels and put them under the windows. A lot of my friends were going out in the smog and I was texting them to see if they were OK, as I’m the mom of the group.”
Villasenor’s family subsequently moved to New York, the switch hastened by concerns over her health due to the smoke. The young student then swiftly became an activist after reading how warming temperatures are making the western US far more prone to the sort of huge wildfires that menaced her hometown.
After bouncing around a few youth-led climate groups, Villasenor struck up a rapport with fellow students Isra Hirsi, in Minnesota, and Haven Coleman, from Colorado. The trio set about creating Youth Climate Strike US, the first .
Ka kite ano links below OUR MOKOPUNAS futures is a taonga/treasured by ECO MAORI
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/12/climate-change-student-activists-environment
Burnie knows a con when he see one this confidentiality agreement is just a coverup agreement .
Cannot have crown civil servents held accounable for all the cheating that has gone on at Pike River Mine they NEVER admit to being BENT as a dogs hind leg they just keep turning this into a bigger MESS .
Pike River families’ spokesperson Bernie Monk quits after confidentiality agreement
The leading spokesperson for a group representing victims of the Pike River mine disaster has quit over requests to sign a confidentiality agreement.
The Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) works in partnership with Pike River Families Reference Group, which has created a confidentiality agreement to ensure officials will trust them with sensitive information.
The group acts as a conduit between the families of the 29 men who died in the mine explosions in 2010, and police and officials leading the re-entry effort.
The members were not forced to sign the agreement but did so voluntarily.
“Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
“Whether other members of the group have other agendas, I don’t want to be a part of that” – Spokesperson Bernie Monk
Spokesperson Bernie Monk told Morning Report some of the families he represented were upset they might be excluded from information.
“The thing is that the family group was set up to be the eyes and ears for the recovery of the drift – as far as I’m concerned that job has been done.
“If a family member rings me up today and asks me a question, I want to be able to tell them today. As I am still spokesperson for the Pike River families, I’ve always said that my door is open 24 hours a day seven days a week and I want to keep it that way.
“There are things that I want out in the public and I just can’t see it being done the way the FRG is trying to set it up.”
Although he had originally signed the document, Mr Monk said he changed his mind after talking with the families.
“I went back and I said, ‘look, you’ve got to trust us on this and we will feed you the information when it’s better tabled’ and stuff like that. Some of them were quite upset.
“They said ‘Bernie, we’ve gone back to the old days…’
“I thought about it overnight and I thought well these families are right. I shouldn’t be doing that, that wasn’t my job, that wasn’t what I was put there to do.”
Mr Monk said he didn’t want to be muzzled by the agreement.
“I think that just to sign into things and be muzzled, whether it’s a memorandum or confidentiality [agreement] or whatever, I just don’t want to be a part of that so I just walked away.”
Despite leaving his role, Mr Monk said he still expected to receive regular updates from the authorities.
“There’s no reason why I can’t just go to the Agency and ask for myself, the police have already stated that they’ll feed me any information from them, exactly what the FRG are getting.
“If the FRG want to get in contact with me on other things I’m doing, I’m only too pleased to share that with them.”
However, the new spokesperson for the group, Anna Osborne, said Mr Monk wanted to look into the cause of the second explosion at the mine and that was different to the group’s focus.
“We respect what Bernie wants to do, but we’re focused on what we promised to the families and that was to get a phased re-entry of the drift and to make sure that we can get any evidence and stuff like that brought to the surface so that hopefully prosecution can be held in the future.”
Families representatives’ for Pike River Bernie Monk and Anna Osborne. Photo: RNZ/Tracy Neal
The aim of the agreement was to tighten up the way it handled sensitive information it received from PRRA and police, Ms Osborne said.
“Because at some stage, you know, we will be trusted with information that can’t quite go out to the families just yet, whether that be around dates of certain events happening.
“In the past, families have been let down so many times that we don’t want to give them false hope by thinking that there’s something that’s going to happen at a certain date and then it goes by without it happening so to prevent things like that.”
Ms Osborne said it also reinforced the respect they had for the PRRA and police’s trust in them.
“The Agency or the police want to be able to talk openly and freely to the FRG members … so what it is, is just making sure we have everything tight and what we can release we certainly will do, and what we can’t or what we should sit on just for now, is something that we also need to respect. Ka kite ano link below P.S kia kaha Bernie
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384684/pike-river-families-spokesperson-bernie-monk-quits-after-confidentiality-agreement
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
The sandflys know they are playing with ahi but the actors they throw at me are clue less
Kia ora Newshub It’s a shame that there are idiots out there who would do dumb shit like attacking Jamie Shaw
People make mistakes are you advocating that they pay for their mistakes for their whole life the driving instructor with prior conviction .
BUGGER
ECO Maori doesn’t use face book by my tamariki do lol I will give them shit about Facebook crashing.
There is a way to sort out Auckland traffic congestion. We need to invest in RAIL fast what a waste of time and money in traffic jams.
Its a shameful sad state in Syria all those people being killed in the war and dieing in refuge camps this should not be happening in 2019.
Lloyd it looks like Britain wants to stay in the European Union.
I believe that the SFO should have kept a close eye kept on its quiet easy for them to come up with a report clearing simon and letting water flow under the bridge time to let everyone forget about his donations scandle and clear him he has close ties to the NZ police. Ka kite ano P.S it not like these government department are squeaky CLEAN
Kia ora Te ao Maori News it good that the kuia is going to get her whare kitted out to cater for her disabilities being blind and wheelchair bound with no ramps in her whare.
I that was a stupid attack on our Green Party co leader Jamie Shaw
I think that there should be 15 Maori seats not 7 I say we are 20 % of the population.
Ka pai for the first Maori Chief justice to be sworn in Justice Winkelmann Congratulat I do hope that things will change with her appointment I have my doubts though with the way the sandflys treat my right. Ka kite ano P.S don’t believe there spinning it got tutai all through it
Kia ora The AM Show Yes its students climate change strike today I hope that the tamariki rise up and show a united force all around the Papatuanukue . Ka pai young Wahine for your Tau toko the climate change strike for your futures.
Its quite disturbing to hear that nothing about climate change is being taught in our school that shows me how much control the neo liberals rightneck have on our school systems.
I would walk and bike myself more but I would incounter to many muppets puppets.
Come on duncan with the amount of climate change denier money flowing into the system its amazing that our youth even know about climate change + The fact that climate change is happening here and NOW is not being taught in school when this fact has been known for 30 to 50 years tells Eco Maori that oil barron suppression has been emence. Richard that’s what Aotearoa farmers have to do diversify Sheep milk is a great new product that Aotearoa could make heaps of export $$$$$ having all our eggs in one market is not very wise at all as you can see shonky is not as smart as he thought he was putting all OUR eggs in one big kite.
Ka pai Phil that’s the way I could see you are a protector he tangata best interests in Auckland Kia kaha
dick duncan it’s not Maori family’s that the blame of the bad stats of our tamariki lies with it the system of Maori suppression that breaks the family apart is the CAUSE of the bad stats. 10 years ago my whanau were all on a big farm making above average money now we are all stuck in town struggling to keep afloat because shonky decided to flood farm jobs with overseas workers rents are huge the cost of living is huge and ((YOU BLAME MAORI WHANAU.))
How’s whale oil judy you are one of the muppets who forced those changes and suppression on lower class people. I’m going to be rude you look like you still have the viruses judy. Why do you think think that Eco Maori points the true fact out and discridet the rightneck all around Papatuanukue because they have made life extremely hard for the lower classes of Papatuanukue.
Here is the logical phenomenon behind a chase if you CHASE any thing 9/10 they will run bit hard for people with a low IQ to figure that out. If the prosess in the police chasing people in vehicles was excerlint than why Are so many people ending up DEAD after a police chase??? ¿???!?! ¿¿¿!! ¿?? ¡¿!. Not sure about your poll politicising police chasing and people ending up dead The police main job is to provide a save country for us it is public safety that is there formost job discription so chasing people and putting the public at risk is a subject should be taken very seriously. Climate change needs to be risen above the oil barron $$$suppression so a Maori Climate Change Commissioner will get the subject publicity. What is a commissioner going to do for the broken family that this western society system has produced don’t blame the family because a family is not whole with grandparents dieing early because the health system provides inferior services to many Maori. And the unjustifiable system grabs the father and never let’s them go producing broken families.There are many factors that are causing the bad stats for Maori families and they all come back to a system that discriminates against the lower classes who Maori have been forced to join and become a majority of YOU ARE USE THE Stats that you are getting to pick topics to put down Maori and you deserve the WARTH OF ECO MAORI DICK.
Amada the courts of our laws pay more attention to $$££££$$$$ Than They do to provideing fair JUSTICE MJ case point. Ka kite ano P.S bullshit grame this is a very good reason for tamariki to make a strong stand on Wahine are more intelligent than men full stop
Aye? You stuck on 12th March?
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
https://youtu.be/hT_nvWreIhg
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
https://youtu.be/fKopy74weus
Ma te wa koire
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/LHCob76kigA
Whanau Mahi
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/7UH4erOQ43E
Out of respect for Te tangata that lost there lives I will not be posting today condolences to Te tangata who lost love ones in this tragic event