National's reporter Coughlin reports on the Willis grand speech but even he is luke warm in his report. Wishy washy I think.
This week, National finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis delivered her first major speech since taking on the role in March.
Intended as a scene-setter for the Budget, the speech was also meant to set out Willis's vision for the role, often seen as the most important Cabinet post after the job of prime minister.
The speech, delivered to the Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce, was focused on restoring "discipline" to government policy and spending – a line National has been rolling out for months.
Willis selling Austerity when as we know National cut govt funding then then use that money to higher in consultants (their cronies ie Jenny Shipley $450,000 for 16 meetings) who propagandise National political policy.
David Clark is releasing the inquiry into the supermarket /retail grocery market Duopoly of Progressive and Foodsfuffs. Hopefully its progressive and not a stuff up like Clark is very capable of. One thing is Why are both Foodsfuffs and Progressive allowed to each hold a 10% stake in their biggest competitor the Warehouse if he doesn't force them to divest and allow the Warehouse to compete Clark will continue to be seen as useless.It looks like the duopoly are preempting this report to make the inquiry look irelavent.If Clark fails he will be on his bike with the rest of Labour in 18 months.
yeah, but a war you can win, and i doubt that those that run these corporations have shame or would even recognise it were they to suffer a bout of shame. So they go to war. 🙂
Kabuki Theatre for the masses, entertainment and a slice of toast while we still have access to wheat.
Yes, maybe you are right, Sabine. 'Shame' may have been the wrong word. 'Fear' that the government might be forced to regulate them, may have been the more likely spur.
As for the so called "Supermarket Price War". In this war a tactical retreat to defend themselves from an all out regulatory assault from the government, (more than any concern for the consumers or suppliers being squeezed by their greed), was probably seen as a wise move at this time.
After their narrow escape from being regulated, and after a period regrouping from their fright, the real war against the New Zealand public will resume.
They are probably betting that a tactical retreat from their usual price gouging, will give them time for the return of a more ‘business friendly’ government in the Beehive, a government that would never ever even ‘consider’ regulating business.
I can not see this or any government regulating the food distribution centres. They do not have the spine nor gumtpion to do so, they rather sponsor charities to hand out food parcels as they have done during the covid lockdown. That is easier for them, and it gives them a bit of 'look we are decent and are doing a nice kind thing for the poor unwashed and hungry dears in our country'.
No argument there, C(hris)T. According to this article consumers do not benefit with duopolies. Instead they work to shut out new players and new services, and to fix prices.
With the electricity market there are more players – they just take turns to be highest costs / lowest cost, as market prices generally continue to rise. Now that is changing however as they complicate charges so that it is difficult for anyone to determine where they will get lowest cost – the Theresa Gattung strategy. Ya gotta love the "Free" market!
David Clark has a penchant for mathematics and systems. He has beaten Woodhouse for the Dunedin seat for a number of elections.
I wonder if Woodhouse/mates of, spotted David Clarke's outings during the lockdown? It would not surprise me, given Woodhouse's lies involvement and even instigation of rumours and bullying. He of the "toilet and photo on the seat,' made up "homeless man", and recipient of leaked personal patient details. The man is a worm, never mind his "dangerous worm farm" fame.
David has kept his head down and his work is already causing the duopoly to lower prices, but it will not be enough, and I look forward to the Report coming out, as David fights Goliath, as no-one else has done before, and he has caused a reaction.
Good piece about fa'afafine and other GNC people in non-Western societies. Of particular note is that this researcher is naming Western LGBTQ+ movements as gender colonisers where they project western gender values and expression onto other cultures. This isn't a new idea, but I think he explained it well.
I also like that it breaks the Western obsession with hormone treatment and surgery, and affirms the idea that if we were actually accepting of gender non-conformity then many people could be who they are without radical medical treatments. This in turn opens the door to one of the ways out of the current sex/gender war. Lots to like here for both sides.
Unlike many trans people in the West who identify as male-to-female, fa’afafine and muxes recognize that they have male bodies and that these are immutable. A tiny number might femininize their bodies with hormones or even more rarely surgery, but no one in their local communities, least of all fa’afafine and muxes themselves, believe that such procedures transform them into females. Given that they do not identify as women and recognize that they are male, dysphoria about sex or gender has traditionally been relatively uncommon in these cultures, my research has shown.
If western societies weren’t so homophobic and gender enforcing, then men who want to dress and behave like stereotpyical women could do so without insisting on having access to women’s spaces and women’s business. Likewise, young women wouldn’t hate being female so much that they prefer to remove their breasts and take masculinising hormones.
The core issue there for men is that they need to make the changes so that GNC males feel comfortable in male spaces. What we have now is a gross abrogation of that responsibility, and instead expecting women to give up rights.
The issues for GNC women are different but also result from societal pressures, these ones based in sexism and misogyny. We are losing ground around women’s rights outside of the gender/sex wars, girls and young women are growing up under intense pressure and few are taking any notice.
Dealing with the single-sex prison estate issue since 2014, successfully:
At the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail, a separate wing exists for gay, bisexual, and transgender inmates. Since its creation, the unit has gained a reputation as one of the safer, community-oriented units.
But getting in isn't easy. A series of questions, past incarcerations, arrest records, and resources are utilized to determine whether an inmate can be classified for this special unit. If one doesn't pass, it's back to the general population.
The unit, known as the K6G, is home to approximately 360 GBT inmates. It was established in 1985 after the ACLU filed a lawsuit urging for the protection and prevention of assault against LGBT inmates.
Evenhanded intro, although I guess gender ID activists won't like it.
9.05 Kathleen Stock: the professor who lost her career amid toxic gender debate
Kathleen Stock was a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex for 18 years, but quit her post last year amid angry protests over her views on gender and transgender rights. In her book Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism, Stock writes on her belief that biological sex is immutable and cannot be changed, therefore people that choose to transition genders are living in “immersive fiction”.
Stock, who describes herself as a gender non-conforming lesbian, says questions about sex and gender are deeply philosophical, but people – including academics – are scared to talk about it due to the toxicity that surrounds the debate.
Xi Jinping's determination to eliminate COVID, is as much a manifestation of a determination to be (seen to be) in control as it is prudent management of the problem being faced in the here and now.
It has echoes of the old regime, where one party state rule came before the economy and society.
It may be the same flaw, in strong man rulers, that led Putin to his aggression in Ukraine.
If so, it may have harmful impact on more than China – first in disruption in the global supply chain and second because of recourse to foreign policy adventurism.
Politicians shouting at each other in parliament what a pack of muppets.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: If you can’t address anything of relevance to a post – especially on the first comment – then just don’t comment. Otherwise it is just another hypocritical Muppet displaying their lack of skill in a debate. Banned two weeks for wasting the time of everyone reading your comment. ]
"So, is oil really worth $100 a barrel? Another way of looking at it is to compare oil to a horse. A horse laboring a standard 40-hour work week (eight hours a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year) would have to labor for more than one year to produce the energy in a barrel of oil. Do you think a horse could be fed and maintained for a year for $100? Not likely.
Human labor is even worse. A fit human adult can sustain about one-tenth of a horsepower, so a human would have to labor more than 10 years to equal a barrel of oil."
It is undeniable that the following year Ardern responded to a question over whether she would resign before introducing a wealth tax by saying: “I won’t allow it to happen as Prime Minister.”
It is undeniable that the following year Ardern responded to a question over whether she would resign before introducing a wealth tax by saying: “I won’t allow it to happen as Prime Minister.”
Jacinda Ardern is rubbishing National's "desperate" wealth tax attacks, promising yet again that Labour will not introduce one if it wins the election.
"I won't allow it to happen as Prime Minister," she told reporters on Wednesday, after National leader Judith Collins continued speculation that Labour would bow to the Greens and introduce a wealth tax.
When energy companies make large profits ,they also pay taxes,
Surging federal tax revenue in April led to the largest monthly budget surplus on record and a dramatically lower deficit through the first seven months of the fiscal year, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates released Monday.
April tax receipts totaled $864 billion, driving a $308 billion surplus last month. Both figures would be the largest since the Treasury Department began keeping records.
Noting that much of the USA’s, and the Wests, military spending is aimed at keeping oil company spending on supplies from oil producing countries, low. Another subsidy.
Middlemen, that is what they are. And throughout history they have proven to be the greediest profit-gougers of all, floating beneath the surface, but always loud in justifying the system that they are exploiting.
Our duopoly supermarkets are NZ's topical example – but the biggest and worst example is the bloody banks and banksters.
Middlemen need to be strictly controlled, but so far no country has succeeded in finding a way to do this. (Except maybe the USSR, but they then set up their own middlemen.)
For those of you who are Christian, I personally think that the best thing Christ ever did was to forget his 'Love your enemies' teachings; to grab a whip, and proceed to throw the bloody fetid, filthy money-changers out of God's temple. So excellent!
I was reading this in the Spinoff (having seen the Canadian story elsewhere):
Just last month, Canada lifted its own “gay blood ban”, prompting the question: is Aotearoa now out of step internationally?
Aotearoa has historically been a leader in the field of blood donation. But maintaining the safety of the blood supply now comes at at the cost of stigmatising a community with an unfortunately rich history of social and policy discrimination.
Which had me thinking of this piece from last year:
Gay and bisexual men will now be able to donate blood but only if they abstain from sex with other men for three months, the New Zealand Blood Service has announced…The change will take effect from December 14.
The same reduction will also apply for people who previously lived in a country known to have a high prevalence of HIV, as well as sex workers and their partners…
New Zealand has low rates of HIV compared with international rates: In 2018 there were only 178 new diagnoses and sexual transmission accounted for most cases.
While the majority of new diagnoses were gay men, the annual number of heterosexual men and women infected with HIV in New Zealand has risen gradually since the mid-1990s.
A lifetime ban on blood donation for men who have sex with other men was introduced in the 1980s amid concerns about HIV.
In 2014, New Zealand reduced blood donor deferral from five years to 12 months for individuals whose circumstances carried a greater probability of transmission of infections through blood transfusion.
There's also the ban on collecting blood from anyone; who lived in the UK, France or Ireland between 1980 and 1996, due to CJD risk. Which is getting to be a fair chunk of the eligible population barred from giving blood ("about 20%") during Pandemics. So this is not simply targeted at gay men. But it is hardly a foolproof system:
As the supply becomes more critical, the risk factors carry less weight, and the balance between the two changes.
Did the pandemic put such a strain on the supply that the balance had changed?
"What if they just lie (or "forget") about it?"
I can understand someone wanting to contribute. I have little patience for those whose desire to do so, is used as an excuse to bypass current restrictions by lying or 'forgetting'. There have been some recent articles about the positive benefits of matching blood by sex. Perhaps a part-answer to this dilemma if blood supply runs short is to match blood donated by gay men to other gay men (or others) who consent to receive it.
Despite being a blood donor in the past, I'm one of the UK cohort now prohibited.
If they determine that the CJD fear no longer has merit, than I'm sure many will return to donating. Until that point, the risk vs supply calculation remains.
There's a quick precis for homosexual men that want to donate, as well as a link to a 2020 report:
Homosexual Men
Your eligibility is determined by your sexual behaviour and history, not by your sexual orientation.
If you are a male who has had oral or anal sex with another man, with or without a condom, you must wait 3 months since your last sexual contact before donating.
This criterion also applies to those who have participated in sex work or have exchanged money for sex, those who have previously lived in a country that presents a high prevalence of HIV, and anyone who has taken a HIV preventative drug such as PrEP or PEP. For full details, please refer to this 2020 report from NZBS and the University of Auckland.
UK NHS changed the criteria last year to ask anyone who participated in anal sex follow up questions. I would assume it is to do with the efficiency of the sperm-blood vector for blood borne disease.
Re: your first reply Molly. The research on; the positive benefits of matching blood by sex, though intriguing, isn't that recent – nor is it that convincing:
The risk of dying was about the same after getting blood from a man or a never-pregnant women, regardless of the recipient’s sex. But every unit of blood that a man got from a woman who had been pregnant raised his chance of dying 13 percent.
The results are “provocative,” said Dr. Ritchard Cable of the American Red Cross, which supplies just over 40 percent of U.S. blood transfusions…
When you test a lot of things, you’re supposed to adjust your math to reduce the chance of an association popping up at random. The researchers didn’t, they acknowledge, prompting what Cable called “lively discussion” by the paper’s reviewers and JAMA editors about whether the statistical analysis passed muster…
The researchers don’t even know what the transfusion recipients died of, let alone “why the [mortality] effect should be limited to … {sic} men under 50,” Middelburg said in an interview. He and his colleagues therefore call their findings “very tentative” in the paper.
However, I don't have the university journal access that I once did; it is certainly possible that other more robust studies have since been published. However, what research is freely available online suggests a peak in the field around 2017, then almost nothing after 2020 (but then most medical researchers have been a bit busy elsewhere these last couple of years).
As regards NZ blood donor's; sexual behaviour and history, I do have to note that is confined to:
Following oral or anal sex with or without a condom with another man (if you are male).
After engaging in sex work (prostitution) or accepting payment in exchange for sex.
If you are a woman, after engaging in sex with a man who has had oral or anal sex with another man
Why is it safer for a women to have oral or anal sex with a man than a man? Condom use is likely higher amongst many sex workers (depending on their circumstances), but they are somehow a greater risk than an amateur women who is into unprotected butt stuff? That a mongamous gay couple can be seen as inherently more risky than any sexually active women or straight man (who aren't sex workers or junkies), seems to mean that gay marriage is not really recognized as equally valid by the NZBS:
Warren Dempsey-Coy, who has been in a monogamous relationship with his husband for more than 30 years, said this might seem like progress but it was not.
“I still see it as discrimination. There is one set of rules for a certain section of people and another for the rest.
“Blood is blood and every donation is screened. I am a gay, married man with no risk of having HIV and yet I would still have to abstain from sex for three months to give blood.
“For me, it is nothing but a slap in the face.”
It seems like the NZBS donation criteria have been cludged together in an ad hoc manner over decades. They really could do with a systematic review to increase consistency across the board.
Thanks for that, re blood donor and sex. I did refer to articles so I knew it wasn't conclusive, but you've provided more details.
You are right about the identification of gay men. I think sexual behaviours have changed fairly recently with anal sex less likely to be solely within the cohort of homosexuals.
I always thought the issue included the possibility of Aids transmission, but also as mentioned the efficiency of the semen to blood vector for any blood borne disease. Regardless of sex/sexual orientation. Which is why the UK asks about sexual behaviour, not orientation. The UK also has a higher number of immigrants/visitors from countries with high levels of Aids so it still makes sense to screen in some form.
I don't understand the 3 month interval myself, as it assumes that any infection is no longer present. I'd have to read the report and see if they explain that interval. The points you make about male and female make sense. The more accurate way would be to screen all donors by testing, but I assume the cost would be prohibitive.
I agree that monogamy limits exposure. Prostitutes, however, have incredibly high levels of exposure. The risk is high there. Given that blood is provided to those with health challenges, this is a balance of risk vs benefit.
Do you think perhaps there's been little considered change because the current measures provide enough supply? ( ie. no immediate pressure to make changes?)
First 20 years. While the real veterans were alive, they remembered at what cost this victory was won, and how the Central Committee and the Cheka reacted to those who won it. Best of all, real veterans are illustrated by the picture "Moloch of War", banned in Sovka. Only psychopaths and necrophiles want to "repeat" this.
Every year on May 9, the slogan “no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” strikes me the most. It was invented in the late Soviet years, when there were almost no real war veterans left.
A very moving pic for me personally. While in Russia I saw things very close to this – a man with no legs on an identical trolley – and a homeless boy huddled for warmth around an Eternal Flame just like this one. At -20degC.
Nothing particularly, but I do have an issue with govts looking like they are making policy decisions based on the public that can still afford the internet and care about social media while basing policy on their opinion.
I would have the same issue if they spent $235k on surveying old people's homes. Or teachers.
While I do think that the selection sample is likely less than than the entire population, these 150 (58 + 92, or "nearly 100" as this NZH reprint would have it) analyses of views; already in the public arena from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other local blogs and forums, were likely representative of some of the concerns of NZers in general.
I have less of a problem with the DPMC attempting to get a feel for the concerns of the general public (or at least those who like to mouth off online) than I would if a government attempted to proceed in total ignorance. If anything, they shouldn't have cheaped out on this, and instead commissioned more robust (and thus expensive) research.
I think the fact that they hire businesses who specialise in social media analysis suggests they're not just looking at random tweets and forming policy from them.
The judges need to get tougher on crime. 39 year old no drivers licence. He will probably pay the pittance of a fine after 28 days and then drive the vehicle home again without a licence! Harden up judges.
Accredited employers? Did you learn nothing from the decades of roiling debacles like slave fishing Khriss? Do not outsource important legal powers like work visas to employers – any that want them cannot be trusted with them. Fund a fully staffed Immigration service properly for Chrissakes.
And $27.76? That's not a skilled worker by any stretch of the imagination. Try $35.00 – and that's a bargain.
Clearly we are returning to the fucking stupid policies of John Key – "Cheap migrant workers? Have as many as you like."
On the concomitant increases in minimum wage and hospo price increases.
The higher prices in restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food coincided with the minimum wage increase, which increased from $20.00 to $21.20 on 1 April. Restaurant meals and ready-to-eat food had the largest monthly increase in over a decade, up 1.4 percent. This was mainly due to higher prices for dine-in lunches, hamburgers, and coffee.
We don't need to get wage inflation down. We need to allow the underpaid to regain fair pay by dropping the percentage nonsense (which always favours the rich and enlarges their margins) by allowing the same flat increase to everybody, including the rich.
If CEO of Air NZ gets $350,000 pay increase, then so do teachers, nurses, social workers and all beneficiaries. Everybody.
A couple of years of that would correct the unequal distribution of wealth that exists now because we have been suckered into believing that the same percentage increase for everyone is fair.
We see that real wages start to increase to somewhat realistic levels ( due to constraints on immigration) and as border controls relax, then we suddenly need more lower paid workers (the consensus across parliament) rental and housing prices increase,the OCR increases again etc …
How very far Labour have come, from being the party that supports workers, to being the Trojan horse for mass unskilled labour in the midst of a housing affordability crisis.
God only knows why hospo and fishing are singled out for even lower wages too – it's not as if they've been creaming it. The fisherfolk were already on the edge of penury from the way the QMS advantaged the larger companies. Bye bye innovation – large companies are run by accountants, not fishermen. They couldn't innovate on a bet.
This has been the most immigration-restrictive government in decades.
Already we have rest home managers that are decreasing the number of beds rather than decrease quality of care.
A great moment to take stock of your life, get out of industries that don't treat you well, re-train and do something in even higher demand and higher wages.
I'm five years from retirement Ad, already overqualified in two industries and haven't had an offer above mw in NZ for three decades. This is what you get when parties sell out their constituents.
get out of industries that don't treat you well
Better that the government, whose wages I ultimately pay, stops making illegal concessions to drive down wages in my chosen profession. Unless you think we should tolerate or normalize corruption?
Ad and I are on your side with this Stuart. You are clearly a capable and competent person with good judgement and highly employable.
Getting kicked in the nuts multiple times by industries that turn out to be shitty employers is no fun – but the ground has shifted. 2022 is the year when fully half the Baby Boomers – the largest post-War generation in most of the world retires. And each one of us takes 40 years of experience and skills with us, resulting in the biggest shortage of skilled labour ever. It is the reason why I have tried to retire three times now and each time been made an offer I cannot refuse.
We moved to Aus for 'five or six years of adventure' right at the end of my working life. And a decade later we are still at it.
That's not my experience. COVID has a strong operational effect, but the RN nurses that come over from Thailand and Philippines usually do their two years to get the full NZ registration, then get poached by the public health system.
Those that are left still get their minimum wage or just over, but get 'requested' to do double shifts and 1 day a week off.
"Already we have rest home managers that are decreasing the number of beds rather than decrease quality of care. "
The quality of care in many homes is quite low. I'd be interested in knowing which managers are doing this, and whether it's based on quality of care or extra costs due to isolation requirements for new inhabitants.
As for the getting out of industries remark… Surely we are past the point of blaming individuals for the regulatory and policy failures of successive governments?
My experience is that rest homes are a totally cost-driven business. The rest homes closing down through skills shortages have been discussed by RNZ this week.
As for transitioning out of failing industries, people have been doing it for decades and it's not anyone's fault. As our export markets change so we have to as well.
Rest homes are profitable cost driven businesses with inadequate regulatory oversight and monitoring. Due to this environment the service ranges from 2xcellent to abysmal.
There is a difference between failing industries and industries failing to pay a living wage.
As for transitioning out of failing industries, people have been doing it for decades and it's not anyone's fault.
Sure – government policy is never to blame. The sinking lid that killed the public service as a career path was not the Brownian motion of random collisions but a coldly (some say brutally) calculated move on the part of certain politicians. The decline of the coastal shipping industry, the collapse of multiple fisheries under the inadequate QMS, the failure to develop fisheries and aquaculture as agriculture was once developed by a network of state research and training facilities – these could've happened to anyone.
Anyone whose government repeatedly dropped the ball.
Maybe somewhat, but mostly we change careers because some markets shrink and some expand. There's not a whole bunch the government can do about the decline in printers for printing and rise of digital services, the decline in horse dressage specialists and the rise of cars, the decline of semaphore and the rise of cellphones, the decline of playwrights and the rise of Youtube, the decline of lace collar specialists and the rise of activewear.
Nor anything unions or the state could have done about it.
You can oversubscribe causality to governments pretty easily.
In industries where corrupt government created monopolies, like the QMS, hold sway, shrinkage is the rule.
But although the majority of NZ fisheries companies retrenched throughout the period of dark neoliberal fantasy that prevailed from 1990, there have been successes like Southern Clams. Sustainably designed, not built on slave workers, growing in spite of supposedly adverse market conditions, this is what a fishing sector would look like absent the fatuous nonsense that comes from sector lobbying.
Well it sure wasn't me that implemented the inequitable and unscientific (and coincidentally ineffectual at protecting key species) QMS. That was the government of the day.
It wasn't me that let the foreign charter game devolve from hiring vessels from specialist nations that NZ companies could learn from, to bringing in and normalizing slave ships – a practice that has now extended right across the economy with dirt cheap, completely unskilled, often fraudulently qualified workers, whose only function is to drive down wages in one of the most expensive economies to live in in the world.
It wasn't me that utterly failed to transition the crude extraction fisheries to a sustainable and extendable predominantly aquacultural model. I've put my heart and soul into my vocation, for negligible reward with occasional ridicule from the lazy hacks momentarily floating through the Minister of Fisheries sinecure without achieving anything of value. That too is on them.
I guess you're big on laissez faire "the state can do nothing" – but the state came in and stole the fisheries that were my livelihood, and those of my deceased colleagues. I will never forgive them – but had they a shred of human decency they would apologize to the victims of their overweening arrogance and manifest incompetence.
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Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
Open access notables Glacial isostatic adjustment reduces past and future Arctic subsea permafrost, Creel et al., Nature Communications:Sea-level rise submerges terrestrial permafrost in the Arctic, turning it into subsea permafrost. Subsea permafrost underlies ~ 1.8 million km2 of Arctic continental shelf, with thicknesses in places exceeding 700 m. Sea-level variations over glacial-interglacial cycles control ...
The operating system (OS) is the heart and soul of a computer, orchestrating every action and interaction between hardware and software. But have you ever wondered where on a computer is the operating system generally stored? The answer lies in the intricate dance between hardware and software components, particularly within ...
Laptops have become essential tools for work, entertainment, and communication, offering portability and functionality. However, with rising energy costs and growing environmental concerns, understanding a laptop’s power consumption is more important than ever. So, how many watts does a laptop use? The answer, unfortunately, isn’t straightforward. It depends on several ...
Screen recording has become an essential tool for various purposes, such as creating tutorials, capturing gameplay footage, recording online meetings, or sharing information with others. Fortunately, Dell laptops offer several built-in and external options for screen recording, catering to different needs and preferences. This guide will explore various methods on ...
A cracked or damaged laptop screen can be a frustrating experience, impacting productivity and enjoyment. Fortunately, laptop screen repair is a common service offered by various repair shops and technicians. However, the cost of fixing a laptop screen can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article delves into the ...
Gaming laptops represent a significant investment for passionate gamers, offering portability and powerful performance for immersive gaming experiences. However, a common concern among potential buyers is their lifespan. Unlike desktop PCs, which allow for easier component upgrades, gaming laptops have inherent limitations due to their compact and integrated design. This ...
The annual inventory report of New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions has been released, showing that gross emissions have dropped for the third year in a row, to 78.4 million tons: All-told gross emissions have decreased by over 6 million tons since the Zero Carbon Act was passed in 2019. ...
Experiencing a locked computer can be frustrating, especially when you need access to your files and applications urgently. The methods to unlock your computer will vary depending on the specific situation and the type of lock you encounter. This guide will explore various scenarios and provide step-by-step instructions on how ...
While the world has largely transitioned to digital communication, faxing still holds relevance in certain industries and situations. Fortunately, gone are the days of bulky fax machines and dedicated phone lines. Today, you can easily send and receive faxes directly from your computer, offering a convenient and efficient way to ...
In our increasingly digital world, home computers have become essential tools for work, communication, entertainment, and more. However, this increased reliance on technology also exposes us to various cyber threats. Understanding these threats and taking proactive steps to protect your home computer is crucial for safeguarding your personal information, finances, ...
In the ever-evolving world of technology, server-based computing has emerged as a cornerstone of modern digital infrastructure. This article delves into the concept of server-based computing, exploring its various forms, benefits, challenges, and its impact on the way we work and interact with technology. Understanding Server-Based Computing: At its core, ...
The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
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. ...
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. ...
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. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
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 ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara Solomon Islands’ incumbent prime minister Manasseh Sogavare has been re-elected in the East Choiseul constituency. It is the opening move in the political chess match to form the country’s next government. Returning officer Christopher Makoni made the declaration late last night after ...
Headline: The moment of friction. – 36th Parallel Assessments In strategic studies “friction” is a term that it is used to describe the moment when military action encounters adversary resistance. “Friction” is one of four (along with an unofficial fifth) “F’s” in military strategy, which includes force (kinetic mass), ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
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National's reporter Coughlin reports on the Willis grand speech but even he is luke warm in his report. Wishy washy I think.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/nicola-willis-on-her-first-big-speech-and-when-to-expect-tax-cuts/JF63KYTWO7QYXOH2OHKOZ3FSXI/
Willis selling Austerity when as we know National cut govt funding then then use that money to higher in consultants (their cronies ie Jenny Shipley $450,000 for 16 meetings) who propagandise National political policy.
David Clark is releasing the inquiry into the supermarket /retail grocery market Duopoly of Progressive and Foodsfuffs. Hopefully its progressive and not a stuff up like Clark is very capable of. One thing is Why are both Foodsfuffs and Progressive allowed to each hold a 10% stake in their biggest competitor the Warehouse if he doesn't force them to divest and allow the Warehouse to compete Clark will continue to be seen as useless.It looks like the duopoly are preempting this report to make the inquiry look irelavent.If Clark fails he will be on his bike with the rest of Labour in 18 months.
This mornings headlines
"Supermarkets in price war"
Words matter,
Everyone hates war. War is a bad thing.
What's the message here?
Maybe the headlines should read;
Supermarket duopoly shamed into lowering prices.
yeah, but a war you can win, and i doubt that those that run these corporations have shame or would even recognise it were they to suffer a bout of shame. So they go to war. 🙂
Kabuki Theatre for the masses, entertainment and a slice of toast while we still have access to wheat.
Yes, maybe you are right, Sabine. 'Shame' may have been the wrong word. 'Fear' that the government might be forced to regulate them, may have been the more likely spur.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/128595659/supermarket-competition-government-looking-at-regulatory-backstop
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/annual-food-price-rise-confirms-need-rein-supermarkets%E2%80%99-super-profits
https://www.interest.co.nz/business/115727/government-has-indicated-it-might-consider-being-more-prescriptive-controlling
As for the so called "Supermarket Price War". In this war a tactical retreat to defend themselves from an all out regulatory assault from the government, (more than any concern for the consumers or suppliers being squeezed by their greed), was probably seen as a wise move at this time.
After their narrow escape from being regulated, and after a period regrouping from their fright, the real war against the New Zealand public will resume.
They are probably betting that a tactical retreat from their usual price gouging, will give them time for the return of a more ‘business friendly’ government in the Beehive, a government that would never ever even ‘consider’ regulating business.
I can not see this or any government regulating the food distribution centres. They do not have the spine nor gumtpion to do so, they rather sponsor charities to hand out food parcels as they have done during the covid lockdown. That is easier for them, and it gives them a bit of 'look we are decent and are doing a nice kind thing for the poor unwashed and hungry dears in our country'.
Call me Mr Conspiracy Theory, but the biggest issue with duopolies is how easy it is to collude together with pricing levels.
No argument there, C(hris)T. According to this article consumers do not benefit with duopolies. Instead they work to shut out new players and new services, and to fix prices.
https://sendpulse.com/support/glossary/duopoly
With the electricity market there are more players – they just take turns to be highest costs / lowest cost, as market prices generally continue to rise. Now that is changing however as they complicate charges so that it is difficult for anyone to determine where they will get lowest cost – the Theresa Gattung strategy. Ya gotta love the "Free" market!
Maybe the Warehouse muscling in on the duopoly will change a bit?
David Clark has a penchant for mathematics and systems. He has beaten Woodhouse for the Dunedin seat for a number of elections.
I wonder if Woodhouse/mates of, spotted David Clarke's outings during the lockdown? It would not surprise me, given Woodhouse's lies involvement and even instigation of rumours and bullying. He of the "toilet and photo on the seat,' made up "homeless man", and recipient of leaked personal patient details. The man is a worm, never mind his "dangerous worm farm" fame.
David has kept his head down and his work is already causing the duopoly to lower prices, but it will not be enough, and I look forward to the Report coming out, as David fights Goliath, as no-one else has done before, and he has caused a reaction.
A new resource for people concerned about the new ideology in schools.
https://www.resistgendereducation.nz
Good piece about fa'afafine and other GNC people in non-Western societies. Of particular note is that this researcher is naming Western LGBTQ+ movements as gender colonisers where they project western gender values and expression onto other cultures. This isn't a new idea, but I think he explained it well.
I also like that it breaks the Western obsession with hormone treatment and surgery, and affirms the idea that if we were actually accepting of gender non-conformity then many people could be who they are without radical medical treatments. This in turn opens the door to one of the ways out of the current sex/gender war. Lots to like here for both sides.
https://www.newsweek.com/stop-imposing-western-lgbtq-identities-non-western-cultures-its-gender-colonialism-opinion-1705785
If western societies weren’t so homophobic and gender enforcing, then men who want to dress and behave like stereotpyical women could do so without insisting on having access to women’s spaces and women’s business. Likewise, young women wouldn’t hate being female so much that they prefer to remove their breasts and take masculinising hormones.
The core issue there for men is that they need to make the changes so that GNC males feel comfortable in male spaces. What we have now is a gross abrogation of that responsibility, and instead expecting women to give up rights.
The issues for GNC women are different but also result from societal pressures, these ones based in sexism and misogyny. We are losing ground around women’s rights outside of the gender/sex wars, girls and young women are growing up under intense pressure and few are taking any notice.
You may have missed this example when I posted a couple of days ago, weka.
Dealing with the single-sex prison estate issue since 2014, successfully:
Video included in the link:
https://www.kcet.org/shows/socal-connected/clip/life-behind-bars-for-gbt-inmates-at-the-k6g
I saw that, very cool. Another good opening for solutions.
The inmates seem comfortable with it.
Proud too, in some respects.
just came across this, and thought about your comment here.
https://twitter.com/LavenderAndFire/status/1465753034307387398/photo/1
nice one. Particularly like the bit at the end about sex and sex/gender system.
weka and all the others here must listen Nat Rad,Kill Hill will be speaking for an hour to Kathleen Stock(Saturday morning)9-10
oh excellent? Let's hope KH pays attention and doesn't go into major interruption mode. Ask the hard questions, but less of the stupid ones.
Evenhanded intro, although I guess gender ID activists won't like it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday
Lets hope,we will see where she stands,KH had been my here hero.
I don't have too much hope, KH didn't stop Judith Butler's torrent of nonsense. KH is not as sharp and critical as she once would have been
Yes,maybe that is middle age spread,if I was too be kind.
Xi Jinping's determination to eliminate COVID, is as much a manifestation of a determination to be (seen to be) in control as it is prudent management of the problem being faced in the here and now.
It has echoes of the old regime, where one party state rule came before the economy and society.
It may be the same flaw, in strong man rulers, that led Putin to his aggression in Ukraine.
If so, it may have harmful impact on more than China – first in disruption in the global supply chain and second because of recourse to foreign policy adventurism.
Politicians shouting at each other in parliament what a pack of muppets.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[lprent: If you can’t address anything of relevance to a post – especially on the first comment – then just don’t comment. Otherwise it is just another hypocritical Muppet displaying their lack of skill in a debate. Banned two weeks for wasting the time of everyone reading your comment. ]
Kindly desist from denigrating The Muppets
Higherstandard.. well a really valuable commentshows real depth/sarc POOR standard more like.
"So, is oil really worth $100 a barrel? Another way of looking at it is to compare oil to a horse. A horse laboring a standard 40-hour work week (eight hours a day, five days a week, 50 weeks a year) would have to labor for more than one year to produce the energy in a barrel of oil. Do you think a horse could be fed and maintained for a year for $100? Not likely.
Human labor is even worse. A fit human adult can sustain about one-tenth of a horsepower, so a human would have to labor more than 10 years to equal a barrel of oil."
https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-xpm-2011-05-24-mc-barrel-oil-explainit-20110524-story.html
Work and energy…..how do we value those in our society who do the work?
We may be discovering we are rewarding the wrong things.
"how do we value those in our society who do the work?"
We could start by taxing wealth, not work!
Big oil could bring US gas prices down but won’t – so hit it with a windfall tax | Robert Reich | The Guardian
Oil prices have nothing to do with costs.
Oil & gas firms’ profits set to smash records reaching $834 billion in 2022, Rystad says – Offshore Energy (offshore-energy.biz)
Indeed most of the worlds current inflation is due to excessive profit taking, not rising costs.
"After Ardern ruled out a capital gains tax in 2019, I checked Ardern’s position, given it was inevitable the issue of tax reform would resurface.
The message from her office then was that, no, Ardern had not ruled out an inheritance tax or any other alternative form of wealth tax during her tenure.
It is undeniable that the following year Ardern responded to a question over whether she would resign before introducing a wealth tax by saying: “I won’t allow it to happen as Prime Minister.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/128553951/now-it-has-lit-the-fuse-labour-may-as-well-get-to-the-point-on-tax
Then why not link to this?
Pardon?
The opinion writer said it's undeniable that Ardern ruled out a wealth tax, but then didn't point to where she said that.
Jacinda Ardern is rubbishing National's "desperate" wealth tax attacks, promising yet again that Labour will not introduce one if it wins the election.
"I won't allow it to happen as Prime Minister," she told reporters on Wednesday, after National leader Judith Collins continued speculation that Labour would bow to the Greens and introduce a wealth tax.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/10/nz-election-2020-jacinda-ardern-rubbishes-desperate-wealth-tax-attacks-i-won-t-allow-it-to-happen-as-prime-minister.html
ta. Looks like pre-election positioning. Will be interesting to see how she manages any shift that Labour make on this now.
When energy companies make large profits ,they also pay taxes,
https://rollcall.com/2022/05/09/tax-revenue-boom-fuels-steep-budget-deficit-decline/
Which in the US means a smaller budget deficit.
https://twitter.com/charliebilello/status/1524519193009430528?cxt=HHwWgIC9iZ-Il6gqAAAA
Sure they do?
Effective Tax Rates for Oil and Gas Companies (taxpayer.net)
Then there are the direct and indirect subsidies they receive. https://e360.yale.edu/digest/fossil-fuels-received-5-9-trillion-in-subsidies-in-2020-report-finds
Noting that much of the USA’s, and the Wests, military spending is aimed at keeping oil company spending on supplies from oil producing countries, low. Another subsidy.
Tour de France cyclist David Lopez generated 262 watts continuous during a hill climb stage.
The sums ain't pretty.
https://www.velonews.com/events/tour-de-france/pro-power-analysis-stages-18-19-at-the-tour-de-france/
Finance is the name of the game these days.
Unearned income ,the rewards of modern monetary policy.
Finance dosnt produce anything.
The pay's not bad…though!
Middlemen, that is what they are. And throughout history they have proven to be the greediest profit-gougers of all, floating beneath the surface, but always loud in justifying the system that they are exploiting.
Our duopoly supermarkets are NZ's topical example – but the biggest and worst example is the bloody banks and banksters.
Middlemen need to be strictly controlled, but so far no country has succeeded in finding a way to do this. (Except maybe the USSR, but they then set up their own middlemen.)
For those of you who are Christian, I personally think that the best thing Christ ever did was to forget his 'Love your enemies' teachings; to grab a whip, and proceed to throw the bloody fetid, filthy money-changers out of God's temple. So excellent!
Middlemen..
I was reading this in the Spinoff (having seen the Canadian story elsewhere):
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/11-05-2022/overturning-the-gay-blood-ban-isnt-as-simple-and-straightforward-as-it-seems
Which had me thinking of this piece from last year:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/300183173/blood-donation-rule-change-will-allow-more-gay-bisexual-men-to-give
There's also the ban on collecting blood from anyone; who lived in the UK, France or Ireland between 1980 and 1996, due to CJD risk. Which is getting to be a fair chunk of the eligible population barred from giving blood ("about 20%") during Pandemics. So this is not simply targeted at gay men. But it is hardly a foolproof system:
What if they just lie (or "forget") about it?
I would consider it a risk vs supply scenario.
As the supply becomes more critical, the risk factors carry less weight, and the balance between the two changes.
Did the pandemic put such a strain on the supply that the balance had changed?
"What if they just lie (or "forget") about it?"
I can understand someone wanting to contribute. I have little patience for those whose desire to do so, is used as an excuse to bypass current restrictions by lying or 'forgetting'. There have been some recent articles about the positive benefits of matching blood by sex. Perhaps a part-answer to this dilemma if blood supply runs short is to match blood donated by gay men to other gay men (or others) who consent to receive it.
Despite being a blood donor in the past, I'm one of the UK cohort now prohibited.
If they determine that the CJD fear no longer has merit, than I'm sure many will return to donating. Until that point, the risk vs supply calculation remains.
Actually the NZ Blood Service site is a great informative source, with eligibility criteria plainly laid out.
https://www.nzblood.co.nz/become-a-donor/am-i-eligible/detailed-eligibility-criteria/#:~:text=Your%20eligibility%20is%20determined%20by,last%20sexual%20contact%20before%20donating.
There's a quick precis for homosexual men that want to donate, as well as a link to a 2020 report:
UK NHS changed the criteria last year to ask anyone who participated in anal sex follow up questions. I would assume it is to do with the efficiency of the sperm-blood vector for blood borne disease.
https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/news/landmark-change-to-blood-donation-eligibility-rules-on-today-s-world-blood-donor-day/#:~:text=Anyone%20who%20has%20had%20anal,for%20gonorrhoea%20will%20be%20deferred.
Re: your first reply Molly. The research on; the positive benefits of matching blood by sex, though intriguing, isn't that recent – nor is it that convincing:
https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/17/blood-transfusions-pregnant-women/
However, I don't have the university journal access that I once did; it is certainly possible that other more robust studies have since been published. However, what research is freely available online suggests a peak in the field around 2017, then almost nothing after 2020 (but then most medical researchers have been a bit busy elsewhere these last couple of years).
As regards NZ blood donor's; sexual behaviour and history, I do have to note that is confined to:
Why is it safer for a women to have oral or anal sex with a man than a man? Condom use is likely higher amongst many sex workers (depending on their circumstances), but they are somehow a greater risk than an amateur women who is into unprotected butt stuff? That a mongamous gay couple can be seen as inherently more risky than any sexually active women or straight man (who aren't sex workers or junkies), seems to mean that gay marriage is not really recognized as equally valid by the NZBS:
It seems like the NZBS donation criteria have been cludged together in an ad hoc manner over decades. They really could do with a systematic review to increase consistency across the board.
Thanks for that, re blood donor and sex. I did refer to articles so I knew it wasn't conclusive, but you've provided more details.
You are right about the identification of gay men. I think sexual behaviours have changed fairly recently with anal sex less likely to be solely within the cohort of homosexuals.
I always thought the issue included the possibility of Aids transmission, but also as mentioned the efficiency of the semen to blood vector for any blood borne disease. Regardless of sex/sexual orientation. Which is why the UK asks about sexual behaviour, not orientation. The UK also has a higher number of immigrants/visitors from countries with high levels of Aids so it still makes sense to screen in some form.
I don't understand the 3 month interval myself, as it assumes that any infection is no longer present. I'd have to read the report and see if they explain that interval. The points you make about male and female make sense. The more accurate way would be to screen all donors by testing, but I assume the cost would be prohibitive.
I agree that monogamy limits exposure. Prostitutes, however, have incredibly high levels of exposure. The risk is high there. Given that blood is provided to those with health challenges, this is a balance of risk vs benefit.
Do you think perhaps there's been little considered change because the current measures provide enough supply? ( ie. no immediate pressure to make changes?)
How crazy are the neo-cons – very…
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-us-show-it-can-win-a-nuclear-war-russia-putin-ukraine-nato-sarmat-missile-testing-warning-11651067733
Sorry pay wall, the have a bit where by you can listern to it. But essentially, they want the US to fight and win a nuclear war with Russia.
Yeah right.
I parse it as the author saying that a nuclear war should never be fought but if Russia were to start one, the US should be prepared to win.
But hey, cite away, dude.
https://archive.ph/6uQ1s
So your saying a neo-con saying MAD is fine, is fine with you dude?
You get a nuclear war is a exchange of nuclear weapons? And this was my point.
This fool is arguing for such an exchange. In the fact he wants to remove second strike ability, thus leaving Russia with no option but first strike.
Thus leaving the caged idiot Putin who has penchant for shooting first, only one option to shoot first with – nukes.
Neo-con logic at it's finest.
Anyone who thinks there will be a 'winner' in a nuclear war is crazier than the participants.
The illustrations. Fuck.
First 20 years. While the real veterans were alive, they remembered at what cost this victory was won, and how the Central Committee and the Cheka reacted to those who won it. Best of all, real veterans are illustrated by the picture "Moloch of War", banned in Sovka. Only psychopaths and necrophiles want to "repeat" this.
https://twitter.com/KermlinRussia/status/1524151152568422401
Every year on May 9, the slogan “no one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” strikes me the most. It was invented in the late Soviet years, when there were almost no real war veterans left.
But what really happened in the Stalin years.
google translate
A very moving pic for me personally. While in Russia I saw things very close to this – a man with no legs on an identical trolley – and a homeless boy huddled for warmth around an Eternal Flame just like this one. At -20degC.
Maybe you should visit the home of the Cherokee and the land of the debt slave.
Check it out 40 million on food stamps….homelessness in San Fran,Detroit,NY ..in fact most big cities is mind blowing.
Trying to get a min wage of $15 an hour atm.
As for medical care!!
You couldn't make this stuff up.
"Govt spent $235k on social media 'listening reports"
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/govt-spent-235k-social-media-listening-reports
what's the problem specifically?
Nothing particularly, but I do have an issue with govts looking like they are making policy decisions based on the public that can still afford the internet and care about social media while basing policy on their opinion.
I would have the same issue if they spent $235k on surveying old people's homes. Or teachers.
Yes they really do listen, in all kinds of useful aggregate ways, to help inform policy.
So they should.
$235,000 / 5,000,000 = 5 cents per Aotearoan.
While I do think that the selection sample is likely less than than the entire population, these 150 (58 + 92, or "nearly 100" as this NZH reprint would have it) analyses of views; already in the public arena from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other local blogs and forums, were likely representative of some of the concerns of NZers in general.
I have less of a problem with the DPMC attempting to get a feel for the concerns of the general public (or at least those who like to mouth off online) than I would if a government attempted to proceed in total ignorance. If anything, they shouldn't have cheaped out on this, and instead commissioned more robust (and thus expensive) research.
The ombudsman, aged care commissioner and ERO.
While I have a certain agreement with your view. It depends on which social media "THEY CHOSE" to listen to.
Everyone thinks they are are doing things right if they just look at comments saying they are doing things right.
There are millions of websites, and it can be easy to tend to stick to those that everyone one agrees with you on.
Not that I know which they look at, so this point might be a stretch. If so I apologise.
I think the fact that they hire businesses who specialise in social media analysis suggests they're not just looking at random tweets and forming policy from them.
The judges need to get tougher on crime. 39 year old no drivers licence. He will probably pay the pittance of a fine after 28 days and then drive the vehicle home again without a licence! Harden up judges.
Forbidden to drive: Man who has never had a licence caught driving – again | Stuff.co.nz
What – no post on Faafoi's folly?
The reforms include introducing a medium wage – $27.76 – for most Accredited Employer Work Visas and for Foreign Fishing Visas. https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/05/12/faafoi-defends-immigration-reforms-from-hospo-criticism/
Accredited employers? Did you learn nothing from the decades of roiling debacles like slave fishing Khriss? Do not outsource important legal powers like work visas to employers – any that want them cannot be trusted with them. Fund a fully staffed Immigration service properly for Chrissakes.
And $27.76? That's not a skilled worker by any stretch of the imagination. Try $35.00 – and that's a bargain.
Clearly we are returning to the fucking stupid policies of John Key – "Cheap migrant workers? Have as many as you like."
Hospo and tourism are 25$
Bad way to get wage inflation down.
Why would you want wage inflation down? And just how far below the CPI is it presently?
On the concomitant increases in minimum wage and hospo price increases.
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/annual-food-price-increase-remains-high-at-6-4-percent
And if signwriters thought they were in for a business uptake,they are wrong stickers are the new black.
We don't need to get wage inflation down. We need to allow the underpaid to regain fair pay by dropping the percentage nonsense (which always favours the rich and enlarges their margins) by allowing the same flat increase to everybody, including the rich.
If CEO of Air NZ gets $350,000 pay increase, then so do teachers, nurses, social workers and all beneficiaries. Everybody.
A couple of years of that would correct the unequal distribution of wealth that exists now because we have been suckered into believing that the same percentage increase for everyone is fair.
It is not, and the results are now obvious.
We see that real wages start to increase to somewhat realistic levels ( due to constraints on immigration) and as border controls relax, then we suddenly need more lower paid workers (the consensus across parliament) rental and housing prices increase,the OCR increases again etc …
How very far Labour have come, from being the party that supports workers, to being the Trojan horse for mass unskilled labour in the midst of a housing affordability crisis.
God only knows why hospo and fishing are singled out for even lower wages too – it's not as if they've been creaming it. The fisherfolk were already on the edge of penury from the way the QMS advantaged the larger companies. Bye bye innovation – large companies are run by accountants, not fishermen. They couldn't innovate on a bet.
This has been the most immigration-restrictive government in decades.
Already we have rest home managers that are decreasing the number of beds rather than decrease quality of care.
A great moment to take stock of your life, get out of industries that don't treat you well, re-train and do something in even higher demand and higher wages.
I'm five years from retirement Ad, already overqualified in two industries and haven't had an offer above mw in NZ for three decades. This is what you get when parties sell out their constituents.
get out of industries that don't treat you well
Better that the government, whose wages I ultimately pay, stops making illegal concessions to drive down wages in my chosen profession. Unless you think we should tolerate or normalize corruption?
Ad and I are on your side with this Stuart. You are clearly a capable and competent person with good judgement and highly employable.
Getting kicked in the nuts multiple times by industries that turn out to be shitty employers is no fun – but the ground has shifted. 2022 is the year when fully half the Baby Boomers – the largest post-War generation in most of the world retires. And each one of us takes 40 years of experience and skills with us, resulting in the biggest shortage of skilled labour ever. It is the reason why I have tried to retire three times now and each time been made an offer I cannot refuse.
We moved to Aus for 'five or six years of adventure' right at the end of my working life. And a decade later we are still at it.
Rest home nurses are paid more then the minimum wage restrictions.Covid is reducing the bed numbers more then staffing shortages.
That's not my experience. COVID has a strong operational effect, but the RN nurses that come over from Thailand and Philippines usually do their two years to get the full NZ registration, then get poached by the public health system.
Those that are left still get their minimum wage or just over, but get 'requested' to do double shifts and 1 day a week off.
".Covid is reducing the bed numbers more then staffing shortages."
Do you mean the number of bed available have reduced or the number of beds occupied?
the number of beds occupied.
Thats contrary to what I have heard….there is a dearth of available places and staffing is apparently the main cause.
Only since covid,the so called regional skills list from Immigration (2019) is beyond the pale ( written from central casting for sure)
Northland skill shortage.
Recreation,Hospitality and Tourism
Jockey (Trackwork Rider)
Outdoor Adventure Guide
(Skydive Tandem Master)
Snowsport Instructor
(including Technicians)
https://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/assets/uploads/immediate-skill-shortage-list.pdf
"Already we have rest home managers that are decreasing the number of beds rather than decrease quality of care. "
The quality of care in many homes is quite low. I'd be interested in knowing which managers are doing this, and whether it's based on quality of care or extra costs due to isolation requirements for new inhabitants.
As for the getting out of industries remark… Surely we are past the point of blaming individuals for the regulatory and policy failures of successive governments?
My experience is that rest homes are a totally cost-driven business. The rest homes closing down through skills shortages have been discussed by RNZ this week.
As for transitioning out of failing industries, people have been doing it for decades and it's not anyone's fault. As our export markets change so we have to as well.
Rest homes are profitable cost driven businesses with inadequate regulatory oversight and monitoring. Due to this environment the service ranges from 2xcellent to abysmal.
There is a difference between failing industries and industries failing to pay a living wage.
As for transitioning out of failing industries, people have been doing it for decades and it's not anyone's fault.
Sure – government policy is never to blame. The sinking lid that killed the public service as a career path was not the Brownian motion of random collisions but a coldly (some say brutally) calculated move on the part of certain politicians. The decline of the coastal shipping industry, the collapse of multiple fisheries under the inadequate QMS, the failure to develop fisheries and aquaculture as agriculture was once developed by a network of state research and training facilities – these could've happened to anyone.
Anyone whose government repeatedly dropped the ball.
Maybe somewhat, but mostly we change careers because some markets shrink and some expand. There's not a whole bunch the government can do about the decline in printers for printing and rise of digital services, the decline in horse dressage specialists and the rise of cars, the decline of semaphore and the rise of cellphones, the decline of playwrights and the rise of Youtube, the decline of lace collar specialists and the rise of activewear.
Nor anything unions or the state could have done about it.
You can oversubscribe causality to governments pretty easily.
some markets shrink and some expand
In industries where corrupt government created monopolies, like the QMS, hold sway, shrinkage is the rule.
But although the majority of NZ fisheries companies retrenched throughout the period of dark neoliberal fantasy that prevailed from 1990, there have been successes like Southern Clams. Sustainably designed, not built on slave workers, growing in spite of supposedly adverse market conditions, this is what a fishing sector would look like absent the fatuous nonsense that comes from sector lobbying.
Well it sure wasn't me that implemented the inequitable and unscientific (and coincidentally ineffectual at protecting key species) QMS. That was the government of the day.
It wasn't me that let the foreign charter game devolve from hiring vessels from specialist nations that NZ companies could learn from, to bringing in and normalizing slave ships – a practice that has now extended right across the economy with dirt cheap, completely unskilled, often fraudulently qualified workers, whose only function is to drive down wages in one of the most expensive economies to live in in the world.
It wasn't me that utterly failed to transition the crude extraction fisheries to a sustainable and extendable predominantly aquacultural model. I've put my heart and soul into my vocation, for negligible reward with occasional ridicule from the lazy hacks momentarily floating through the Minister of Fisheries sinecure without achieving anything of value. That too is on them.
I guess you're big on laissez faire "the state can do nothing" – but the state came in and stole the fisheries that were my livelihood, and those of my deceased colleagues. I will never forgive them – but had they a shred of human decency they would apologize to the victims of their overweening arrogance and manifest incompetence.