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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Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The 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. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
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 ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
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The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
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Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
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The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
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Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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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.