A useful backgrounder on Kainga Ora. Of a weekend reader length.
National's management of state housing, 2008-2017, was inept.
The problems with Kainga Ora design 2019-2022 (and then consideration of change)
Separation, or differentiation of the provider and urban development roles
The problem of debt cost of works in progress.
The inadequacy of the English solution to the problem (building less), so things get worse in terms of supply, just to make the books look better.
The agenda of Bill English – market rents 1990's (and sales to those who afford to buy), sell off of housing in the Wairarapa to gentrify the area. Government funding of non state providers etc.
If the main problem with Kāinga Ora is interest rates and staff, the fix is fairly simple: reduce Kāinga Ora’s headcount and help the Reserve Bank get inflation under control, and maybe even reduce the number of houses Kāinga Ora is building to lower its borrowing costs.
But these were not quite fixes proposed by the English report, which argued for a radical change, not just to Kāinga Ora, but to the whole system of social housing.
He argued Kāinga Ora should have an altered entity form, turning it into a Crown Company, which would likely reinforce a stronger separation between the executive, the board, and the minister.
English also wanted to see financial responsibility for housing “consolidated” under the Minister for Housing and his ministry which would begin to “actively purchase” housing services from other organisations like Community Housing Providers (CHPs), new Community Housing Associations (CHAs), and Kāinga Ora. Under this model, Kāinga Ora would become one social housing landlord among many.
The focus for providing new housing would shift from debt-laden Kāinga Ora, to CHPs and CHAs
English wants them to access more money more cheaply (part of having less state supply to the people – education, health and housing and ultimately faith based provider welfare – social investment and term limits. Boiling the state frog).
What are CHP's.
One thing they need is cheaper access to money. The RBG classifying them as investors is a problem. Will the Oz solution work here, a government guarantee or would Treasury "veto" this?
It looks likely that the Government may attempt to work out some long-term contracts for CHPs to make this security of funding clearer, in the hope of lowering their borrowing costs. But this doesn’t necessarily solve the debt-problem, it simply shifts it from Kāinga Ora to CHPs, which have less capacity to deal with it.
So, KO would still have a more secure funder and debt model than the CHP.
For mine give the RBG something for ending the investor classification – which is untrue if they have association with government. A mortgage surcharge set by the RBG raises money for government … .
English noted that Kāinga Ora’s build costs seemed to be too high, implying CHPs could do better. MHUD agreed.
In September of last year it sent a report from a quantity surveyor back to ministers saying that Kāinga Ora’s build costs were higher than “a modest market home”, but they didn’t put this down to incompetence on Kāinga Ora’s incompetence.
Instead, they said this was due to “build features associated with Kāinga Ora’s requirements”. (Kāinga Ora requires houses to be fitted with certain accessibility features, given the large number of tenants with disabilities)
A broken model.
KO can have better accounts by doing less – reducing its investment cost and harvest rising market rents (charges tenants income related rent and tops this up to the market rate via government top up) resulting from a shortage. CHP's assisted by government can join such a profitable sector.
This is one of rising property values and rents (landlord CG), lower home ownership, and either more in the state/social housing queue (aging boomers without homes) or alternatives – easy subdivision for small builds on existing sections/shared house ownership/housing on iwi land/incentivising shared housing by allowing owners to take boarders without tax liability/sole parents allowed to have boarders/support for placement of mobile homes on sections/mobile home parks.
The article – The billion dollar problems with Kāinga Ora and why plans to fix it might make the problem worse by Thomas Coughlan at
National's management of state housing, 2008-2017, was inept.
Thats an under understatement. And Inept ? Hmmm, thats without thinking..(or IMO,knowing) that the Nats knew exactly what they were doing with and to NZ's State/Kainga Ora Housing.
Ironic that Ol' double dipper Bill English toxic thumbs are all over this from start..to finish. I sincerely hope that NActfirst are not the death of it.
On Tuesday, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, who is based outside Gaza, said it accepted the ceasefire resolution and was ready to negotiate over the specifics.
This required a formula stipulating the total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a swap of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinians jailed in Israel, he told Reuters.
"The US administration is facing a real test to carry out its commitments in compelling the occupation to immediately end the war in an implementation of the UN Security Council resolution," Abu Zuhri said.
Presumably the intent is to require IDF withdrawal from Gaza Palestine before the hostage exchange begins.
The Israelis will negotiate for the hostage exchange without intent to leave until that is completed.
It is the game of alpha male posturing – leave before we release hostages, or release hostages before we leave. They must be branches of the same Semite family. Cain and Abel in our time. Pre Islam and the covenant nation, Semites would arrive at a place and exchange females and become brothers. Arabs would do this at an oasis (formalised it as the cult of two female shaped idols in a red tent shrine on the back of a camel). Not in this generation. All that Jewish nationalist and other Semite testosterone boosted by concepts of religious destiny.
Renewable energy advocates say New Zealand could learn from the experience of Australia, where solar panels are so popular they sometimes produce more electricity than people can use.
Well I have posted about this before….why is there a lag on New Solar and esp on new builds?
And of course Govt gets money from electricity sales. Sadly, now that rio tinto looks to be embedded in NZ (should have been gone years back ! )….IMO we need to look at less household reliance on the Big Power companies.
A lot of housing developments were built with cheap solar hot water units where the roof connections have perished quite quickly in some cases and so people have turned them off cause landlords etc don't want to replace them. There are some lessons to be learned as well.
The independent Climate Change Commission was already in line to report back on methane, so the announcement adds a second layer of expert review. Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment chief economist Geoff Simmons said the research on methane was already done.
So the why is political. To delay action for now. And try and change the course for future governments.
The CoC, reconsiders – effectively ends inclusion of farming in the ETS – and speculates that the right will take over the world and there will be no obligations to fulfill. Or they can do it by subsidising farmers …
The coalition will also invest $400 million over the next four years to "accelerate the commercialisation" of tools and technology to reduce on-farm emissions.
Which suits farmers.
Farmers are going to meet their emissions targets without the need for pricing," Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford.
He told Morning Report He Waka Eke Noa focused too much on pricing, and the issue was about finding ways to reduce emissions.
"We're already on good track [to meet targets]," Langford said.
"We're actually doing it because that's what our markets are asking for, not because we need regulation to push us there and that's probably exactly where we want to be."
"We're paying our fair share with all the products and services that come on to farm and then with everything that leaves our farm as well. We're paying our fair share of the ETS," Langford said.
He said farmers deserved tax relief considering how much the agriculture sector contributed to the economy
Teenagers representative Wayne Langford said that they had done all their homework and understood all the subjects so they didn’t need to do any tests or assignments. They also said because of this new app that was making study so easy that the government should totally buy all farmers beers to go to the party this weekend because they were going to get a job no worries because they were ahead on everything.
Students doing extra cram courses could be heard to mutter ‘Whiny ass-kiss b€+*%’ as they had their 4th cup of coffee.
We pay our fair share of the ETS, we just don’t want to pay.
And if they had made any progress whatsoever, not just that bullshit they keep saying without any proof about being the most efficient (no reference, no proof) in the world, they’d want the ETS because the market would reward their progress.
At some point very soon internationally consumers are going to look at the NZ prices increased by inflation and backed by farmers who don’t give a f and think I’ll get local fruit rather than this $5 red Kiwi and I’ll get this cheaper Australian manuka honey and this cheaper Australian beef and the New Zealanders overseas won’t go into bat for them because they’re an industry predicated on lying and getting special treatment. Time for beneficiary bashing at the farm gate.
Bet Corin Dann was all over this, like that tenacious bull dog worthy of Morning Report that he is. Bet he didn’t let this guy run his mouth without any meaningful challenge!
From Bernard Hickey:
The Government exempts farm emissions from the ETS, but announces $400 million of subsidies for farmers to reduce emissions by an indeterminate amount over no particular time period. No analysis was released of the impact on Aotearoa-NZ’s climate emissions, our Paris liability or the impact on trade deals requiring us to meet our Paris goals, which we’re currently on track to miss badly.
Or as he later headlined ‘Farmers get free pass AND get subsidy’ and perhaps even a BJ from Muldoon’s ghost! Almost like neoliberal bullshit is entirely for other people.
“I have heard the referral to New Zealand farms being the most carbon emission efficient in the world many times. First question one should ask to understand this is, where do those numbers come from? Who funded the research? And if you look at the limitations of the research would we draw the same conclusions? Even if we are ‘some of the most carbon-efficient’ we are still emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases as a country.
…
He Waka Eke Noa proposals were inadequate and far from ambitious, so disestablishing that makes sense, but not if agricultural emissions are to not be priced at all.
“Starting fresh after so many years of delay is preposterous.
This is the main route between Auckland and the Coromandel, parts completely washed away. Not hypothetical climate change damage, something that profoundly impacts the local economy. Lucky for those roads that can get fast tracked eh.
Why would you ever trust an NZ farmer about a damn thing?
… and we wonder why farmers have a near genocidal distrust of the left?
Eat the food they produce; live off the imports bought with the foreign exchange they bring in and tax the shit out of them while driving down their income at the farm gate; all while trying to tell them how to farm!
No we do not. The return on farming is often the CG made on the farm sale – on which there is no tax.
And as the current FF leader puts it, it is not locals telling them how to farm
"We're actually doing it because that's what our markets are asking for, not because we need regulation to push us there
That said
1.the record of waterway pollution is a then it was … and now it is …. story. From NI lakes to nitrates in Canterbury and then the impact of dairy farming in Southland (livestock in the deep south mud).
2.the growth of the world market mitigates moves away from meat and dairy consumption by those concerned about the industry impact on global warming.
The major problem for farmers is their relationship with banks – as it is for many in business (not financed by loans against a residential property). The issue is borrowing/debt cost.
Hope the love of your life treats you the way farmers have treated NZ over climate change. Just let me keep f- n ya, we’ll marry ya next year! Also, can I borrow 20k? Going to the races with the boys tomorrow…
That genocidal crack is in particularly poor taste considering people have died in these sudden and sometimes unpredictable storms fueled by climate change. And others as I pointed out above have waited over a year just to find out what is happening with their houses. God knows what they’ve been doing in the meantime.
And finally we’ve got to the point passed petulant whining where commercial contracts have been signed requiring climate action and they have penalties for non-action. No? Lalalalalala?
Watch the contortion as the market can decide on all kinds of matters, but bless the farmers who’ve been stuck in the mud since the seventies. Close your eyes and call your MP and when you open them another tax break or subsidy and it all goes away.
These aren’t the days of Lovelock or Peter Snell and the black singlet in the paddock. Called on again and again to meet the challenge of the modern era with a combined front you’ve shirked every time, with many engaging in garbage science and denialism to justify going AWOL.
Great to see our numbers at the march on the weekend, but very hard not to be pessimistic if the EU really does reverse its combustion engine ban as a result of this hard right electoral reversal.
The writer is not expecting a reversal. The Identity and Democracy group of Le Pen is outlier still. And one voice in the Peoples Party does not indicate much. The real issue is how they choose to tax Chinese EV and the lobbying of car manufacturers (some want to export to China) as to protectionism and or free trade.
biggest thing that the left could do right now is build bridges with the large numbers of people who are not politically aligned. If we don't make them welcome, the right will. They already are very active on this.
On the right, Orban has made rejection of gender identity theory a central plank of his platform, and has done rather well.
On the left, Wagenknecht has made rejection of gender identity theory a central plank of her platform, and has done rather well, going from a nonexistent party to 6% of the German vote in the EU elections.
Hmm. Allowing entitled men to barge into women's spaces and telling LGB kids they are broken and need to be fixed… seems like an electoral liability across the board.
Allowing entitled men to barge into women's spaces
Only an electoral liability thanks to this sort of emotive language being thrown around in soundbites often enough that it triggers sensitive and ignorant people who end up seeing anything to do with transgender people as the biggest crisis facing humanity.
Don't worry, the burning planet will get those awful trans people as well.
Ah, yes, this old line. It’s not about trans people, many of whom agree with me.
It’s about women and their rights.
It’s about children and their rights.
It’s about parents and their rights.
That’s most of the people on the planet.
It’s also an issue that’s highly emotive, with children, sex, and medical malpractice, and people vote on emotion.
I remain of the opinion that it’s a bigger issue than is generally assumed, so unfortunately your detailed and nuanced analysis has not convinced me of your point of view. Onya for trying though!
Only an electoral liability thanks to this sort of emotive language being thrown around in soundbites often enough that it triggers sensitive and ignorant people who end up seeing anything to do with transgender people as the biggest crisis facing humanity.
I will place the responsibility for that firmly with the liberal left who ran No Debate. They're why the current narrative is dominated by social conservatives. Fortunately in the UK, GCFs and other progressive, left, or centrist women and some men, have been doing the actual work of protecting women's and children's rights and many of them know how to do that while protecting the humans rights of trans people.
The big risk at the moment is that those people will get overwhelmed by the reactionaries. None of that was necessary. GC was originally feminist and left wing. The liberal left fucked them over and the current situaiton is what we have been left with.
Are there really that many voters that put "gender identity theory" anywhere near their voting considerations? I talk with lots of people about politics, the topic doesn't come up at all. It's more about socio-economic (work, income, cost-of-living…), health, eduction, environmental, climate and sometimes migration issues. You have to convince voters in those areas to make it to parliament.
I had a quick look at BSW (Bündnis Sarah Wagenknecht) website trying to confirm that "gender identity theory" is a "central plank of her platform" and couldn't find anything. So probably nowhere near their top 5 priorities.
It's debatable how much BSW is a new party. On paper yes, but it's mainly a split from the party "Die Linke" and Sarah Wagenknecht herself is a household name in German left-wing politics for many decades with a significant number of followers.
I just think it’s been underestimated as an issue because people don’t really want to talk about it or honestly state their views because they’ve seen what happened to people who did. Pileons, career / social consequences , physical attacks. Can’t stop people expressing that view at the ballot box though.
no-one knows, because no-one is asking the question in polling.
But, what we do know is that in the UK, GC positions in both the Tories and Labour was forced to shift because of GC activists, and that is largely because most Brits want trans people to have rights but draw the line at where it impacts on women's rights and children.
The other thing is I follow a shit tonne of GC accounts on twitter, and it is very very common for women in particular to say they no longer know who to vote for. Some have already crossed into voting conservative. Others will spoil the ballot. That's NZ, UK and the US.
This is very concerning. It's clear to me that many women will abandon their lifelong voting habits over this issue and I can tell you categorically that the left loses out on that. Worse, as those women and some men get welcomed by the conservatives, they learn that there are other reasons to stay. That is happening in the context of rising fascism.
The left's blindness on this is a huge problem and as I said to Kay above, I place the blame for that firmly on the liberal left who ran No Debate. It actually scares me how much this is a problem and who much we aren't talking about it.
I've been listening to UK GCs in recent weeks and many are talking about voting conservative now for a range of reasons. I doubt this will cost Labour the election, but there are women ready to tear Labour to pieces if they try and remove women's sex based rights further. They don't care if they get called bigots and transphobes, they know what their priorities are, and the liberal left has completely fucked this up.
Consider that the way you're dismissing women's genuinely held concern about their rights is basically the same way women's rights have been trivialised throughout history.
It's not important.
Nobody cares (despite evidence to the contrary)
It's a waste of time
"gender identity" in scare quotes, as if it's not a real concept with real societal consequences.
Kay tags in with "it's just emotive, sensitive people, triggered"
All we needed is the word “hysterical” and we’ve got a BINGO.
Basically the standard dismissal of genuinely held concerns that women have been dealing with for literally thousands of years.
Welcome to the new misogyny. Same as the old misogyny, but with glitter.
No need to ask question / wasting more time about something the majority people are not even remotely impacted by or interested in.
Every poll that I've seen (UK, NZ, US) shows these things:
1. most people support trans rights
2. most people draw the line when those rights start impacting on women's rights
3. increasingly people are withdrawing support for trans rights because of women's and children's rights being overridden.
Even if you don't care about women's and children's rights, there is a backlash happening against trans people.
You can ignore all that and decide it's a waste of time, but you cannot now say you weren't warned.
I've told you categorically that there is a backlash against trans rights, and it's because most people know that material sex matters. The right are making hay from that, and the liberal left are sticking their fingers in their ears going lalala and blaming feminists.
Just don't come complaining to us when shit goes sideways.
They got closer to knowing in Scotland when Nicola Sturgeon tried to convince voters that a convicted double rapist claiming identity as a woman should be incarcerated in a woman's prison.
He husband playing fast and loose with Party finances hastened her political demise
I think the game is up tbh, and most people are just going to say nope. NZ is further behind that process. The issue now is whether the reactionary/conservative narrative will dominate, or whether we will get something grounded in comment sense and progressive values.
I also think there are still going to hard battles for feminists. Looking at the UK election and fucking Labour still dithering on what a woman is.
imagine driving in Palmerston North or into Hastings and seeing no one on the streets, all the shops are empty, every home and workplace, empty. That's what Luxon/Seymour & Peters have managed to do – send the population of Palmy of Hastings overseas in the past year. National – Wave goodbye to your future and your loved ones
Starts with a can of soup, progressing to blocking, intimidation, and physical aggression with a sign. Where does it end?
All parties need to make a statement that physical violence against elected officials is unacceptable under any circumstances, or we're heading for a Jo Cox situation.
Yeah it's all a bit shit. If you stop people from speaking, some people will assume they had something important to say that's being suppressed even if they are idiots. Just let people speak and let the idiots become obvious. Particularly applies to Pugh.
I mean, which would you rather watch, Pugh getting bonked by a sign, or Pugh attempting to answer questions about how much arsenic is used in gold mines, where the tailings end up, and how this relates to te waikoropupu springs?
In one situation she can be painted as a hero, in the other, she’s, well, Maureen Pugh.
I doubt this. And, the most likely outcome is an escalation of violence ending in riots. No one wants the violence of the Springbok Tour protests repeated.
However, we may well be heading towards a situation where protestors will be physically separated – by a security fence – from the venue at which they are protesting.
And possibly charged for the required security arrangements (after all, the local Santa Parade has to pay a large chunk of money for road-closure management – why not protestors?)
And arrested for any infringement (blocking cars, intimidating behaviour, etc.)
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
NONFICTION 1 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 2 The Life of Dai by Dai Henwood and Jaquie Brown (HarperCollins, $39.99) 3 A Life Less Punishing by Matt Heath (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 4 Waitohu by Hinemoa Elder (Penguin Random House, $35) ...
https://www.thepost.co.nz/business/350306474/meaningless-political-lobbying-code-plan-unravels?cx_testId=3&cx_testVariant=cx_1&cx_artPos=4&utm_source=localised_module#cxrecs_s
Lobbiests lobby against the code to control Lobbiests!!!
A useful backgrounder on Kainga Ora. Of a weekend reader length.
National's management of state housing, 2008-2017, was inept.
The problems with Kainga Ora design 2019-2022 (and then consideration of change)
Separation, or differentiation of the provider and urban development roles
The problem of debt cost of works in progress.
The inadequacy of the English solution to the problem (building less), so things get worse in terms of supply, just to make the books look better.
The agenda of Bill English – market rents 1990's (and sales to those who afford to buy), sell off of housing in the Wairarapa to gentrify the area. Government funding of non state providers etc.
English wants them to access more money more cheaply (part of having less state supply to the people – education, health and housing and ultimately faith based provider welfare – social investment and term limits. Boiling the state frog).
What are CHP's.
One thing they need is cheaper access to money. The RBG classifying them as investors is a problem. Will the Oz solution work here, a government guarantee or would Treasury "veto" this?
So, KO would still have a more secure funder and debt model than the CHP.
For mine give the RBG something for ending the investor classification – which is untrue if they have association with government. A mortgage surcharge set by the RBG raises money for government … .
English noted that Kāinga Ora’s build costs seemed to be too high, implying CHPs could do better. MHUD agreed.
A broken model.
KO can have better accounts by doing less – reducing its investment cost and harvest rising market rents (charges tenants income related rent and tops this up to the market rate via government top up) resulting from a shortage. CHP's assisted by government can join such a profitable sector.
This is one of rising property values and rents (landlord CG), lower home ownership, and either more in the state/social housing queue (aging boomers without homes) or alternatives – easy subdivision for small builds on existing sections/shared house ownership/housing on iwi land/incentivising shared housing by allowing owners to take boarders without tax liability/sole parents allowed to have boarders/support for placement of mobile homes on sections/mobile home parks.
The article – The billion dollar problems with Kāinga Ora and why plans to fix it might make the problem worse by Thomas Coughlan at
https://archive.li/f8Vcp#selection-1153.245-1153.274
Thats an under understatement. And Inept ? Hmmm, thats without thinking..(or IMO,knowing) that the Nats knew exactly what they were doing with and to NZ's State/Kainga Ora Housing.
Ironic that Ol' double dipper Bill English toxic thumbs are all over this from start..to finish. I sincerely hope that NActfirst are not the death of it.
Totally ! Blinglish had done very well out of this if one follows him from treasurer to today and his 'business' dealings post parliament.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2024/06/hamas-says-it-accepts-un-backed-gaza-truce-plan-with-israel-us-cites-hopeful-sign.html
Presumably the intent is to require IDF withdrawal from Gaza Palestine before the hostage exchange begins.
The Israelis will negotiate for the hostage exchange without intent to leave until that is completed.
It is the game of alpha male posturing – leave before we release hostages, or release hostages before we leave. They must be branches of the same Semite family. Cain and Abel in our time. Pre Islam and the covenant nation, Semites would arrive at a place and exchange females and become brothers. Arabs would do this at an oasis (formalised it as the cult of two female shaped idols in a red tent shrine on the back of a camel). Not in this generation. All that Jewish nationalist and other Semite testosterone boosted by concepts of religious destiny.
Cain and Abel in our time.
Or, rather, Isaac and Ishmael.
Well I have posted about this before….why is there a lag on New Solar and esp on new builds?
And of course Govt gets money from electricity sales. Sadly, now that rio tinto looks to be embedded in NZ (should have been gone years back ! )….IMO we need to look at less household reliance on the Big Power companies.
Friends of mine, admittedly well off, recently built a new home. Solar panels on the roof. Family of 3, 1 is a teenager. Two teslas.
During last winter, their power bill was $6.00 a month.
A lot of housing developments were built with cheap solar hot water units where the roof connections have perished quite quickly in some cases and so people have turned them off cause landlords etc don't want to replace them. There are some lessons to be learned as well.
Key's privatisation of the power companies is one of the biggest impediments to the uptake of solar.
Power shortages are a good thing for shareholders.
Renationalise the power companies and encourage grid tied solar systems. We are at a point now where EVs can supply electricity to a house.
War does not determine who is right, only who is left – Bertrand Russell
April 2024
So the why is political. To delay action for now. And try and change the course for future governments.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/513695/methane-science-already-settled-watchdog-says
June 2024
The CoC, reconsiders – effectively ends inclusion of farming in the ETS – and speculates that the right will take over the world and there will be no obligations to fulfill. Or they can do it by subsidising farmers …
Which suits farmers.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/519313/government-setting-up-smokescreen-to-look-away-from-climate-change-chloe-swarbrick
Not that NZ shouldn't try to do its bit, but it could all be moot anyway if the Arctic were to generate a tera-belch:
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/arctic/sea-of-methane-sealed-beneath-arctic-permafrost-could-trigger-climate-feedback-loop-if-it-escapes
Teenagers representative Wayne Langford said that they had done all their homework and understood all the subjects so they didn’t need to do any tests or assignments. They also said because of this new app that was making study so easy that the government should totally buy all farmers beers to go to the party this weekend because they were going to get a job no worries because they were ahead on everything.
Students doing extra cram courses could be heard to mutter ‘Whiny ass-kiss b€+*%’ as they had their 4th cup of coffee.
I heard that idiot and you nailed it.
Wtf is this c&&7 talking about?
We pay our fair share of the ETS, we just don’t want to pay.
And if they had made any progress whatsoever, not just that bullshit they keep saying without any proof about being the most efficient (no reference, no proof) in the world, they’d want the ETS because the market would reward their progress.
At some point very soon internationally consumers are going to look at the NZ prices increased by inflation and backed by farmers who don’t give a f and think I’ll get local fruit rather than this $5 red Kiwi and I’ll get this cheaper Australian manuka honey and this cheaper Australian beef and the New Zealanders overseas won’t go into bat for them because they’re an industry predicated on lying and getting special treatment. Time for beneficiary bashing at the farm gate.
Bet Corin Dann was all over this, like that tenacious bull dog worthy of Morning Report that he is. Bet he didn’t let this guy run his mouth without any meaningful challenge!
From Bernard Hickey:
Or as he later headlined ‘Farmers get free pass AND get subsidy’ and perhaps even a BJ from Muldoon’s ghost! Almost like neoliberal bullshit is entirely for other people.
https://thekaka.substack.com/
Incredulous scientists react:
“I have heard the referral to New Zealand farms being the most carbon emission efficient in the world many times. First question one should ask to understand this is, where do those numbers come from? Who funded the research? And if you look at the limitations of the research would we draw the same conclusions? Even if we are ‘some of the most carbon-efficient’ we are still emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases as a country.
…
He Waka Eke Noa proposals were inadequate and far from ambitious, so disestablishing that makes sense, but not if agricultural emissions are to not be priced at all.
“Starting fresh after so many years of delay is preposterous.
https://www.sciencemediacentre.co.nz/2024/06/11/farming-to-remain-outside-nzs-emissions-trading-scheme-expert-reaction/
Why would you ever trust an NZ farmer about a damn thing?
And just to remind you:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519197/flood-damaged-homes-still-in-limbo-no-reason-to-believe-they-will-get-things-done
1500 homes still haven’t had assessments made a year after the floods. Which were made much worse by climate change.
This road was damaged by TWO storms and has been out of action for over two years.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/518516/northland-s-mangamuka-gorge-to-reopen-by-christmas-after-two-year-closure
This is the main route between Auckland and the Coromandel, parts completely washed away. Not hypothetical climate change damage, something that profoundly impacts the local economy. Lucky for those roads that can get fast tracked eh.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/499154/waka-kotahi-fast-tracks-repair-of-major-state-highway
State Highway 1 through the Brynderwyns another 2 years.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516774/re-opening-of-state-highway-1-over-brynderwyns-pushed-back-to-end-of-june
And also related our connection between north and south and key to linking SH1 and our rail freight. Still on the lookout for that Toyota.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/131092724/broken-cook-strait-ferry-drifted-a-nautical-mile-towards-rocks
Wonder how this is effecting tourism…
… and we wonder why farmers have a near genocidal distrust of the left?
Eat the food they produce; live off the imports bought with the foreign exchange they bring in and tax the shit out of them while driving down their income at the farm gate; all while trying to tell them how to farm!
Ka-ching!
No we do not. The return on farming is often the CG made on the farm sale – on which there is no tax.
And as the current FF leader puts it, it is not locals telling them how to farm
That said
1.the record of waterway pollution is a then it was … and now it is …. story. From NI lakes to nitrates in Canterbury and then the impact of dairy farming in Southland (livestock in the deep south mud).
2.the growth of the world market mitigates moves away from meat and dairy consumption by those concerned about the industry impact on global warming.
The major problem for farmers is their relationship with banks – as it is for many in business (not financed by loans against a residential property). The issue is borrowing/debt cost.
Hope the love of your life treats you the way farmers have treated NZ over climate change. Just let me keep f- n ya, we’ll marry ya next year! Also, can I borrow 20k? Going to the races with the boys tomorrow…
That genocidal crack is in particularly poor taste considering people have died in these sudden and sometimes unpredictable storms fueled by climate change. And others as I pointed out above have waited over a year just to find out what is happening with their houses. God knows what they’ve been doing in the meantime.
And finally we’ve got to the point passed petulant whining where commercial contracts have been signed requiring climate action and they have penalties for non-action. No? Lalalalalala?
Watch the contortion as the market can decide on all kinds of matters, but bless the farmers who’ve been stuck in the mud since the seventies. Close your eyes and call your MP and when you open them another tax break or subsidy and it all goes away.
These aren’t the days of Lovelock or Peter Snell and the black singlet in the paddock. Called on again and again to meet the challenge of the modern era with a combined front you’ve shirked every time, with many engaging in garbage science and denialism to justify going AWOL.
A little foretaste of how climate change will be accelerated under a hard right European Union and hard right US White House under Trump.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2024/06/11/did-gasoline-win-the-european-election-00162741
Great to see our numbers at the march on the weekend, but very hard not to be pessimistic if the EU really does reverse its combustion engine ban as a result of this hard right electoral reversal.
I do not foresee a hard right EU resulting from the election.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-06-2024/#comment-2002184
The writer is not expecting a reversal. The Identity and Democracy group of Le Pen is outlier still. And one voice in the Peoples Party does not indicate much. The real issue is how they choose to tax Chinese EV and the lobbying of car manufacturers (some want to export to China) as to protectionism and or free trade.
biggest thing that the left could do right now is build bridges with the large numbers of people who are not politically aligned. If we don't make them welcome, the right will. They already are very active on this.
On the right, Orban has made rejection of gender identity theory a central plank of his platform, and has done rather well.
On the left, Wagenknecht has made rejection of gender identity theory a central plank of her platform, and has done rather well, going from a nonexistent party to 6% of the German vote in the EU elections.
Hmm. Allowing entitled men to barge into women's spaces and telling LGB kids they are broken and need to be fixed… seems like an electoral liability across the board.
The Peoples Party increased its number of MP's, despite the departure of Orban's party (which had a reduced vote).
https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/expressions/fideszs-exit-european-peoples-party-will-diminish-hungarys-influence-eu
A new breakaway group took 30% of the vote.
It may be Orban’s last term, albeit a new centre-right party is set up to be replacement (and not the left).
https://apnews.com/article/hungarians-vote-orban-war-peace-european-parliament-8b54d0e99166127a4356d3a2d75f0a27
Allowing entitled men to barge into women's spaces
Only an electoral liability thanks to this sort of emotive language being thrown around in soundbites often enough that it triggers sensitive and ignorant people who end up seeing anything to do with transgender people as the biggest crisis facing humanity.
Don't worry, the burning planet will get those awful trans people as well.
Ah, yes, this old line. It’s not about trans people, many of whom agree with me.
It’s about women and their rights.
It’s about children and their rights.
It’s about parents and their rights.
That’s most of the people on the planet.
It’s also an issue that’s highly emotive, with children, sex, and medical malpractice, and people vote on emotion.
I remain of the opinion that it’s a bigger issue than is generally assumed, so unfortunately your detailed and nuanced analysis has not convinced me of your point of view. Onya for trying though!
I will place the responsibility for that firmly with the liberal left who ran No Debate. They're why the current narrative is dominated by social conservatives. Fortunately in the UK, GCFs and other progressive, left, or centrist women and some men, have been doing the actual work of protecting women's and children's rights and many of them know how to do that while protecting the humans rights of trans people.
The big risk at the moment is that those people will get overwhelmed by the reactionaries. None of that was necessary. GC was originally feminist and left wing. The liberal left fucked them over and the current situaiton is what we have been left with.
Are there really that many voters that put "gender identity theory" anywhere near their voting considerations? I talk with lots of people about politics, the topic doesn't come up at all. It's more about socio-economic (work, income, cost-of-living…), health, eduction, environmental, climate and sometimes migration issues. You have to convince voters in those areas to make it to parliament.
I had a quick look at BSW (Bündnis Sarah Wagenknecht) website trying to confirm that "gender identity theory" is a "central plank of her platform" and couldn't find anything. So probably nowhere near their top 5 priorities.
It's debatable how much BSW is a new party. On paper yes, but it's mainly a split from the party "Die Linke" and Sarah Wagenknecht herself is a household name in German left-wing politics for many decades with a significant number of followers.
I just think it’s been underestimated as an issue because people don’t really want to talk about it or honestly state their views because they’ve seen what happened to people who did. Pileons, career / social consequences , physical attacks. Can’t stop people expressing that view at the ballot box though.
I don't spend any more time on the perceived "gender identity" crises. It's one reason to avoid The Standard lately. So much wasted energy.
Coming back to Orban and Wagenknecht. The areas they clearly overlap and where they probably earned most support on are:
no-one knows, because no-one is asking the question in polling.
But, what we do know is that in the UK, GC positions in both the Tories and Labour was forced to shift because of GC activists, and that is largely because most Brits want trans people to have rights but draw the line at where it impacts on women's rights and children.
The other thing is I follow a shit tonne of GC accounts on twitter, and it is very very common for women in particular to say they no longer know who to vote for. Some have already crossed into voting conservative. Others will spoil the ballot. That's NZ, UK and the US.
This is very concerning. It's clear to me that many women will abandon their lifelong voting habits over this issue and I can tell you categorically that the left loses out on that. Worse, as those women and some men get welcomed by the conservatives, they learn that there are other reasons to stay. That is happening in the context of rising fascism.
The left's blindness on this is a huge problem and as I said to Kay above, I place the blame for that firmly on the liberal left who ran No Debate. It actually scares me how much this is a problem and who much we aren't talking about it.
I've been listening to UK GCs in recent weeks and many are talking about voting conservative now for a range of reasons. I doubt this will cost Labour the election, but there are women ready to tear Labour to pieces if they try and remove women's sex based rights further. They don't care if they get called bigots and transphobes, they know what their priorities are, and the liberal left has completely fucked this up.
No need to ask question / wasting more time about something the majority people are not even remotely impacted by or interested in.
Consider that the way you're dismissing women's genuinely held concern about their rights is basically the same way women's rights have been trivialised throughout history.
It's not important.
Nobody cares (despite evidence to the contrary)
It's a waste of time
"gender identity" in scare quotes, as if it's not a real concept with real societal consequences.
Kay tags in with "it's just emotive, sensitive people, triggered"
All we needed is the word “hysterical” and we’ve got a BINGO.
Basically the standard dismissal of genuinely held concerns that women have been dealing with for literally thousands of years.
Welcome to the new misogyny. Same as the old misogyny, but with glitter.
Every poll that I've seen (UK, NZ, US) shows these things:
1. most people support trans rights
2. most people draw the line when those rights start impacting on women's rights
3. increasingly people are withdrawing support for trans rights because of women's and children's rights being overridden.
Even if you don't care about women's and children's rights, there is a backlash happening against trans people.
You can ignore all that and decide it's a waste of time, but you cannot now say you weren't warned.
I've told you categorically that there is a backlash against trans rights, and it's because most people know that material sex matters. The right are making hay from that, and the liberal left are sticking their fingers in their ears going lalala and blaming feminists.
Just don't come complaining to us when shit goes sideways.
It makes sense, because most people don't support self ID when they know what it means. And we're getting closer to many people knowing what it means.
They got closer to knowing in Scotland when Nicola Sturgeon tried to convince voters that a convicted double rapist claiming identity as a woman should be incarcerated in a woman's prison.
He husband playing fast and loose with Party finances hastened her political demise
I think the game is up tbh, and most people are just going to say nope. NZ is further behind that process. The issue now is whether the reactionary/conservative narrative will dominate, or whether we will get something grounded in comment sense and progressive values.
I also think there are still going to hard battles for feminists. Looking at the UK election and fucking Labour still dithering on what a woman is.
also, as we're seeing in Scotland, the hardcore are going to double down.
Hey Nicola..you following the news?
And yeah, back in the day, I was part of the fightback against the Nats colluding with Skycity.
I def remember ol' sir Key and his fantasy claims..
Something NZ needed..or needs? IMO NO !
New records of both citizens leaving and net loss of citizens within 12 months
Record migrant labour inflow – equivalent to 3 average years in one year (after the dry years April 2020-2022 … ).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2024/06/migration-new-record-set-for-kiwis-leaving-new-zealand-as-exodus-deepens.html
Some extra detail about trends
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/519339/migrant-arrivals-up-25-percent-departures-up-nearly-a-third-in-last-year-stats-nz-figures-show
imagine driving in Palmerston North or into Hastings and seeing no one on the streets, all the shops are empty, every home and workplace, empty. That's what Luxon/Seymour & Peters have managed to do – send the population of Palmy of Hastings overseas in the past year. National – Wave goodbye to your future and your loved ones
I agree with Simon Bridges's assessment of Maureen Pugh's competence, but this is absolutely unacceptable.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350307804/mp-maureen-pugh-allegedly-assaulted-gold-mine-protest
Starts with a can of soup, progressing to blocking, intimidation, and physical aggression with a sign. Where does it end?
All parties need to make a statement that physical violence against elected officials is unacceptable under any circumstances, or we're heading for a Jo Cox situation.
Tomato juice – recently milkshake at Farange.
Yeah it's all a bit shit. If you stop people from speaking, some people will assume they had something important to say that's being suppressed even if they are idiots. Just let people speak and let the idiots become obvious. Particularly applies to Pugh.
I mean, which would you rather watch, Pugh getting bonked by a sign, or Pugh attempting to answer questions about how much arsenic is used in gold mines, where the tailings end up, and how this relates to te waikoropupu springs?
In one situation she can be painted as a hero, in the other, she’s, well, Maureen Pugh.
More likely to a situation where right wing protectors begin to deal to the attackers – with "extreme prejudice" – perhaps?
I doubt this. And, the most likely outcome is an escalation of violence ending in riots. No one wants the violence of the Springbok Tour protests repeated.
However, we may well be heading towards a situation where protestors will be physically separated – by a security fence – from the venue at which they are protesting.
And possibly charged for the required security arrangements (after all, the local Santa Parade has to pay a large chunk of money for road-closure management – why not protestors?)
And arrested for any infringement (blocking cars, intimidating behaviour, etc.)
I don't think that's a good outcome for NZ.
The number of submissions made by citizens on the Fast-track Approvals Bill is more than 25,000.
Is that a record?
Nowhere near. The End of Life bill had around 40K. 80K for 3 Waters. 100K for Conversion Therapy ban.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/126378262/recordbreaking-number-of-submissions-on-law-proposing-to-ban-conversion-therapy