The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
the fact that far-right European governments and parties today are growing ever closer to Israel shows a “convergence of fascist and neo-Nazi groups with hardliner Zionists.”
As a worrying UK example of this, anti-Muslim fascist leader Tommy Robinson’s recent trip to Israel and funding by anti-Palestinian groups.
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
IF you wake at midnight, and hear a horse's feet,
Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that ask no questions isn't told a lie.
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by. …
'If You do as you've been told, 'likely there's a chance,
You'll be give a dainty doll, all the way from France,
With a cap of Valenciennes, and a velvet hood –
A present from the Gentlemen, along 'o being good !
Five and twenty ponies,
Trotting through the dark –
Brandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk.
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie –
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by !
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
21 May 2019 – Westland District Council has paid nearly $30,000 in reparation following discharges, which were in breach of the resource consent conditions and the Resource Management Act, from the Franz Josef sewerage system to the Waiho riverbed last year.
In its March 5 report, the Auditor-General found a number of unacceptable practices when it investigated the construction of a new stopbank to protect Franz Josef's wastewater treatment plant from flooding, including whether the work had been approved at all. It concluded that the council couldn't show whether the decision was well made or the money well spent.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
In an interview with RNZ on Thursday, Foon said he hoped to "showcase New Zealand as a great country to live".
"I want to continue the good work of the past commissioners … and continue to enhance harmonious relations right throughout New Zealand."
He said there were a wide range of multifaceted issues and solutions that needed to be implemented.
Raising the average salaries of those in need, enhancing education levels, providing affordable housing and matters regarding state care were particular issues that required attention, Foon said.
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that'sThe "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
As the Government has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Government at play once again.
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
In 2017 it was announced that from October 26th, 2019, tourists will no longer be able to climb Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock), out of respect for local indigenous tribes.
In the lead up to its closure, tourists have begun to swarm the UNESCO World Heritage Site, with hopes of hiking to the top of the 348m high arkose monolith.
… On Tuesday, photos of hundreds of tourists lining up to hike Uluru begun circulating online, angering locals, the traditional landowners, Australians and officials alike.
… Apparently tourists have been leaving human waste and nappies behind, despite there being a dedicated area to dump waste.
Chief executive of Tourism Central Australia, Stephen Schwer, told the ABC, "(Tourists) think they're doing a good thing by free camping along the way; what they are actually doing is trespassing on pastoralist and joint-managed and protected land.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
I actually think that it's good to hear some people saying they want to take some responsibility. I'll tell you what, just stop beating up kids, and you won't need Oranga Tamariki. [my bold]
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Investors in Ross Asset Management – New Zealand's largest ponzi scheme – are taking legal action against ANZ bank over how it managed the accounts for the failed financial advice firm. ….
So far 200 investors have signed up to take the claim which could run into the tens of millions of dollars depending on how many more investors sign up.
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
Veronica Thomas, a 38-year-old phlebotomist from outside Columbia, likened Harris to former President Barack Obama.
"It was powerful. It was moving, it stirred emotions. We're due for change. I felt like Obama all over again."
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
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It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
The Apartheid state of Israel is the largest right wing hate movement… it kills on a war crime scale.. and it's reaching out
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/watch-film-labour-mps-didnt-want-you-see
I'm linking to a 5 minute doco that tells us information NZ should know about the sub humane christchurh shooter … as the title shows his name … I have spaced gap ( h ttp ), undo that if / when you copy and paste it.
The information is important as it raises things we should be guarding against …. and are perhaps blind to.
We should at least look at things like ' the shooter claims that ethno nationalists like himself are concentrated in the European armed forces and national police forces' … may be relevant to why his filthy great big red flags were ignored in our preventable terrorist tragedy.
And it identifies … The phrases and words …. 'Invaders' language …. … tRump or our National Party .. that grows and feeds …. this hate mindset for votes .
we need to see the scale of what has been growing on around us .. and we have been blind to.it
I hope the moderators here amend my back-space link block …and allow the title to be seen. I know the shooters name just like I know Martyn Bryants name … both of which I associate with men who would chase little children .. to shoot them.
We are adults, I think we could be helping to forget … before we have even learned.
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_FSZYTGyBE
@reason, too right, and of course what do the guard dog defenders of liberal status quo like the Guardian and NYTimes do in the face of this out right racist war..double down on their relentless smearing and disinformation on the two politicians (Corbyn, Sanders) who have had decades fighting racism..most so called MSM ‘liberal’ media is public enemy number one, you want some real fake or misconstrued and misleading news..look no further than your daily MSM liberal news sources…that is news in fact.
Clinton laid the foundation amd law on immigration policy … and on which tRump is now building ,,,,
This cruelty is not limited to one side or the other ….
Rather it seems to be a disease among the rich and powerful
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/jeffrey-epstein-bill-clinton-donald-trump-alan-dershowitz.html
The same horrible actors, appearing in different plays and lots of theatres …
Divide and be cruel … Build Great Racism … human traffick
They have a lot of fans .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rl_EwaDg4A
There are degrees of cruelty. Imprisoning families for a few days (capture and release) is one thing – seperating children from their families without the ability to reunite them, putting large groups of children in wire netting cells without the means to keep them sanitary is quite another.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/21/detained-migrant-children-no-toothbrush-soap-sleep/?utm_term=.4e8ca8e36896
" U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee had found that migrants in Rio Grande Valley facilities were hungry, with some eating only “sandwiches of two pieces of dry bread and one slice of ham.” They were thirsty, with up to 20 migrants sharing the same cup to drink from the water cooler. They were embarrassed to use a toilet in front of 50 other people and they couldn’t take a shower or brush their teeth or even wash their hands with soap and dry them with a towel, the judge found. At night, they couldn’t sleep. The lights were left on, as they shivered beneath an aluminum blanket on the concrete floor, the judge found. "
Yep – it's deliberate use of cruelty as a deterrent. Something the Ockers have been doing for a while now. It's likely to become the 'go to' strategy in the face of CC-driven food shortages increasing refugee flows – and it will fuel the rise of the far right everywhere. As the resource (food, water) competition tightens, a similar strategy of containment will be deployed against unwanted internal populations as well.
It's uncomfortable to contemplate to say the least. AB I see you as being correct.
And if anyone doubts the depths we could descend to, and our neighbours across the ditch, just note that we have the example of extermination of Jews, gypsies, imperfect people (not shining Aryan types), and the dehumanising of many in WW2. This by a nation that had been the basis of Protestant Christianity, had highly educated and sophisticated people, and was far from being a simple society that was locked into eternal wars and vendettas tribe to tribe.
Educated, sophisticated people, who have abandoned standards of behaviour such as respect for all humans, for kindness and status to animals, and support for human community and sharing, are rife.
What devil's brew will they come up with, in their welter of power. The maxim of Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely' is daily proven.
Jump from one Big Power to another – can any be seen to be aiming at good standards in all their dealings. China and Falun Gong? USA we know about. UK conducting public dismemberment of their long-held welfare policies and government responsibility.
How we may have to cope with it – I thought of A Smugglers Song a poem by Rudyard Kipling, he wasn't just a poohbah Brit.
Rudyard Kipling also wrote 'If'. Here it is read well by Michael Caine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFMVIfl2UY
Heresy @reason!!!! Shadrach will be along shortly to chastise you
Eugenie Sage needs to pull her head in over comments that Westland Council didn't have a fund set aside for historic landfill risks.
DOC has something like 90% of the land on the coast, and the use of that land results in massive (like the majority) use of Council resource and infrastructure such as road, water systems, and yes rubbish dumps…
.. and get this. DOC pays no rates.
Pull your head in Sage – pay up or shut up. DOC bludger, bludging off the ratepayers of Westland.
Before getting angry at Eugenie, maybe ANOTHER audit of the Westland Council is required. They haven't been the best financial managers or carers for their environment in the past.
Care to apply for the job? Applications close on Monday..
https://www.trademe.co.nz/jobs/accounting/finance-managers-controllers/listing-2193442685.htm
https://www.wcrc.govt.nz/council/news-and-annoucements?item=id:2626k2tms17q9s864i8w
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1904/S00179/mahuta-wants-assurances-over-westland-council-procurement.htm
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/89772992/council-assets-manager-vivek-goel-under-investigation?rm=m
Am happy to find many more links about more situations relating to their bad financial management…. just saying….
Or, how about asking maureen pugh about it, she was one of the worst mayors of Westland Council.
+ 1 yep Cinny.
Blaming DOC is poor thinking and calling them bludgers is just stupid.
But hes right, DOC doesnt pay a cent in rates and Sage wants 'ratepayers' to pay for and manage the risks.
The shoddy decision making by the council is a separate issue, maybe they could do a tourist tax like Queenstown wants , but is facing stiff resistance from the business owners.
DOC doesn't pay a cent in rates – yeah I wonder why? jeeze wtf. DOC isn't just a loss on the balance sheet it has inputs as well.
These dumps are everywhere – 18 in Tasman alone that could be breached in storms. Every council will have to get off their arse and use all resources to mitigate the potential disaster of these blowouts. Trying to say dunno, not us is not any answer imo
Dukeofurl, DOC charge each and every concession holder on the Westland DOC estate 7% of their turnover each and every year…
… get that everybody? 7% of turnover… (of course then there is GST too at 15% = 22% in total). How much would just one of those scenic heli concessions turnover in one year??
Perhaps an application under the OIA to ascertain how much DOC and the government make out of Westland each and every year would help shed some light on their place within the Westland community…
… as earners but not payers.
as bludgers, as would a corporate be so described, in this context
edit: oh, forgot about income tax as well….
do you even know what 'concession' means in the context of our National Parks and protected places – the people getting concessions do so so that they can potentially make PERSONAL profit from the collective (the conservation estate or the bit they take people into) – oh the poor fucking dears. As usual you have it all arse about face.
I hold two concessions in Westland, plus I’m a ratepayer. The points made are facts.
But as usual, you can't see past the personal and consequently miss the point.
Ha – so the old asking for a friend is out then – that is good because I know that you own concessions and I know it is all about the $$$. Or maybe I have it all wrong like you said lol
none of your posts make any sense
Can I ask @vto? I know it's not that kosha to ask, but am I correct in assuming you're a child (and then rationally thunking adult) of the neo-lib era?
The one where minimal gummint, operationalising everything on the basis of fishincy and fektivniss, externalising costs and incentivising all for the sake of a market ruling supreme.
"So"………"Ultimately", if you are of that era and experience, I'd recommend getting together some sort of PPP that (who) could bid for the cost of cleanups going forwid. They could work (constructively) with DOC, and local bodies after consultation with all the stakeholders, and after various conversations have been had, and I believe we'd be able to come up with a viable solution.
I mean, I get that the ratepayer base is insuffishint and has unreasnibble expectations of it – speshilly when the number of interlopers masquerading as tourists are inflicting their shit on you, but I just wonder about the intricacies of it all if we're to adhere to neo-liberal religion.
Is it possible we could have a conversation?
Absolutely. I don't think the neolib approach works too well though – that much has been proved in various parts of society (except the purchase of plastic buckets from the warehouse where neolib doctrine works fine…).
As for cleaning up these dumps all around the country? What popped into mind some while ago is that these things can be attended to over a longer period. For example, buy a digger and a truck and start removing the shit. Don't PPP it. Just buy and employ and get started. It may take some time, but no matter that.
Like the cathedral in Chch – doesn't matter how lng it takes, just make a start and keep going.
Get a digger and start moving the shit. It aint hard.
One digger and truck, $30,000 per annum. One employee, $60,000 per annum. Overhead $20,000 per annum.
Well yea! Of course! Fully!
Couple of problems Actually several) though as far as your criticisms of Eugenie.
Munsters and their enterage can't comment of "operational matters" going forward (That is of course, unless their future careers depend on it)
And secondly, it'll have to be subjected to the risk managers and liability analysts.
(Coukd take some time, and as you may or may not know, both Jacinda and Andrew Little have recently alerted us to the fact that things always take longer than they expected)
The argument seems to be over who the employer is.
You could get half a PR consultant for that. Get a grip on yourself.
Why would DOC pay rates? Do the police pay rates for their Westland area? Why should payment for the clean up of the council's dump come out of the DOC budget? DOC was gutted several times over in the last 20 years so if you want the general NZ taxpayer to contribute extra funding for a council's fuck up and the local's rubbish, you will be opening the door for more industries and councils to pass the buck.
Nothing to do with the point made Cinny
Point stands
I think West Coast council management is pretty stop-gap and No.8 fencing wire thinking. They are probably on a par with the management of sports codes, people who have some experience 'in the field' and are focussed on their own ideas and approaches. Not conducive to outside queries of their decisions or concerned about professional analysis except just enough to get people off their backs. This is BAU for a number of councils, so can't just point the finger at SI West Coast.
Grey, Westland Council surely does have a record of poor skills in certain areas, however those have absolutely nothing to do with the point made, which concerns Sage's political point-scoring against Smith in the context outlined.
DOC earns massive amounts every year from the use of Council infrastructure, yet pays NOTHING towards their cost. NOTHING. ZIP. ZERO
If this was a corporate, or if Nick Smith or Maggie boorish Barry were still the Ministers and Key in charge, then my points made would be agreed with here.
Until DOC pays its way here the Minister needs to stfu.
Are people around here allowed to tell Sage to stfu in the same way people around here used to tell Barry and Smith to stfu? Or is it too hard for partisans to pull their ideology blinkers aside?
DOC don't own the land so don't pay rates although I would guess that they do pay rates for their buildings in town. Rubbish is a council responsibility and rubbish is created by the residents, visitors and tourists – not by DOC who would be taking care of this patch of New Zealand regardless of existing infrastructure. Also does not the government pay for the roads outside of the towns? So roads etc are paid for out of the same purse that pays for DOC.
"DOC don't own the land ". Are you referring to the registered proprietor, and picking at the technicalities?
The Westland Council has 6,000 ratepayers who pay a total of approx $6,000,000 per annum.
That's it.
There is no more.
There is little to no money there. Many many people live on the smell of an oily rag.
You can't magic money up out of nowhere.
Yet approx 1,000,000 tourists pass through every year – for the DOC estate.
The total land area is approx 1,200,000 hectares, while only 120,000 hectares only is rateable. Guess who has the other 1,080,000 hectares?
DOC earns from the use of Council assets yet pays nothing towards those assets.
Regarding government-paid roads, that is only SH6, the main road. All other roads are ratepayer-paid. The 6,000 of them.
Do some sums.
Think of this issue as if Key and his slimeballs still held the reins – it will enable clearer thinking. Nick Smith is still Minister.
Just a bit more from the DOC Annual Report…
DOC earn approx $60,000,000 per annum.
How much of that is earned in Westland? Westland holds four of the thirteen National Parks.
Guestimate 25% of the DOC estate sits in Westland . Equals $15,000,000 from Westland.
Like so very many other ratepayers in Westland, in this matter I give DOC the one-finger salute. They fall short in taking their place in the community.
And Sage just makes it worse with her comments – shame on her
The tourists who use the council infrastructure also buy food, fuel, equipment, and accommodation. All those local businesses pay that on in their rates.
I will be a nit picking legalistic bore, but DOC do not own the "Conservation/DOC estate".
DOC administer the Conservation Estate on behalf of the "Crown" – ie the Government as a whole – and on behalf of the people of NZ.
So if anyone should be contributing more it is central government, not DOC per se.
I think I've got the answer @vto. It'd be a win win for everyone.
First of all we'll need to cover off those skill shortages in the Westland Council and ensure consultation with the community.
Who better than Laidlaw, who'll be looking for a gig after the local body elections? A perfect fit! and with a proven record of consultation and problem solving.
Then we could shunt Lou Sanson off to Treasury after the good work he's done resolving DOC's 'toxic culture', and he's got the smarts and verbals necessary to handle criticism over targeting employees and trying to shut the scientific community up. Better still he believes in "emphasising community involvement and greater engagement with the nation’s Indigenous peoples" in keeping with transformational government. (It's a given because …. well because he says so).After the Treasury hacking debacle, we need someone with Lou's smarts to help settle things down.
We immediately put Public Service CEO on the Immigration NZ skills shortage list with an English language requirement of IELTS 7.0 or higher with a salary range reflecting the global market place. With a bit of luck, we might get someone of the calibre of one of Sir John's former banking mates from offshore – there are one or two looking for a bolt hole, or even someone from the US EPA.
What could be a better fit for all stakeholders going forward!
Was the ex dump on DOC land or as a result of DOC? Nope.
Has the Westland Council managed themselves well, especially in the last decade? Nope.
Neither of these things are the fault of the minister.
DOC have helped, massively and so have the defence force. Apparently it's still not good enough for some, maybe the fear of a rate rise is more of a concern?
vto, if you really want to do something and pay rates there, I strongly suggest you join the volunteer clean up. Because your rates may end up increasing as a result of the Westland Councils bad management, not the first time that's happened I hear. Election coming up…. maybe you will stand?
I hope you focus on RACE RELATIONS like your job title implies and not drift into other areas and dissipate the energy. Good luck.
So Aussie banks get the 'message' in Australia too.
Not seen the same response from them ,that they offered here in NZ.
https://www.interest.co.nz/banking/100657/apra-will-make-each-anz-national-australia-bank-and-westpac-hold-extra-a500-mln
Daft government with tepid strategic planning for the country, no foresight, just open the doors and let the corporate hordes swan in and take our bits.
Better to deal with NZ reliables, try and win over the gangs that are aspirational good communities – but when it comes to licensing Marijuana it may be another CPPPTTAA? walkover.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394195/medicinal-cannabis-licence-fees-of-up-to-23k-could-limit-growth-of-local-businesses
Seems Labour are taking the potential of having medicinal cannabis in the hands of the people (which would lower the cost) and are setting it up for the corporates to produce and supply.
However, this could all come undone if personal use and production (backyard) is legalised via the up and coming referendum.
Unless of course some kind of excise tax or licence to grow system is introduced, thereby turning growers without the correct licences (available for only $5000) into criminals. Much potential for disaster here.
As Labour has set no law in place pending the referendum, we don't really know what we will be voting for. So you could well be right re licences to grow your own. Making the only way to legally use it, is to buy it commercially or pay a commercial fee to grow it. At this stage, we just don't know. It was meant to be binding, but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/08-05-2019/what-we-know-about-the-cannabis-referendum-in-10-easy-questions/
"At this stage [~14 months out from the referendum], we just don't know."
"but hey, that's fall short Labour at play once again."
And that's The "relentlessly soggy" "lefty" "more left than most" "transparent as a transparent thing" Chairman at play once again.
Interesting that there's not a single mention of NZ's two most recent Government referendums (binding referendums at that) in the article linked to by The Chairman – not one. A curious omission, don't you think?
The shortlist for the first flag referendum was made public about three months before voting, and the results of that vote were released about three months before the second flag referendum.
Three months vs 14 months, and poor Chair is panicking
Should we be concerned?
If you are happy to vote blindly, then nah.
Personally, I prefer to know what I'm voting for. And without a binding referendum there will be no pending law in place.
Which seems to be something Drowsy M. Kram doesn't understand.
This issue appears to be of importance to you. It might actually get you to vote for one of the parties who have said they will honour the wishes of the people, then. For realsies.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/388537/little-guarantees-binding-cannabis-referendum-but-yet-to-define-binding
What The Chairman fails to understand is that the article they linked to is over two months old.
This is basic stuff – The Chairman is slightly worse than the opposition National party (if that's possible) – a bad joke.
Indeed, there's barely a gNats whisker between The self-professed "lefty" "more left than most" Chairman's position and National’s – funny that!
What an extraordinarily poor performance. Do any readers here still believe that The Chairman is a genuine friend of the left?
The Chairman's contributions on this blog epitomise the self-serving deceit of the National party machine – keep 'em coming.
Doesn't alter the point made, but your post shows you still don't have a clue. It's not binding.
It's not binding yet, because 14 months out the supporting legislation and referendum questions haven’t been drafted – don’t panic!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjxseHuUSYI
Chair is creaking under the pressure and he might soon need a recliner.
Witness a very persistent Chair from early 2015: https://thestandard.org.nz/how-do-the-greens-grow-their-base/#comment-962178
If he reclines any further he might meet the Greens on the 'other side'
FIFY
Note that in your link there was not a single mention of Labour, not one. Are you really that blind to your own anti-Labour bias?
Thanks, but that is not fully correct.
It's a Labour led fall short Government.
FIFY
And you asked if I’m blind, ha.
Uh-huh. Your LDS is making you hallucinate.
Medicine is a far cry from weed for the masses. I don't imagine the 23K applies to recreational pot but we'll see. There are many variables to be considered:
Some weed can make you paranoid
Some is anxiolytic
Those are complete opposites. Medicinal weed should be handled by people who have a vested interest to get it right for a medical market. The regulatory bodies should be busy, and that is expensive.
Recreational weed, like booze, might push a brand and the public buy it or they don't. There will be varied types and effects and strengths. The best boutique brands will emerge. NZ weed will be exported if it's good enough. The money should come back to NZ.
The medicine would be for local and then global markets. Made in NZ, paying tax in NZ and employing in NZ…
The person needing medicine needs someone who knows biology, medicine, cannabinoid & other metabolite profiles, dosage, frequency, how those apply to various delivery methods, how these vary with culture methods… We're not bloody paupers making herb tea in a tin hut.
It might sound expensive, till you look at what it’s worth.
You overlooked the fact that many are growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
All the Government is going to do for them is keep that activity illegal and force them to pay top dollar for it.
So while it may be grown here, profits are bound to head offshore as locals are priced out or sell out as is usually the case with NZ businesses. And as for paying local tax, surely you must know how offshore owned companies minimize that?
The home-grower will find their medicine improved a great deal via the research of professionals. While you make stuff up and bang out about something you obviously know nothing about, there are many people who are not getting the efficacy from their medicine that they could be getting.
How many cancer patients have you worked with? PTSD? Autism?
What metabolite profiles are desirable for the above groups.
You clown.
While I'm not claiming to be a doctor or health specialist, I'm not making stuff up. There are many growing their own and using this now for medicinal purposes without a problem apart from it being illegal.
They just want the Government to stop criminalizing them.
Sure, further research may further benefit them but they should have that choice between being able to home grow or opt for a commercial product.
Why do you and the Government want to prevent that and rob them of that choice?
In 1953 the United Kingdom and the U.S. conspired to crush democracy in Iran. They're still causing trouble 66 years later.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/11/is-the-us-nudging-britain-into-dangerous-waters-with-iran
No respect – a metaphor for our society imo – sometime is going so thrash it to death so we can say 'look at me'.
Maybe tourism in its current form is just mass narcissism, i.e.it's all about the self rather than the place visited. So many tourists here seem to need to race across the landscape, climb it, jump off bits of it etc. It’s possible to do that and leave a place still knowing nothing about it.
yeah – I have been a guide in a National Park and a Nature Reserve before – I had to actively get people to slow down and actually look around and see it all. Quite often there was resistance even though they had paid to be there. Bit like when they'd ask – what's that?, what's this? I so wanted to say "why do you care – let it all go and just be here without excessive knowledge gathering' Just be here now. But of course I didn't, I played the game.
The tourists come to conquer the country? Veni, vidi, vici? Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream. But they never will. A lot are only capable of short, quick, bursts of emotion with no contemplation of the wonder of the world. and no lasting respect for the land and the culture that are revealed to those who desire to see it. ('We've got better at home, is that the best they can do'?) Been there, done that, off to the next thing. The world is to use, discard and then pass on to the next experience.
Christine Aguilera puts the popular zip into Climb every Mountain which was an inspirational song about escape from oppression and tyranny. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_AcWbuxQdo
Here's a profound one for..you.
https://youtu.be/XcMM5-zBCEc
I was in Hawea recently, and I just drove to a nice scenic spot, and read my book under the mountains for a couple hours. I saw 100s of people, tourists, park, get out, look for a few minutes, take a selfie, back in car and off they went to the next spot. A beautiful area though.
Away from the 'maddening' throng. A book, view, peace, and something to nibble and drink. All requirements satisfied. Hope you liked the book.
It always has been the ultimate in conspicuous consumption.
All done in the best possible taste..
'Epstein pleaded guilty in state court in Florida in 2007 to charges of soliciting a minor for prostitution, resolving allegations that he had molested numerous girls. He served 13 months in jail, though he was allowed out six days a week to work from his office in Palm Beach.'
read:https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jeffrey-epstein-accused-of-sexually-abusing-teenage-girls-surrounded-himself-with-influential-network-of-defenders/2019/07/09/67069e12-a259-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.02401d1231e1
Someone has just been jailed for life with a minimum period of 10 years behind bars. I suppose that someone with a corkscrew mind could make sense of bringing that law in.
News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative, and The Standard is mostly an echo chamber of that. It is all too easy to feed into finding something to be upset about each day.
This constant barrage of negative news can be debilitating, and the propensity for many here to repeat their pet peeves over and over is simply tiring. What effect has all the complaining done for any of the 'popular' issues here?
Politics. Neo-liberal loathing. Poverty. Biodiversity Loss. Climate Change. War. Extremism… What has the years of whinging achieved? If you've made an impact by all means we need to hear about that. Not the same shit trotted out each day.
The world has a lot of problems right now. Concentrating on nothing but problems however gives a skewed and unrealistic view. I believe we play straight into the hands of power brokers who would prefer we are fearful and fighting among ourselves, rather than emboldened citizens of an incredible planet, surrounded by incredible people.
'Seek and ye shall find'. The daily ferreting out of things that are wrong is an exercise in propagating futility. Yes there are many issues, moaning about them constantly is a piss-poor effort.
As is moaning about all the moaning.
How to Get There is a step in the right direction.
Here's an old dude opened up his home gym and now has many local children training with him instead of getting up to other forms of 'entertainment' that might set their lives on a destructive path.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/78-year-old-bodybuilder-opens-his-home-gym-to-youngsters-for-free-so-they-wont-get-into-trouble/
My anxiety is through the roof lately, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Today I'll go seek some professional help, because that is how you responsibly deal with a problem – action, not whinging.
Here's the Guardian, which just linking to sets off a bunch of predictable whining about the publication itself. Like hysterical teens on facebook screaming faux outrage.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/01/and-now-for-something-completely-different-some-positive-news
When I try say – well done this person or that person for something good – y'all take their pedigree and dredge up whatever dirt you can find or imagine about them. No credit where it's due, no bipartisan support for anyone. Sides and stances.
Here's an app that lends eyes to the blind
https://time.com/collection/best-inventions-2018/5454219/aira/
Use it.
The torrents of negative/bad news (particularly NZ/local bad news) can eventually erode/undermine the 'defences' of all but the most determined optimists.
Some have attempted to introduce 'good news quotas', and the idea seems attractive (I like it; think TV One News' "Good Sorts" on steriods), although quotas do attract detractors.
https://practicalreason.blog/2017/08/21/the-folly-of-good-news-quotas/
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/good-sorts-nomination-form-q01380
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/01/and-now-for-good-news-why-media-taking-positive-outlook
https://www.positive.news/
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-good-news-stories-you-probably-didnt-hear-about-in-2018-cc3c65f8ebd0
Good news quotas – lol. But yay for them trying aye.
I'm not expecting persons to live under a rock, but more balance might help.
A few of the authors here post good news as it pops up and this is appreciated – then they're shot down by a wave of negative posters who can't accept anything good from their particular pet political peeve.
Then we all have a shit-fight.
Here's a laugh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD6Mj_gDzH0
I'm waiting for that movie. The original was pretty funny. Both crowdfunded.
Yeah I loved the first one. Stephanie Paul (Madame President) is a kiwi.
Yeah, but they had me at Laibach 😉
I was completely hooked after the 'albinised' black dude is marching with his sign back on Earth:
"The Moon Nazis Are Coming!"
Not subtle, but sublimely ridiculous.
If you appreciate a good laugh, though you’ve likely seen them: Idiocracy, and 4 Lions.
Tears of laughter. So damn good.
Idiocracy was pretty good, but the number of people saying that it was really happening because other people disagreed with them pissed me right off.
4 lions is on the list.
'Four Lions' screened at the NZ Film Festival almost ten years ago; still memorable after that one viewing. An extraordinary achievement from start to scarily laughable finish; makes you think – edgy.
Must mention what I think is an unsung NZ classic:
'The Devil Dared Me To' The legend of Stuntman, Randy Campbell.
Gloriously silly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Devil_Dared_Me_To
' News on the whole is overwhelmingly negative '
off shore oligarchial propaganda, wrapped up in local events.
There is the trade off between not having to do it yourself, & the imposition of non representative political agenda.
Even the political parties don't rate very much, don't like how they are somewhat beholden to and spoken for by other arrangements, it's just anarchical to talent and resources, the combinations you want for real value creation.
Serious question.
If this Government are sincere when they say they will repeal the Part 4A amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act (rushed through under urgency on the back of the 2013 Budget) why can they not do this now?
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2013/0022/latest/whole.html
This would essentially effect a reboot of the Public Health and Disability Act, and the Ministry of Health DSS Funded Family Care policy would wink out of existence.
https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/funded-family-care-operational-policy
https://gazette.govt.nz/notice/id/2013-go6248
All that would be needed is for the prohibition for having a resident family member provide the assessed care to be removed from MOH:DSS documents.
MOH DSS clients who have been through the NASC process and undergone the needs assessments and had hours allocated can simply choose to have a family member provide those supports either through Individualised Funding or through a Contracted Provider.
As was the common practice for those family carers who were being paid despite the policy forbidding this. The Ministry of Health DSS has the details of these arrangements. (I have an anonymised list obtained through OIA)
There will be certain eligible DSS clients whose assessments have been too heavily predicated on resident family providing what the Misery calls 'natural supports'.
These will need to be re- assessed on a case by case basis with assistance from ACC who also expect resident family to provide some level of 'natural supports ' but have the real risk that if they don't fund adequate hours of support they (ACC) can be liable if there is further harm to the client.
ACC and the Ministry of Health have worked closely on previous occasions so this is not an outrageous suggestion.
So, why not repeal the Part 4A POS now and allow those who have been denied access to the funding allocated for their care because of a policy determined to be discriminatory by the Courts in decisions all three of the Parties in Government claim they agree with?
Because I am very, very suspicious that resolution of this will be delayed until after the election.
Easy enough to fix right away, as you point out.
As you say Rosemary, some of the issues could be very quickly remedied – for example, by using urgency to repeal the dreaded Part 4a of the Act etc. But to do so that way would actually just be doing what the last Nat government did in bringing Part 4a and the whole rediculous policy in the first place with all the attendant problems that accompanied that move – lack of consultation with those affected, no public submission process etc, etc.
I fully recognise your reasons for scepticism etc in light of what you and Peter, and many others have gone through for years and I fully support all of you. (I too have some disabilities and know full well how hard the fight is to try to get what you are entitled to.)
Having worked in the State Service sector in Wellington for over four decades and in particular in areas interacting and liaising with, and working on secondment from time to time in, the Parliamentary arena, I am reasonably confident that the intentions are to get these legislative changes etc through and in place well before the election in the second half of next year – but at the same time taking the time to do it properly in full consultation with people like yourselves, and through the proper legislative process of select committee deliberation, public submissions etc.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
The various press releases by Ministers seem to have included mention of the way that Part 4a was brought in under urgency and without consultation etc and the wish not to do the same – eg
“We are committed to getting this change through as swiftly as we can, while also avoiding the process which created the current legislation,” says Julie Anne Genter.
http://community.scoop.co.nz/2019/07/government-changes-funded-family-care-policy/
My understanding is that work is well advanced on various possible options to replace the ridiculous employment arrangement brought in in 2013 "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau."
The three Coalition parties all seem to be in agreement on this issue and singing from the same song sheet, and IIRC the intention is to announce these proposals, the proposed changes to legislation etc in the next few months and certainly well before the end of this year.
In other words, what I am trying to say badly is that as someone who has worked in the area of legislative changes etc, they seem to be making sure that they have all their ducks lined up on this issue before they go ahead – as they must do particularly in light of the judicial decisions. So I so hope I am not wrong!
Thank you for responding veutoviper, I was sending you psychic messages hoping for your particular insights.
I do sincerely hope you are right, because another betrayal, a twist of the knife in our backs would be unforgivable.
The little signs that give me this hope include the fact that $32M was allocated in Budget 2019 for contingency costs to get the changes through in the current financial year and the changes don't have to await funding in Budget 2020.
Ironically it is exactly this that causes my deep concern that they have not thought it through.
It is the "$32million over four years'…https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393821/family-carers-to-be-paid-fairer-wage that doesn't quite add up.
That's $8million dollars per year to pay an extra 640 family carers (like me) up to $25 per hour. Plus increase the pay of the current 400 Funded Family Carers to the same rate per hour. Generously, this works out as an average of about 9 hours per week per carer. For clients with high, very high and complex needs. Many of whom have been assessed as needing at least five times as many hours of support.
It simply does not add up. Even more so if the government continues along the lines suggested by the PSA and makes the rule that these family care arrangements have to go through a contracted provider. To avoid the " "which do not place unreasonable expectations on disabled people, their family or whānau." issue.
Veutoviper. This is not an issue to ACC clients who are bulk funded and pay their family. MOH DSS clients are being treated differently. Again. It may be appropriate where there are severe learning disabilities, and if both the client and the parent carer agree then these arrangements could be overseen by a Contracted Provider.
This would of course add extra costs because the provider would expect their cut of the funding.
Having the arrangement go through a provider denies the disabled person the autonomy provided by being able to use Individualised Funding…which I believe is funded at a lower hourly rate that the contracted providers demand.
Reading the Cabinet Papers from back in 2012 when they decided not to take Atkinson to the Supreme Court, very early in the paper based discussion did the term "competing interests" arise. A few paragraphs later the redacted sections began, culminating in the impressively blanked out RIS that Micky Savage (chicken killer) shared in his post the other day.
Now that would be awesome…unblank those sections of that Regulatory Impact Statement so we are fully informed.
Honest and transparent government and all that.
Yes please. Saving face for officials who should have known better is not a valid reason to keep it hidden.
Almost incredibly, the godawful American equivalent of the Grauniad just got worse.
Sydney Ember, a finance company shill, a Clintonista, a crony of Matt Drudge, is now employed as a "journalist" by the New York Times….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u26Ff_KTlD4
The floundering British State Broadcaster is now flagrantly pro-Tory
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/panoramas-hatchet-job-labour-antisemitism-bbc-has-become-pro-tory-media
Good on Collins. Her practical, down to earth approach will get her a long way. Just what we need in a future PM and what NZ needs to sort this mess out. About bloody time someone said it how it is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114181232/judith-collins-just-stop-beating-up-kids
Doesn't she support parents hitting their kids?
Apparently not morpissey.
Collins said something that sounded like a human speaking? I caught the whiff of some understanding from her the other day about something. I think it must be a bout of this Type A flu going round. They say it is really strong. Coff, coff.
So it must have been someone else, disguised as Judith Collins, that boasted in 2007 about beating her own child….
See, reasonable smacking never hurt anyone. Her kids still love her. What's the problem?
Highly likely, as long as the bashing was reasonable.
Exactly what the bashers of children say. How is she in any way superior to the parents who "go a bit far" and kill the kids whom she and the Family Fist Fanatics say are fair game for slap-happy parents?
Because she speaks for the silent majority, for those too scared to raise their head above the pulpit of political correctness.
You need to stop now. Every time you post, it's something even stupider than the last.
Pulpit??
Do you mean pulpit, rampart or bulwark? Or parapet?
Blinkin' heck, yes, parapet. Early onset for sure.
I know the feeling…
Definitely pulpit when it comes to the political correctness verses like a religious fervour.
Sorry to do it again, but verses or versus?
It was the raising the head above a pulpit (has anyone ever lowered a head below one?) that prompted me to question Chris, whose irony I hopefully thought I was enjoying.
Was not meaning to be critical.
Yes, you were, but I don’t think Morrissey did.
I’m sure someone would’ve lowered their head below a pulpit. Perhaps when shoes or other things are being thrown at them.
You can't help loving words like me. I was thinking of verses repeated from the holy lexicon of PCness.
I do enjoy this sort of finish to the end of the day with a bit more lightness than the days bathos. Choirboys probably like to keep their heads below the pulpit. Especially the ones that Giles sometimes included in his clever cartoons – kids with too much insouciance. (I like using google meanings a lot – so fast.)
Giles always had so much other than the main joke going on in the cartoons.
Cool. But choirboys should be well away from the pulpit, which is the uplifted tower-like stand where the preacher preaches from, unless I am getting that early onset thing yet again. .
And turret does work – ta Incognito.
'The holy lexicon of PCness.' Sounds much less threatening than the holy dictates/scriptures/commandments which holiness normally delivers.
I was only kidding; letting off some ‘steam’, you know …
..not such a good idea…
The saying is: to be too scared to stick your head above the turret. I’m sure …
Yes, I'm sure it's one of them.
https://www.google.com/search?q=head+above+the+parapet&oq=head+above+the+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.8508j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I don't think she's beaten many of her children to death morpissey, not even when on P and thus completely innocent.
No, but she and the likes of Bob "Hairbrush" McCoskrie and other ideologically committed kiddywhackers provide the ideological and moral scaffolding for people who hit their children. I'm sure Collins has not hurt her own kids; it's a pity she has not thought a little more about the impact of her words and her policies. Same goes for her slap-happy political cronies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRq7zudLZk
It's a one size doesn't fit all type of area really.
Having to smack, for those that would feel they need to, too much is not ideal for the parent. The freedom to be a total brat is not ideal for the child.
A settlement mechanism inclusive of both extreme ends to the area, would perhaps provide the maximum utility in enabling the natural fits that will be most suitable to all i would say if people really wanted it.
That is an independent citizen’s aid authority, that can
A) these smackings could be getting out of hand and becoming counter productive to the situation
B) the child does not have the license of freedom is expecting of the parent & does not have the right to complain.
While leaving the exact dynamics to be worked out by the families, perhaps such a service could help in providing equilibriums that some families would otherwise not be able to reach for themselves.
A referendum then, might not have been a bad stepping stone to optimising the situation if wanted.
How much slapping and hitting with hairbrushes is acceptable for elderly people?
yeah the simpleton approach is always popular with gnats
What good stuff especially unexpected from Basher Collins. Unless she is just dancing clever politics. But wait. Many of her colleagues would disagree with her. So……
She reminds me of Nosher Powell's Prime Minister in Eat The Rich when he knocks the heads of the Palestinian & Israel leaders and tells them to "stop fighting & sort it out".
Collins says whatever she feels like at the time. She doesn't listen and responds on the hoof. This will become immediately obvious if she's ever PM, perhaps just leader of the nats, and would be truly Trumpesque.
We can only hope…
…she becomes leader of the nats. Constant entertainment until she spontaneously combusts.
Crush their spirit, hit them where it hurts, and when they’re down, tell them to pick themselves up and then kick them down again and rinse and repeat. Tell them that it is all about making the right decisions and personal responsibility and they should stop beating their kids. That’s how they treat the Precariat. They are wilfully blind and tone-deaf to context and circumstances. I detest cynical populist politicians with their personal and selfish agendas and their hypocritical smugness.
Simon and the National Party are incompetent idiots.
https://www.twitter.com/NZNationalParty/status/1149121011368939520
The Toyota Corolla model shown in the graphic is from the early 1990's. No one would import a vehicle that old.
In the real world, a Corolla like the one below would be imported and in 2021, when the legislation would apply, this vehicle would be 5 years old.
2016 Toyota Corolla, 1.8 Petrol CVT. 96 C02 (g/km). If this vehicle is imported, it would be eligible for a significant rebate.
The National Party need to lift their game and stop making shit up.
They have taken the lesson from their chums in the US and UK that lying works.
Banks sometimes we love them and sometimes…. we ask awkward questions?
When it comes to the risk mitigation costs arising from their own activities, the banks expect their customers to pick up the tab. Or taxpayers, as happened with the BNZ collapse of the late 1980s, and with the post–GFC collapse of non banking lenders like South Canterbury Finance. It was only ten years ago that governments had to bail 0ut a global banking system that (from the US to Scotland to the Netherlands) had been made vulnerable by the banks’ own lobbying for lax regulation and the pursuit of dodgy lending practices. If the banks have already forgotten the GFC, the rest of us haven’t.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL1907/S00063/gordon-campbell-on-the-aussie-banks-latest-fee-hike-excuse.htm
A grown man weeps for the destruction of his whenua, his life.
How the power of a state agency can divide and rule by wooing one group and dismissing another.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113021225/the-devastating-personal-cost-of-taranakis-200m-mt-messenger-bypass
https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/no-mt-messenger-bypass-save-mangapepeke-valley
There was an option to widen the one-way Awakino tunnel which seems to be one of the biggest problems. There is mention of accidents, and from what I have seen of driving in the rural sector, this is because of excessive speed for the conditions.
Report for Mt Messenger Alliance (who are they). https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/projects/awakino-gorge-to-mt-messenger-programme/mt-messenger-bypass/rma-applications/technical-reports/tr-9-historic-heritage-assessment.pdf
https://www.trc.govt.nz/buses-transport/transport-planning/state-highway-3/
It is interesting that if one wants to look at one of the numerous maps of the area that is noted as nzta, it won't come up individually to be expanded but just switches over to the group of area maps. That is unusual as I can normally hone in to get a good view, but not here.
Found this for 13 April 2017, (all MPs in the area are National)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91551220/twobridge-bypass-of-awakino-tunnel-announced-as-part-of-135m-safety-project
and for 21 October 2017
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/98097430/taranaki-mps-are-hopeful-big-spending-projects-will-proceed-under-new-government
Taranaki's elected MPs say they are confident the region will not become a political backwater now that it is not represented in government.
The three MPs, Jonathan Young (New Plymouth), Barbara Kuriger (Taranaki King Country) and newcomer Hirate Hipango (Whanganui), face the next three years in opposition for the first time since 2008.
Major roading and housing projects earmarked for the region would still go ahead under the three party Labour/New Zealand First/ Green coalition government, they say….
A decision to mine iron sand off the South Taranaki coastline could also be up for change, depending on the new government's position after a High Court appeal is heard.
The trio hoped coalition partner New Zealand First's focus on regional issues would help retain skills and job training for people in Taranaki.
Kuriger said New Zealand First leader Winston Peters campaigned for provincial rural communities during the election.
The National MPs have been in a political hiatus under National apparently but pushed through the expensive roading option to get it on the books before another election, which National lost.
Former Taranaki King Country MP Shane Ardern said the Mt Messenger project could still be overturned….
Ardern famously drove a tractor up the steps of parliament to protest against a methane emissions bill.
He was critical of the MMP voting system. "I don't like MMP, I think it is a rotten system. "What we've got now is a group of losers who have cobbled together to chop off the winners.
Noticeable in what I have skimmed through is no emphasis on saving environment or kokako or kiwi. There is talk of tourism but no feeling that could include special areas for endangered species. Just the usual bull-headed, unchanging obeisance to saving minutes of driving time. WTF. And concern about accidents, well let's face it, a lot of that could be avoided by making people sit regular driving checks on simulators. That would save more lives and injuries, and squillions of dollars on roading and written off vehicles. And having a licence would be a treasure. The emphasis should not be making it so hard to get a licence, but ensure a reasonably competent driver stays proud of their competence.
There was an article about this couple back in 2017…https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/96155843/farmer-says-mt-messenger-road-option-would-be-environmental-and-ecological-suicide
..and a quick scan of the Comments section gives a good indication of the neanderthal numpties who are demanding the destruction of our ever diminishing and degraded indigenous forests and waterways so they can GO FASTER.
Yes. I'd help dig out another lane in the Tunnel with my bare hands if that would satisfy the drongoes for whom being forced to spend an unnecessary six minutes driving slowly through near virgin forest is torture.
Believe me…it is a heavenly drive.
I see it as a National Party MP push – look what we do for Taranaki.
And I don't think they have in Naki got a lot more understanding of other values beside farming and money since Parihaka. I am prepared to be taken to task – but it's a feeling I have from my short experience there and what Ive read.
Totally agree with ya grey on the driving simulators etc Im fairly certain we could all benefit from more and better driver training .Much better direction i think to be going in than one of ever expanding use of barriers etc personally i find some roads to be like driving through a cattle race !plus any scenic value is erased along with technically the risk ! .I shudder to think what might be ahead of us as drivers prob something like a complete shield along the sides of roads along with robotic control .Cars will probably still keep their steering wheels but only so we dont feel like completely useless idiots and can still pretend at least to be driving ! So risk adverse will society have become by then that its likely we'll all have to suck on dummies while we drive in case we bite our tongues if a bug hits the windscreen if theres any bugs left by then of course
Ver funny weston and prophetic too. Think of the kiddy cars in the supermarkets.
How sad for Sir John.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12249032
But I suppose a successful claim would be paid for by the customers and not any of the Directors. Damn.
It's like when he "committed" New Zealand troops to Iraq: no personal involvement at all. Unless that useless son of his has signed up?
What the hell is going on here? Why can't I access Hansard?
I've been trying to get on to the Hansard site in order to track down a horrible speech in favour of child-beating by the Dishonorable Judith Collins. I tried several times but this is all I got…..
https://www.library.auckland.ac.nz/databases/record/?record=hansard
What is wrong here? Why can't I get through? Has anyone else had this problem with accessing Hansard?
No, working perfectly
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/
But doubt you will find what you think you are looking for on Hansard.
Perhaps you meant this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/85282990/judith-collins-criticised-for-comments-about-parental-responsibility-and-poverty
Or this?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018657355/echoes-of-the-past-in-collins-fake-news-row
I've just clicked on the link you gave and I'm still getting the "Your connection is not private…." nonsense. I can't even ignore it and move on to the site.
Very strange, and annoying.
Be afraid. This is how it starts …
Please, please (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) ….
They're laughing at me.
Usually it's because the website's sso cert has bust in some way. In your case it's probably the NSA trying to thwart you.
Seems OK Morrissey.
2013: Collins,"More than 50 children have died in New Zealand in the last 5 years not because of poverty, actually, but because of extreme abuse. I do not think for a moment that poverty is any excuse for killing one’s child, or the child of somebody else either, or of harming them. etc etc."
Maybe on this matter she is genuine?
She also said she's "proud" to have beaten her own child. Puts her broadside against people who think like her but take it a bit far into some perspective. I'm also troubled by her phrase "not because of poverty, actually"—even when speaking on something like this, she felt entitled to inject her ideologically motivated and cynical repudiation of the very notion of poverty in New Zealand.
very likely your internet connection is down and when you go to any URL you (try to) get the login page of your router , the message is from your browser refusing to connect to a different non https page from the one asked for
Thanks for that xanthe!
Bastards. I thought as much.
Farmers ceased to be a store that considered itself a family store decades ago. Now it's a private equity handbag accessory I think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/394233/farmers-stores-refuse-to-budge-on-workers-pay-claims
Lynda Kamariera had been at the company for almost 23 years and said workers were some of the lowest-paid retail staff in the country.
"They value themselves as being a family story but the families who work inside Farmers are finding they're struggling."
After more than two decades at the company, Lynda's pay had yet to reach the current rate living wage of $20.55 an hour, which was due to go up in September to $21.15.
The situation was just continuing to get more desperate for staff, she said.
"There are workers that have taken out loans to get car repairs so they can come to work."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12248984
Jesus wept! It's premium so can't see the full article but if we "accept the USA's invitation” and go to war with Iran, there will be hell to pay.
Drones to the left of me, rifles to the right, stuck in the middle with you.
Our present nashionul anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8StG4fFWHqg
Lyrics for the singing of:
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/stealerswheel/stuckinthemiddlewithyou.html
This probably makes more sense and is more coherent than what was actually said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI0_mEMaTyE
Whatever Trump said, it's morally superior to what the Democratic "leaders", including that heroic desk warrior Kamala Harris, have been saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vkJn7aaMlI
Self-awareness, much? https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-12-07-2019/#comment-1636402
No, you haven't defended that warmonger one little bit. You can't of course.
A group of investors in New Zealand's largest Ponzi scheme has accused the ANZ of negligence in its role as banker of the company, Ross Asset Management.
Former commercial lawyer, John Strahl, who is acting as a spokesman for the group said the action would have started years ago, but ANZ took legal action against the financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority to prevent it sharing the finding of its investigation.
ANZ strongly denies the allegations and will be defending the claim.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/114197565/investors-launch-legal-claim-against-anz-over-it-relationship-with-ponzi-scheme
Nasty.
From 2004 to 2017, when she was a San Francisco D.A. and then the Attorney General of California, Kamala Harris was a key figure in the institutional oppression of black and Latino citizens. She did not speak out against the wicked and iniquitous "three strikes" travesty of a law, and she contended, to the anger and consternation of black and civil rights groups, that local police should be allowed to investigate themselves after killing people. She supported the outrageous, controversial 2011 California truancy legislation that made criminals of poor and disadvantaged parents throughout the state.
She has also foolishly swallowed—hook, line, and sinker—the Bellingcat/U.K. government's disinformation campaigns about Syria, and has spoken at AIPAC conferences, where she boasted: "The first resolution I co-sponsored as a United States senator was to combat anti-Israel bias at the United Nations." The AIPAC delegates applauded that little speech almost as loudly as they cheer a nurse being shot and killed by IDF snipers in Gaza.
In the following puff piece from—you guessed it!—CNN, there is an unintentionally amusing, and sadly quite accurate, bit of blithering from an uncritical supporter….
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/114209639/paddle-pops-withheld-from-dirty-crims-by-prison-guards
'They claimed that some inmates at Auckland Prison, Paremoremo, which houses New Zealand's only specialist maximum-security prison unit, never got the ice blocks, with officers refusing to give them to "dirty crims".'
Good, all it will do is create more problems.