Well sure but lets be honest gangs do peddle and profit from meth, Mike King doesn’t profit from getting kids access to mental health proffesionals before they actually get to the bottom of the cliff to access the whole extra 5 crisis beds …
No, I’m sorry, but I cannot do the thinking for you. All I can say is that it appears to me, from the very little I can gather from the paywalled NZH piece, is that this about funding a meth rehabilitation programme from Proceeds of Crime funding, which must have been approved after an appropriate process of application and review. This is completely different from the purpose of Gumboot Friday and where that is getting its funding from or not, for that matter. Feel free to put forward your arguments, preferably supported ones, and maybe then we can talk although you appear not to have an entirely open mind either, I note.
As an admission of my cultural ignorance, I had to look up this:
Yeah it is apples and oranges tbf… I get the mob can reach difficult segments of society do have some discomfort in that the gangs profit from peddling the shit. I guess if they actually cut out dealing with meth I would be less cynical….
I also dont like how we can magically find pots of money for cycle bridges, put millions into mental healthcare for fuck all actual results but we cant find money to put into a program that is actually delivering on the ground. I get Mike King can be a bit polarising and is prone to shooting from the hip but the guy cares and he gets things done… we should fund him and see where he can take this initiative our youth mental health and suicide stats are appalling whats to lose really…
Thanks, but I remain unconvinced of this ‘business case’. If it is as good as you think it is then why was it not funded by MOH?
I’ve not heard a single piece of useful information that can shine any light on this, only confusing outrage about utterly irrelevant stuff such as cycling bridges and I’m just waiting for someone to throw up the whole NZ Defence Budget for the next 15 years (as has happened here in the past) as some kind of ‘reason’ as to why we should fund other stuff.
Well as to why MOH or govt wont fund it I dont know. Its just if we can fund these other things why not this one. I know thats a how long is a piece of string arguement but given our suicide rates etc amongst youth for me its a priority.
As I understand it the charity is really efficient at getting kids mental healthcare far faster and without needing the child/teen to meet certain criteria that the under resourced public system require to allocate priority. My wife who is in a related field dealing with kids and their families in very stressful situations speaks very highly of it and recommends parents with kids who are struggling with mental health issues to contact the charity in the first instance as the public system is slow, under resourced and essentially acting as the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff (basically you need to attempt suicide to get seen quickly) where as gumboot friday is more like the fence at the top that stop kids jumping off.
Well as to why MOH or govt wont fund it I dont know. Its just if we can fund these other things why not this one.
Do you see the issue here? Before I’d comment on this apparent decision, I’d inform myself about the reasons behind it, the context, if you like. For some reason, you appeared to have not done this and thus you seem to be commenting from a position of ignorance. Similarly, and presumably, you don’t seem to know much either about that rehab programme. So, your comparison was inherently flawed from the outset (AKA apples and oranges).
None of the above has anything to do with the merits of Gumboot Friday. This is where you appear most confused. In short, it pays to be informed before you start a comment thread, particularly the first one of the day in OM 🙂
No, gangs are gangs are gangs. Most are involved in criminal behavior, its how the make money. They don’t work in the usual sense like the Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer.
Believe me, everybody (!) I talk to is appalled at this. First a gang is being stripped of their ill gotten assets and then these are essentially given to another gang. Good lord, these guys must have a laughing cramp whilst going about their “business”.
Of course, a spade is a spade, black is black, and white is white.
You’ve got the wrong gang, but in your simplistic world that won’t matter, of course, which is ironic, because gangs are quite peculiar, shall we say, about their identity.
It doesn’t surprise me that everyone you talk to is appalled. However, I cannot join your cosy circle of appalled and outraged. BTW, do you live in an echo chamber or a parrot cave?
I must say, I quite like this initiative; more please.
It occurred to me that $2.75 million is the amount of money required to keep 30 prisoners in NZ jails at $91,000 each per annum. It’s a good investment to keep people out of jails. Instead, that group of meths abusers getting treatment might even be earning income and paying taxes.
I think one of the ideas behind it is that we cannot keep people locked up and away forever and there’s little point in releasing them without adequate rehabilitation or they will be back in jail before you know it, i.e. the vicious cycle of victimisation.
You seem to take sides no matter what, reason is not featuring.
Its amazing how many excuses can be found for drug induced violence in the home, every 2 months a dead child. But hey, its all good eh?
I don’t care what party would propose such unbelievable facilitation of gangs. Mob members have been just recently found with a million of “revenue”. Gang members are now running the rehabilitation. Fox in the hen house comes to mind.
I say to the powers to be, just keep going. The next election will for sure show what people who working more and more hours without constantly holding out the hand for something think.
Meanwhile in the world of covid, there were 1000 younger people vaccinated in my neighborhood being believed as vulnerable but at the same time mothers of friends 88 and 92 years respectively do obviously not qualify. Maybe we should use the money to buy more vaccines?
May I remind here, taxpayer money is NOT the property of any parliamentarian. It is in any democratic state the contribution to provide the infrastructure to a functioning society. Ooops, that ides is so outdated.
And BTW, you don’t know anything about me and your comments are uncalled for.
You seem to take sides no matter what, reason is not featuring.
What or whose sides might that be? In this case, [my] reason is in the link I provided, which I subscribe to and support, as did the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice, the Ministry of Health, Corrections, Police, MSD and the local Hawke’s Bay Police. It was approved by “a panel consisting of senior representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ara Poutama Aotearoa (Department of Corrections), Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Police, The Treasury, Oranga Tamariki and the Chief Science Advisor.” Is that ‘the side’ you were referring to, by any chance?
Its amazing how many excuses can be found for drug induced violence in the home, every 2 months a dead child. But hey, its all good eh?
Your words, not mine. You obviously want to focus on the negative aspects and refuse to see any positives because they don’t fit with your narrative.
Gang members are now running the rehabilitation.
Deliberately disingenuous and misleading, but good headline for a tabloid
I say to the powers to be, just keep going. The next election will for sure show what people who working more and more hours without constantly holding out the hand for something think.
You sound like Judith Collins daydreaming about polls and becoming PM in 2023, i.e. tragically deluded.
Meanwhile in the world of covid, there were 1000 younger people vaccinated in my neighborhood being believed as vulnerable but at the same time mothers of friends 88 and 92 years respectively do obviously not qualify. Maybe we should use the money to buy more vaccines?
If you don’t believe (!) that those younger people qualified as vulnerable, take it up with your DHB. People over 60 will be vaccinated from 28 July onwards unless they’re vulnerable, in which case they already qualify. More money won’t get the vaccines on order here any sooner. BTW, this discussion thread is not about your hobby horse of your friends who have been ignored and overlooked for Covid vaccination.
May I remind here, taxpayer money is NOT the property of any parliamentarian. It is in any democratic state the contribution to provide the infrastructure to a functioning society. Ooops, that ides is so outdated.
Almost unintelligible comment. We have systems and processes in place to implement Government policies and decisions and distribute resources, i.e. funds.
And BTW, you don’t know anything about me and your comments are uncalled for.
If you don’t want to engage in robust debate, don’t comment here. FWIW, I find most of your comments are weak and irrelevant, but that won’t stop me pointing out those weaknesses and irrelevancies, from time to time. Too bad if you don’t like this; I was hoping we could be friends here.
Employment status, National and its supporters routinely attack beneficiaries, (brown underclass) to justify their hardship and that of their children – hate speech to legitimise political oppression since 1991.
The same also attack unskilled Kiwis as not as good a worker as a migrant worker (by definition someone who can be exploited and who cannot move to another job or get a benefit).
What a state we have got ourselves into! Since the Seventies I thought I’d never see the day that we’d hear complaints about unemployment being too low.
Pat’s cited article says “But the Employers and Manufacturers Association argues it needs to be closer to 5 percent, to make it easier to recruit and retain staff, and constrain wage inflation”.
‘easier to recruit’.
“Here’s a job. You have to take it, on my terms alone, since there are another 200,000 who are unemployed.”
‘and retain staff’
“You don’t like it? You won’t find another. And you won’t be eligible for unemployment benefit for 13 weeks if you leave voluntarily……”
‘constrain wage inflation’
“In other words, I don’t want to pay you more to buy your labour. Yeah, I know that house price inflation is not constrained, but that’s ‘market forces’ at work and people can take the largest profit they can. But no, it doesn’t apply to wages, though we employers are allowed to influence market forces by demanding an unemployment rate of 5% that suits our needs.”
“What, you suggest that we should recruit and retain staff with decent wages, conditions and treatment? Wash your mouth out.”
“Next you’ll be wanting to influence market forces with organised unions,” said the unspoken thoughts of the spokesperson for the Employers and Manufacturers Association.
Alan McDonald asserts “Two-thirds of those who are unemployed are essentially unemployable, he says, and the rest will be challenging”
Having just come off the dole, in spite of the best efforts of the spavined HR hacks who see it as their mission to further emiserate those who have ever had the misfortune to work for an enterprise that was less than reasonably competent, I think Mc Donald ought to be held to an objective standard of proof – since the object of his assertion is clearly to drive down wages, and/or to restore employer access to exploitable masses of workers in third world countries.
Competent companies have no difficulty recruiting, training, and retaining staff. If that’s too hard, it’s not the workers who are falling down on the job.
“McDonald ought to be held to an objective standard of proof”
McDonald’s statement comes from the same stable as Bill English’s gem about lots of kiwis being “pretty useless”. It’s part of the Tory mindscape and as such requires no evidence.
“Competent companies have no difficulty recruiting, training, and retaining staff. If that’s too hard, it’s not the workers who are falling down on the job.”
Recruitment is actually getting really tight now, most employers are really working hard to retain existing staff so mobility is quite low and not to many applications for new positions currently so quite hard for growing businesses to upscale.
Wages definitely rising now seeing increases over 10 percent in my industry of course that does add to inflationary pressure.
good…considering the government and economists are claiming that our wages are too low, and we are seeing those with in demand skills being lured offshore again and the fact that housing prices are more than 12 times median wage in some locations (and the powers that be refuse to countenance price deflation) then business needs to adapt.
Well yes, although what I suspect keeps the finance minister awake at night is the thought of inflation driving up interest rates.
Our housing is now so heavily mortgaged that even a 1 percent rise will suck huge sums out of the economy as belts tighten to meet increased repayments plummeting the country into a recession.
We really need to come up with a range of policies that stop house price increases for at least 10 years.
Well, its an anniversary of sorts ..though given the almost total destruction of our clothing manufacturing industry…and our insistence on cheap clothing from whatever country has the cheapest labour thanks to Union suppression…I wouldn’t exactly call it a Happy Anniversary…
….perhaps we could take it as an opportunity to reassess our wardrobes..
Depressingly the good people at Te Ara (Encyclopedia of NZ) need to update their somewhat over optimistic assessment of the NZ clothing industry…I see they still include this doozy of a quote ..
Made in New ZealandThose making clothes in New Zealand often use this as a selling point. One example is Swazi Apparel of Levin. When the firm lost a contract to supply gear to the army in 2009, founder Davey Hughes spoke of the need for New Zealand to keep its clothing trade skills: ‘When the expertise of these people is gone, it won’t come back.’3
Yep how many times we heard lately how china magnificently lifted huge chunks of its citizens out of poverty what heros we are the ones paying for that expansion .China imo is like a giant leech sucking the life blood out of any and all that deal with her .
The paper predicts that space travel might soon become impossible – or at very least, really dangerous.
Space pollution
Every time we launch a rocket, put a satellite into orbit around the Earth or decommission one that’s already orbiting, we leave behind bits of human-made material just floating around in space. Sometimes, satellites are literally exploded into thousands of pieces of debris when decommissioned.
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The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 25 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
How will the recent wave of job cuts impact ethnic diversity in the media? In November last year, I was working a very busy day in the newsroom of a large online news site, interviewing whānau about their concerns over the imminent closure of one of the few puna reo ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ruth Knight, Researcher, Queensland University of Technology Have you ever felt sick at work? Perhaps you had food poisoning or the flu. Your belly hurt, or you felt tired, making it hard to concentrate and be productive. How likely would you be ...
Despite heavy criticism and an ongoing select committee process, the Police Minister says the Government will forge ahead with a ban on gang patches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Whiting, Lecturer – Creative Industries, University of South Australia Shutterstock Everyone has a favourite band, or a favourite composer, or a favourite song. There is some music which speaks to you, deeply; and other music which might be the current ...
A new survey says ‘outlook not great’ for those charged with building infrastructure, while RMA changes delight farmers and depress environmentalists, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. First RMA changes announced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olli Hellmann, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Waikato Getty Images When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also ...
I dont get how we can fund this but cant find a way to fund gumboot friday….https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mongrel-mob-led-meth-rehab-programme-given-275-million-from-proceeds-of-crime-funding/AK33SIF3Q7VDVWADIDLOWT4IIY/
Not all gang members are criminals, just like not all mental health patients need critical support at vital times
Well sure but lets be honest gangs do peddle and profit from meth, Mike King doesn’t profit from getting kids access to mental health proffesionals before they actually get to the bottom of the cliff to access the whole extra 5 crisis beds …
Apples and oranges
Can you please back that comment up with an explanation?
Is it because Mike Kings outfit does some actual good in the community and the mongrel mob are scumbags? or is there something i’m missing
No, I’m sorry, but I cannot do the thinking for you. All I can say is that it appears to me, from the very little I can gather from the paywalled NZH piece, is that this about funding a meth rehabilitation programme from Proceeds of Crime funding, which must have been approved after an appropriate process of application and review. This is completely different from the purpose of Gumboot Friday and where that is getting its funding from or not, for that matter. Feel free to put forward your arguments, preferably supported ones, and maybe then we can talk although you appear not to have an entirely open mind either, I note.
As an admission of my cultural ignorance, I had to look up this:
https://etuwhanau.org.nz/get-involved/kahukura/
But we can be fooled easily by misleading labels or headlines, can’t we?
Yeah it is apples and oranges tbf… I get the mob can reach difficult segments of society do have some discomfort in that the gangs profit from peddling the shit. I guess if they actually cut out dealing with meth I would be less cynical….
I also dont like how we can magically find pots of money for cycle bridges, put millions into mental healthcare for fuck all actual results but we cant find money to put into a program that is actually delivering on the ground. I get Mike King can be a bit polarising and is prone to shooting from the hip but the guy cares and he gets things done… we should fund him and see where he can take this initiative our youth mental health and suicide stats are appalling whats to lose really…
Thanks, but I remain unconvinced of this ‘business case’. If it is as good as you think it is then why was it not funded by MOH?
I’ve not heard a single piece of useful information that can shine any light on this, only confusing outrage about utterly irrelevant stuff such as cycling bridges and I’m just waiting for someone to throw up the whole NZ Defence Budget for the next 15 years (as has happened here in the past) as some kind of ‘reason’ as to why we should fund other stuff.
Well as to why MOH or govt wont fund it I dont know. Its just if we can fund these other things why not this one. I know thats a how long is a piece of string arguement but given our suicide rates etc amongst youth for me its a priority.
As I understand it the charity is really efficient at getting kids mental healthcare far faster and without needing the child/teen to meet certain criteria that the under resourced public system require to allocate priority. My wife who is in a related field dealing with kids and their families in very stressful situations speaks very highly of it and recommends parents with kids who are struggling with mental health issues to contact the charity in the first instance as the public system is slow, under resourced and essentially acting as the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff (basically you need to attempt suicide to get seen quickly) where as gumboot friday is more like the fence at the top that stop kids jumping off.
Do you see the issue here? Before I’d comment on this apparent decision, I’d inform myself about the reasons behind it, the context, if you like. For some reason, you appeared to have not done this and thus you seem to be commenting from a position of ignorance. Similarly, and presumably, you don’t seem to know much either about that rehab programme. So, your comparison was inherently flawed from the outset (AKA apples and oranges).
None of the above has anything to do with the merits of Gumboot Friday. This is where you appear most confused. In short, it pays to be informed before you start a comment thread, particularly the first one of the day in OM 🙂
HTH
No, gangs are gangs are gangs. Most are involved in criminal behavior, its how the make money. They don’t work in the usual sense like the Mr. and Mrs. Taxpayer.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/eleven-charged-in-head-hunters-gang-meth-and-guns-bust-auckland
Believe me, everybody (!) I talk to is appalled at this. First a gang is being stripped of their ill gotten assets and then these are essentially given to another gang. Good lord, these guys must have a laughing cramp whilst going about their “business”.
Of course, a spade is a spade, black is black, and white is white.
You’ve got the wrong gang, but in your simplistic world that won’t matter, of course, which is ironic, because gangs are quite peculiar, shall we say, about their identity.
It doesn’t surprise me that everyone you talk to is appalled. However, I cannot join your cosy circle of appalled and outraged. BTW, do you live in an echo chamber or a parrot cave?
I must say, I quite like this initiative; more please.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125721619/pm-one-of-the-ministers-who-approved-275-million-funding-for-mongrel-mobled-rehab-programme
It occurred to me that $2.75 million is the amount of money required to keep 30 prisoners in NZ jails at $91,000 each per annum. It’s a good investment to keep people out of jails. Instead, that group of meths abusers getting treatment might even be earning income and paying taxes.
The programme is over 4 years.
I think one of the ideas behind it is that we cannot keep people locked up and away forever and there’s little point in releasing them without adequate rehabilitation or they will be back in jail before you know it, i.e. the vicious cycle of victimisation.
You seem to take sides no matter what, reason is not featuring.
Its amazing how many excuses can be found for drug induced violence in the home, every 2 months a dead child. But hey, its all good eh?
I don’t care what party would propose such unbelievable facilitation of gangs. Mob members have been just recently found with a million of “revenue”. Gang members are now running the rehabilitation. Fox in the hen house comes to mind.
I say to the powers to be, just keep going. The next election will for sure show what people who working more and more hours without constantly holding out the hand for something think.
Meanwhile in the world of covid, there were 1000 younger people vaccinated in my neighborhood being believed as vulnerable but at the same time mothers of friends 88 and 92 years respectively do obviously not qualify. Maybe we should use the money to buy more vaccines?
May I remind here, taxpayer money is NOT the property of any parliamentarian. It is in any democratic state the contribution to provide the infrastructure to a functioning society. Ooops, that ides is so outdated.
And BTW, you don’t know anything about me and your comments are uncalled for.
What or whose sides might that be? In this case, [my] reason is in the link I provided, which I subscribe to and support, as did the Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice, the Ministry of Health, Corrections, Police, MSD and the local Hawke’s Bay Police. It was approved by “a panel consisting of senior representatives from the Ministry of Justice, Ara Poutama Aotearoa (Department of Corrections), Te Puni Kōkiri, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Police, The Treasury, Oranga Tamariki and the Chief Science Advisor.” Is that ‘the side’ you were referring to, by any chance?
Your words, not mine. You obviously want to focus on the negative aspects and refuse to see any positives because they don’t fit with your narrative.
Deliberately disingenuous and misleading, but good headline for a tabloid
You sound like Judith Collins daydreaming about polls and becoming PM in 2023, i.e. tragically deluded.
If you don’t believe (!) that those younger people qualified as vulnerable, take it up with your DHB. People over 60 will be vaccinated from 28 July onwards unless they’re vulnerable, in which case they already qualify. More money won’t get the vaccines on order here any sooner. BTW, this discussion thread is not about your hobby horse of your friends who have been ignored and overlooked for Covid vaccination.
Almost unintelligible comment. We have systems and processes in place to implement Government policies and decisions and distribute resources, i.e. funds.
If you don’t want to engage in robust debate, don’t comment here. FWIW, I find most of your comments are weak and irrelevant, but that won’t stop me pointing out those weaknesses and irrelevancies, from time to time. Too bad if you don’t like this; I was hoping we could be friends here.
Bookmarking this to read later
https://twitter.com/graemeedgeler/status/1414319303646597121?s=21
Employment status, National and its supporters routinely attack beneficiaries, (brown underclass) to justify their hardship and that of their children – hate speech to legitimise political oppression since 1991.
The same also attack unskilled Kiwis as not as good a worker as a migrant worker (by definition someone who can be exploited and who cannot move to another job or get a benefit).
Read it and weep
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/too-many-people-have-jobs-say-employers
Business as usual.
Unemployment at 4.5% (& dropping?), woo hoo!
What a state we have got ourselves into! Since the Seventies I thought I’d never see the day that we’d hear complaints about unemployment being too low.
Pat’s cited article says “But the Employers and Manufacturers Association argues it needs to be closer to 5 percent, to make it easier to recruit and retain staff, and constrain wage inflation”.
‘easier to recruit’.
“Here’s a job. You have to take it, on my terms alone, since there are another 200,000 who are unemployed.”
‘and retain staff’
“You don’t like it? You won’t find another. And you won’t be eligible for unemployment benefit for 13 weeks if you leave voluntarily……”
‘constrain wage inflation’
“In other words, I don’t want to pay you more to buy your labour. Yeah, I know that house price inflation is not constrained, but that’s ‘market forces’ at work and people can take the largest profit they can. But no, it doesn’t apply to wages, though we employers are allowed to influence market forces by demanding an unemployment rate of 5% that suits our needs.”
“What, you suggest that we should recruit and retain staff with decent wages, conditions and treatment? Wash your mouth out.”
“Next you’ll be wanting to influence market forces with organised unions,” said the unspoken thoughts of the spokesperson for the Employers and Manufacturers Association.
Alan McDonald asserts “Two-thirds of those who are unemployed are essentially unemployable, he says, and the rest will be challenging”
Having just come off the dole, in spite of the best efforts of the spavined HR hacks who see it as their mission to further emiserate those who have ever had the misfortune to work for an enterprise that was less than reasonably competent, I think Mc Donald ought to be held to an objective standard of proof – since the object of his assertion is clearly to drive down wages, and/or to restore employer access to exploitable masses of workers in third world countries.
Competent companies have no difficulty recruiting, training, and retaining staff. If that’s too hard, it’s not the workers who are falling down on the job.
“McDonald ought to be held to an objective standard of proof”
McDonald’s statement comes from the same stable as Bill English’s gem about lots of kiwis being “pretty useless”. It’s part of the Tory mindscape and as such requires no evidence.
“Competent companies have no difficulty recruiting, training, and retaining staff. If that’s too hard, it’s not the workers who are falling down on the job.”
Aint that the truth
Recruitment is actually getting really tight now, most employers are really working hard to retain existing staff so mobility is quite low and not to many applications for new positions currently so quite hard for growing businesses to upscale.
Wages definitely rising now seeing increases over 10 percent in my industry of course that does add to inflationary pressure.
good…considering the government and economists are claiming that our wages are too low, and we are seeing those with in demand skills being lured offshore again and the fact that housing prices are more than 12 times median wage in some locations (and the powers that be refuse to countenance price deflation) then business needs to adapt.
Well yes, although what I suspect keeps the finance minister awake at night is the thought of inflation driving up interest rates.
Our housing is now so heavily mortgaged that even a 1 percent rise will suck huge sums out of the economy as belts tighten to meet increased repayments plummeting the country into a recession.
We really need to come up with a range of policies that stop house price increases for at least 10 years.
and so it should keep him awake at night….after all he chose this path.
…and to be frank, without house price deflation his choice is wage inflation or revolution
It would be the ones who got 16 Billion dollars and paid great dividends to their shareholders, would they?
not sure what you mean
Sorry, this refers to your comment under 3.0
Ah….them and SMEs and all the ticket clippers that have grown around the migration industry
I almost read misery industry but that would fit too.
Well, its an anniversary of sorts ..though given the almost total destruction of our clothing manufacturing industry…and our insistence on cheap clothing from whatever country has the cheapest labour thanks to Union suppression…I wouldn’t exactly call it a Happy Anniversary…
https://www.nzhistory.govt.nz/page/first-womens-trade-union-formed?fbclid=IwAR3YFVa3Da8WoVgxly6ZhodpD4eEHgHOspQS0a12KXrteyYEu_r0xHkikCo
….perhaps we could take it as an opportunity to reassess our wardrobes..
Depressingly the good people at Te Ara (Encyclopedia of NZ) need to update their somewhat over optimistic assessment of the NZ clothing industry…I see they still include this doozy of a quote ..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/112971102/outdoorwear-company-swazi-moving-its-basic-fleece-production-to-thailand
Yep how many times we heard lately how china magnificently lifted huge chunks of its citizens out of poverty what heros we are the ones paying for that expansion .China imo is like a giant leech sucking the life blood out of any and all that deal with her .
In space no one can hear you scream smell your stink
Meanwhile, at the other end of the food chain.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Space the final frontier, (for pollution)
The ultimate in conspicuous consumption, the billionaire space race, may also become the ultimate high frontier of environmental destruction.
https://www.illuminatemagazine.com/pollution/space-the-new-frontier-of-human-caused-pollution/
This version is low key but great
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARfQHqIkbTc
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
‘
Like Branson, Auckland house prices have gone from stratospheric, to sub-orbital.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCW9Hey6IVY
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