“A reminder: from 1939 (and before), the Nazi threat was front-page news in every viewspaper, every day, for years. The threat of near-term climate collapse is an incomparably greater threat. That gives an idea of the awesome bias of corporate media in downplaying this threat.”
“UN Says Climate Genocide Is Coming. It’s Actually Worse Than That.
Just two years ago, amid global fanfare, the Paris climate accords were signed — initiating what seemed, for a brief moment, like the beginning of a planet-saving movement. But almost immediately, the international goal it established of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius began to seem, to many of the world’s most vulnerable, dramatically inadequate; the Marshall Islands’ representative gave it a blunter name, calling two degrees of warming “genocide.”
The alarming new report you may have read about this week from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — which examines just how much better 1.5 degrees of warming would be than 2 — echoes the charge. “Amplifies” may be the better term. Hundreds of millions of lives are at stake, the report declares, should the world warm more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, which it will do as soon as 2040, if current trends continue. Nearly all coral reefs would die out, wildfires and heat waves would sweep across the planet annually, and the interplay between drought and flooding and temperature would mean that the world’s food supply would become dramatically less secure. Avoiding that scale of suffering, the report says, requires such a thorough transformation of the world’s economy, agriculture, and culture that “there is no documented historical precedent.” The New York Times declared that the report showed a “strong risk” of climate crisis in the coming decades; in Grist, Eric Holthaus wrote that “civilization is at stake.”
If you are alarmed by those sentences, you should be — they are horrifying. But it is, actually, worse than that — considerably worse. That is because the new report’s worst-case scenario is, actually, a best case. In fact, it is a beyond-best-case scenario. What has been called a genocidal level of warming is already our inevitable future. The question is how much worse than that it will get.”
In NZ – government cut benefits in 1991 but introduced grants which could be applied for of about $300 each year, okay for dentists etc.
Now the RW have just turned bennies into a profit centre for loans at high interest – which is appropriate for a business approach.
But people need to have grants available to them from government again. Give the help where it is needed, assist the people that government has impoverished through cutting tariffs so forcing local business to close, and then enforcing a low wage regime and bringing about working poverty.
Aiming too low their Greywarshark, if you wanted millions/billions for a stadium, marina, free or cheap public land and millions of dollars in hand outs to solve some big problem, the government would only be too happy to supply you with the cash.
Try either getting super rich so you can have lobbyists and be feted by government for being a ‘winner’ or set up your own charitable trust for the moneys to be deposited into.
Any ‘charity’ with “affordable” housing, kids, poverty, political or big item infrastructure is popular now. Expect to spend a considerable amount of the money you collect on actually lobbying, marketing and advertising to get the money, then pay your costs of administration, lawyers and accountants, ensure their is enough to cover wages costs of the above (millions is generally required) and anything left can be distributed with a lot of publicity, photo shots etc and a desperate cry, we need more money for this desperate need…
What we need to do is up the basic benefit to a liveable level and get rid of most if not all of the supplementary grants. The housing one for instance has turned out to be a grant for landlords. Respect beneficiaries and encourage rather than punish.
@TFG – Reinvent beneficiaries into professional sports lobbyists who need infrastructure for international events for the .01%, or developers and you will get more attention for your cause.
Look how many councils seem more interested in stadiums than council housing… they also seem happy to take away kids, amateurs and semi professional locals sports fields in the process…
But do agree, it would be easier to have set benefit rather than a complicated smorgasbord of add ons to benefits… but then making it simple and easy would probably make it easier for vulnerable people to get it, and that is not the purpose of welfare these days, it’s to make sure that the least needy get it, and the rest goes to those handy with the paperwork, and government friendly lobby groups to redistribute the rest.
Did you ever tried to get one of those grants greywarshark.?
Its not easy, generally they prefer to wait till your mouth is a seething pit of pain and infection before you can get the grant. Even though that means a more expensive potentially less successful trip to the dentist.
I agree in theory with the idea of government loans, but the application process needs to be handled very carefully, with the cost of NOT giving the loan being taken into account.
And definitely not done through the staff at work and income.
There needs to be a professional setup, maybe through kiwibank, where the applicants are treated like customers not scam artists and bludgers. Where staff are encouraged to give loans, not incentivised to turn people away.
I don’t have the link but popped into my feed the other day, some rich fucks will build a stadium sunk into the Auckland waterfront (with climate change around the corner, so we know that is the wrong location already, something that the IYI class probably did not bother to explore in their million dollar personal study for Phil Goff) and then Auckland council gives them billions in free land in one of the most expensive suburbs from the ratepayers/taxpayers so they can profit off housing…
What a winner – it’s free land for the right deals/people around Auckland these days. And sounds like ChCH is similar.
Phil REALLY wants that stadium.
I’m all for it as long as those involved go to prison for stupidity and fraud for their actions of stealing and misappropriating land from the public.
Why does this pathetic stadium idea keep coming up? We already have one on the Shore and Eden Park, multiple other facilities around Auckland, and rampant poverty and homelessness. Perhaps we could spend this money solving those problems before building a vanity trophy building directly in the path of rising sea levels?
Helen wants Eden Park shut down. It disturbs her beauty sleep on the occasional nights she spends there. Look at her moaning about the possibility of having a concert there.
And, as that song in the musical Damn Yankees says:
“Whatever Helen wants, Helen gets ……”
‘No jerks allowed’: the egalitarianism behind Norway’s winter wonderland
Norway have powered to the top of the Olympics medal table on a budget a 10th of Britain’s thanks to an inclusive approach based on camaraderie and grassroots participation
““Our vision is sport for all,” Tvedt says. “Before you are 12 you should have fun with sport. So we don’t focus on who the winner is before then. Instead we are very focused on getting children into our 11,000 local sports clubs. And we have 93% of children and young people regularly playing sport in these organisations.””
Sound like opposite to NZ neoliberal sports approach then, which is to sell off the schools lands and other public land, make it harder at grass roots level, make families shell out big bucks for uniforms and fees to be on special squads and drive their kids all over the show to play at dwindling sports areas adding to congestion… and winning and being good at sports being a big driver now into sports rather than inclusion (even for the bad kids at sports) and fun…
Nice to go back to sports actually at the schools during the curiculum, no driving around, uniforms or professionalism until they hit 14 years at least…
For a lot of kids sport as part of the school curriculum is a complete waste of time and often counter-productive in that it puts them off exercise, which should actually be fun.
SaveNZ @ 3.1.1.1:”“Before you are 12 you should have fun with sport. So we don’t focus on who the winner is before then.”
Hear. Hear.
Kids who are good at their sport love to rub it in.
Parents who love to win push their kids to win.
Parents and coaches who love to win make their team members feel bad.
Schools use winning as a mark of success.
Coaches who love to win use the best kids to win.
Meanwhile the bulk of “others” loose interest in sport and avoid participation.
@Alwyn – Since Aunty Helen was not that keen on a Macc’ers next to her house, not sure she wants listening high rises with massive price tags (and a few ‘affordable houses’ for the spin doctors to spin) ‘ in a dwindling historic area of Auckland..
Oh but wait rest of Auckland has to pay for that travel and congestion from those houses too… and the waster water, and the pollution… etc etc
It’s win win to be a developer these days when you get the poor to subsidise your luxury offerings and profits.
5 years to get the money together,
3 to get the land and consents,
2 to build it, and
at least a year to demolish Eden Park.
Then a further 3 to redevelop Eden Park.
That group would need either Chinese capital or a sovereign wealth fund to go through that kind of long haul.
Looking abroad, Germany’s largest opposition party, the AfD, calls for the denunciation of teachers who express political views, and Germany’s bourgeois left party, the SPD, traditional voting home of centre-left voters since WWII, falls to 15% in one poll, behind both the populist, right-wing AfD and the Greens. The Liberals and the actual (if very broad-based) left-wing party, “Die Linke”, both sit on 10% (too lazy to find a credible link for that one in English).
Beto O’Rourke gets a full hour on CNN as Cruz pulls out. There’s got to be some luck for a good Democrat who has forsworn all Superpac money and could just maybe take Texas. One day, LBJ, one day.
They call 100,000 phone numbers to get 1000 responses. A lot of people arent registered voters and because its mid terms even less bother to vote than the main election time
Wouldn’t it be Seymour’s Assisted Dying Legislation which was referred to a Select Committee in a Conscience vote back in January?
It might not have reached the third reading but it is certainly underway as a conscience matter.
Bradley Tuhi had monthly power bills of more than $1000, but there was no obvious reason why.
Genesis Energy has admitted a faulty power meter is to blame for a Christchurch man receiving exorbitant electricity bills for 12 months.
Bradley Tuhi’s monthly power bill peaked at $1105 in July, yet at the time Genesis Energy failed to accept it could be at fault.
Tuhi spent months trying to convince Genesis Energy it was not possible for him, his wife and step son to consume that much electricity at their fully-insulated, double-glazed, 10-year-old Governors Bay home that was heated using gas.
I dunno – 1-2 seems to have moved on from Baby’s First Cartesian Doubt (man-in-the-sky bless whoever came up with that line) and have now flicked through Cold-Reading for Dummies.
I reckon they are just incredibly stupid, but are so stupid they think they’re really smart. The sort of person who gets put forward as an example of Dunning-Kreuger and everybody assumes they’re just an extreme hypothetical rather than an actual case study.
I met someone like that in real life – incredibly stupid, but the mouth never stopped. We had about a dozen FB friends in common. There was one memorable party where they said something like “actually, I’m pretty smart”, and the room just stopped dead.
I discovered a few weeks back that I was still FB friends with them. We had no friends in common, even though I was still friends with the others in that crowd. A bit sad, really.
I think they are great. I can go to the website anytime and check a bar graph of how much power i have used each day and how much my bill will be based on an average of what i am using. Really easy to see the cost when i run an electric heater.
I thnk there are different types of meter. It is hard to get an understanding on what you find solkta and what power companies do when the system isn’t working to the best interests of the user.l
Can understand how that would be useful, we don’t use electric heaters, luckily the fire and heat transfer is enough to warm the house and heat the water.
Clothes drier seems to be the major power sucker at ours in the winter.
That poor man being stung by $1k monthly bills.
However it’s encouraging to know that our government is not going to sit on it’s hands while big corp monopolies are ripping off consumers.
I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for the guy. He says that he had a few power bills of $5-600 but didn’t start complaining till he got one of $750. Surely a prudent consumer would complain a lot earlier and change supplier if not resolved promptly long before they had paid more than $4300 too much!?
One of the useful spinoffs of having solar power is that I can read my power consumption, as well as production, in 15 minute increments if necessary. A daily report on a graph shows when the power is being used.
It was a digital meter., discs dont spin anymore
By pushing the button it can scroll through the voltage, the amps and the current kW being drawn
A hot water cylinder on draws 3 kW. or test with a bar heater that uses 1kW or 2kW depending on switch.
Out of curiosity what is the economic lifetime of a solar generation system?
Consumer New Zealand had a look at solar power in Auckland, Wellington and Hawkes Bay a little while ago. They seemed to think it was worth it in Hawkes Bay but not in Auckland or Christchurch.
The results will be on consumer.org.nz I don’t know whether they are free to access if you aren’t a subscriber.
Alwyn, the 25 years I’m quoting is what I understand to be the estimated useful life, conservatively assessed. The panels degrade over time.
A factor I did not mention is the increasing cost as electricity inevitably rises in price which will tilt the payback my way.
Funnily enough with the talk of costs, it was not the biggest factor by far. We are making some contribution to conserving power and fossil fuel, as some of the generated power goes into an EV.
“What Is the Lifespan of a Solar Panel? Photovoltaic (PV) modules typically come with 20 year warranties that guarantee that the panels will produce at least 80% of the rated power after 20 years of use. The general rule of thumb is that panels will degrade by about 1% each year.”
Googled from search for ‘ roof panels electricity longevity’.
Factoring that in, after 25 years I would have paid off the installation, recouped any interest I had forgone if I had made a straight investment at 4%, and made a profit of $4000 since I sell some 10% of my annual 2010 kw/hr (the first year’s total production) back to my provider at only 7c per kw/h.
So, it makes a little money, the installation continues to generate after 25 years and hopefully is still worth something at the time of house sale.
Meanwhile at the other end !! a computer is recording how many times you go to the toilet how many loads of washing you do weather you have three pieces of toast or two what time you get up an what time you go to bed how long you watch tv how many computers are switched on at any given time etc etc etc thats the bonus of having a smart meter all the information you can get for free paid for by the guy you did out of a job …in no time !!!
I work for one of the companies that has the contract to install and maintain the smart meters and…
1) There is a lot of trouble with them. We are forever having to get called out for faults such as part power, no hot water, etc. The technicians are put under pressure to install a certain amount of meters each day, and get minimal training, as such, they tend to incorrectly install them.
2) It is not cumpolsory to get the meters installed. You can refuse. They will tell you that they need to be installed by law, but there is no such law.
3) There are many different types of smart meters, some use the Vodafone network, communicating every half hour (they have a regular sim card installed), others have are connected to a mesh network, ie in a valley there may be 5-10 houses in a network and one of then sends the reads to the central server.
4) The old analogue meters lasted 50-60 years. And a lot of them are in pretty good condition. The smart meters are only designed to last 15-25 years and then are replaced. They are also unpredictable, easy to turn off remotely, but when it comes to reconnecting, it doesn’t always work.
We had a problem with our hot water after they installed a smart meter.
It was entirely a fault with the installation.
They were meant to connect it so that we had hot water available 24 hours/day. In fact they connected it through a meter that was intended only for a night store heater and that only heated the water for a limited number of hours/day. We still got charged through the main meter though.
We didn’t realise we had a major problem until we went away on holiday for a couple of weeks. When we got back the water didn’t heat up. It was only doing so in the middle of the night. We had our electrician in because we thought we had a problem with the hot water cylinder.
He told us it was wired wrongly. We had a terrible job getting the lines company to come back and fix it. They claimed that what was happening was impossible. They also said we would have to pay for them to come and look at it.
Finally they came, blushed, fixed it and paid the electricians bill.
Hi Millsy, I recently had a notice from Genesis that they would be installing a smart metre. I don’t want one, but when I read the fine print of the contract, it was specified that I must, under the terms of the contract, have one. Is that legal?
Sorry, there is no government mandate for smart meters as in other countries. You are still bound to have one as per the contract with your retailer. But you can have one without the modem so it is still manually read.
I think it’s high time some scrutiny was applied to the gang of old geezers who make up PTUA and Transport 2050. And why the hell Mike Lee (whom I’ve always respected as a great voice for Auckland) is having anything to do with them.
There is a studied benefit for the people of Onehunga, and along Dominion Road, and they quite rightly state that it is more than a benefit than for airport travellers.
However, those PT travellers already have existing PT, and we should also be looking those who live in parts of Auckland who have abysmal PT, and see whether the social value of investing in that instead of improving existing services would be better served by delivering the HR option in this case.
Greater Auckland collates information that leads to certain outcomes, and does not consider the wider demographics (despite the name) of all Auckland residents.
The high cost of the delivery of LR, when so many of the less financially robust Aucklanders are being hit with higher transport costs because there is no reliable affordable public transport in their areas is a discussion point that is often missed at GA.
fine. but don’t roll a turd in glitter, polish it, then present some sort of botched add on a-la-EA & ubisoft as a PT solution from the CBD to the airport.
Either get trucks off the road round the aiport, get more people PT in more deprived areas so they don’t have to drive to the airport or do a proper job of fast PT from the airport to CBD.
Boosting capacity along Dominion Rd is for the many thousands of extra people who will move there over the next couple of decades. There is no more room in the city centre for buses to go to, let alone cars.
property porn. The best size for suburban apartments is up to 6 stories max not 15 . That would be repeating the failed ‘towers’ for low income residents.
I had this discussion with a Korean friend back in the day. It’s a function of land price. The more expensive the ground, the more sense it makes to build upward.
That said, smaller apartment buildings tended to be four stories over there – achievable on the private means of a family that built to provide retirement income.
In principle I agree with you Dof. Even further the great Jane Jacobs argued persuasively in Death and Life of Great American Cities that 2 storey terrace housing could easily house the same number of people as the post war tower blocks with the added advantage of giving everyone a front door onto their street and the resulting sense of ownership of their neighbourhood.
However some locations in a city suit high rise housing models, the CBD for example and I would argue that the transit park and ride areas mentioned in the article would be suitable areas for that sort of development too.
It started when Mr. Farrar (praise Him!) made the bizarrely untruthful claim that the “Sensible Sentencing” Trust provides “a network of support to families of victims.”
Sadly your dear old mother dropped me a note Moz – what you’ve put her through is quite unacceptable….and I quote.
‘I do apologise for our Morrissey’s behaviour. He really is an utter cunt. Takes after his father unfortunately.
Morrissey’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s always been what you would call a “problem child” very rude and disobedient from a very young age with a very strange obsession with disabled toilets. He’s never sparkled in the love department either having only one boyfriend as far as I can remember. That was a disaster as well. I remember the first time he brought Benjamin Longhair home and they went straight to Morrissey’s room. I could over hear their love talk quite clearly. Benjamin said “ooh Moz, I want you to show me something 8″ long, rock hard and full of spunk !
So Morrissey pulled a sock out from under his bed. It had been there for fucking months, I should know, its me what has to change his soiled sheets every week.’
I particularly like the part where Louise still thinks National increased benefits for the first time in 40 years. I’ve just fired her off an email (first time in my life I’ve ever knowingly engaged with the enemy) to politely enquire where mine is because I’m still waiting for it. I don’t anticipate a reply but had fun writing and sending it 🙂 Do Nats understand sarcasm?
The survey shows that more than 50% of households that get the Accommodation Supplement pay more than 5O% of their income in housing costs. I don’t see how people are better off?
The accommodation supplement does not increase rents. You could successfully argue it is a Govt funded top-up for employers (paying their employees) but you also need to take into account it is paid out to people on benefits who are not in a state provided house.
Rents are directly linked to supply and demand.
If (and it will not happen due to the political fallout) the accommodation supplement was stopped, then employers would need to step in and make-up at least some if not all of the difference.
The demand for housing will still be there, I see little room for rent reductions with or without the accommodation supplement.
If there were no AC in the 1st place, there would not be the mountain of money available $1.2b+ to fuel increases for rent. As those seeking private accomodation would not have the same ability to pay current prices, tempering rents and reducing the ability to fuel house price increases, as ROI’s wouldn’t be what they currently are.
Once implemented we are now faced with the continuation of AC as it would be impossible to remove this
I may be wrong BUT was not the AC implemented by Nats in the 90’s to allow for tenants to be no worse off should they rent a state house or private rental ?
“The Accommodation Supplement was introduced in July 1993 as a part of radical change in welfare policies announced by then Finance Minister Ruth Richardson in 1991 in her so-called ‘mother of all budgets’.”
“In 2001 the Labour Government reintroduced income related rent subsidies”
“It is sometimes argued that the Accommodation Supplement is a landlords’ subsidy and that as such any increase in the value of the Supplement will simply leak out to landlords in the form of higher rents. Remarkably there has been little analysis undertaken of either the income or price effects of the Accommodation Supplement and the two published studies appear to have been written to order to suit the argument that the payment is not a landlord subsidy17.”
Way to go Simon. Populist action?
“”National has launched a petition to repeal the Government’s new fuel taxes to “relieve some of the financial pressure” on Kiwis, the party’s leader Simon Bridges has said.”
Well I see Russell McVeagh are doing the right thing. http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=113094
When are the Labour Party going to insist on a resignation by Meka Whaitiri?
Or is it OK to bash your staff if you are a Labour Party member?
Its a nonsense. Its not a fine , as its a civil case.
Unenforceable in NZ, mainly as no NZ – Isreal treaty on reciprocal court cases and no NZ court would allow this sort of thing where there is no loss even if there was a treaty
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/in-depth/368436/universities-face-a-crisis-of-the-humanities …when the university senate [University of Otago] met on 26 September and decided to axe Otago’s art history programme from 2020.
There wasn’t much of a programme left to cut. Through a process of attrition, the department had been whittled down, since 2014, to 19 full-time students, three undergraduate papers and a single full-time lecturer….
Across 25 BA majors that RNZ classified as unambiguously part of the humanities, the number of degree and post-graduate level students actually rose during the global financial crisis, mirroring university enrolment patterns in other countries. From 2010, however, the numbers began to drop away again. There were 1000 fewer humanities students enrolled in 2017 than in 2008, despite an increase of almost 40,000 students across all degrees and subjects….
The current Tertiary Education Strategy, released in 2014, states this in bald terms: “This strategy focuses in particular on the economic benefits that result from tertiary education, and therefore on employment, higher incomes and better access to skilled employees for business as critical outcomes of tertiary education.”
NZ might be thinking of limiting organic growing methods in Sri Lanka, when we should be copying them, and instead demonstrating better systems for handling the vegetables.
There is talk about the need to grow more food for the world, but we don’t want to regard that as concern, it is talking about markets and money making. When business steps into a people-run economy, it is likely that traditional dealers will be swept aside in the shadow of mechanisation and export of crops for greater return that would normally have been bought by locals paying the local affordable prices.
I am concerned by this upbeat item from Radio nz. We don’t want to export our bizarre culture of destruction of ordinary people’s livelihoods and ability to manage their basic needs, in favour of higher education that produces nothing, with the obvious disconnect in access to a standard of living that is adequate for people living simply.
Most of what was grown in Sri Lanka was largely organic, with apparently minimal use of fertiliser.
“We did ask those questions around sprays, and didn’t see any evidence of it, at all.
“We understand fertiliser is used in rice production, and that’s one of the major crops for the 21 million people, but when the rice is harvested those paddocks are used to grow vegetables.”
Mr Chapman said portions of the fields were hand-tilled for vegetable growing.
He said there were similarities in that a lot of New Zealand growers were also inter-generational, so they’ve been very focused on sustainability of the land.
“As with New Zealand there is also a reducing number of people willing to work in the fields especially, where the work is largely done by hand.”
Mr Chapman said while Sri Lanka could be classed as Third World, it had made incredible advances in education, which was free through to university level, and the literacy rate was now second to Japan among Asian countries.
“We asked for food but you gave us a stone with a certificate of higher learning on it” – that might be the way the land lies in future.
So the protestors broke the law to lie about 1080. If 1080 really killed so gazillions of birds, why couldn’t the protestors at least present actual 1080 victims? Seems legit lol.
You can see the red hands behind that evil spectre John Kerry early in this clip (from the 0:50 mark). There should also have been a whole lot of blood-red hands waving behind the awful BBC woman at about the 8:30 mark…
Can’t buy sex, hang out in bars or afford flowers.
Teeth not the best, clothes from The Warehouse or knock-offs.
No outlook of comfortable security, jewelry or sports cars.
Poor people are the most naturally charming, seductive and sexually satisfying people in the world because we have to be.
There was a reason every Elvis movie started with our hero sporting a skinny wallet. Check them out, even with his awful thesping, Broken arse Elvis is much sexier at the start of his movies than the rich Makegood at the end. If Elvis movies were true to life the final scene would end with the Starlet saying “Frankly, you’ve become a bit boring.”
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Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
If you are not convinced terrorist Organisation ‘Extinction Rebellion’ is very, very dangerous – watch this video at one of their recent meetings. Not only is this obviously mentally ill Woman begging the other terrorists to promote killing and “eating” babies and children, if you watch carefully other members nod ...
The Ombudsman has been surveying people about their knowledge of the OIA and the right to information. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that widespread:The Chief Ombudsman says too many New Zealanders were in the dark over their right to access official information. Peter Boshier said an independent survey released yesterday on ...
In the wake of last Friday's climate strike, Peter McKenzie had an article in The Spinoff about protest strategies. The school strike movement is "polite" and cooperates with those in power because that's its kaupapa - its led by schoolkids who understandably don't want to risk arrest. But there's more ...
So, the latest ruminations on the gnews from Westminster (Again, sorry; I'll stop making that pun right now). This follows on from, and likely repeats bits of, my last post, on the suggestion that a Government of National Unity (GNU) should be set up and then oversee a referendum before ...
New Zealand likes to think of itself as not a racist country (despite being founded on the racist dispossession and subjugation of Maori). But for years, we've had a racist refugee policy, which basicly excludes refugees from Africa and the Middle East unless they already have relatives here. Now, the ...
Several people have asked me whether a particular repeat litigant could be declared a vexatious litigant, in light of their recent decision to appeal an adverse High Court ruling. My nascent tweet thread was getting ridiculously long, so it became this blog post instead.The short answer is: no. The particular ...
Appealing To The Past: Action Zealandia, like so many of the organisations springing up on the far-Right, across what they call the “Anglosphere”, is born out of the profound confusion over what a man is supposed to be in the twenty-first century and, more importantly, what he is supposed to do.THE STATUE OF ...
The attempts of anti-democratic transactivists to (often violently) disrupt women’s rights organising is largely ignored by those sections of the left most prone to misogyny and authoritarianism in New Zealand. In Britain, however, scores of trade union and left activists added their names to a letter in July, defending ...
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill. The Bill would establish an independent, quasi-judicial body to investigate and review potential miscarriages of justice, and refer them back to the Court of appeal if required. It would be a vital backstop to our judiciary, help ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Black Fern Vania Wolfgramm has been given a golden opportunity to learn from leaders in US sport, and in return, make a lasting contribution to Kiwi female athletes. ...
A symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Halt All Racist Tours shook and changed our society, taking NZ into a new and different national and international consciousness. ...
When Hannah Yang complained about a racist clue in the daily paper, she was reminded of the prevalence of casual racism in New Zealand.I’d never seen a racist clue before.It happened in the morning when I sat down in our break room to look at the day’s cryptic crossword (yes, ...
The commentary around local election turnout is littered with misunderstanding. Yes, there’s a problem, but we should regard any suggestion of a single, simple solution with deep suspicion, writes local elections expert Julienne MolineauxThe Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming ...
Alex Casey talks to Henessey Griffiths, a 22 year-old Dunedin student who just finished her dissertation about one of Youtube’s most controversial stars. Content warning: this article contains mention of suicide, please take careYesterday afternoon in Dunedin, honours student Henessey Griffiths sent a tweet that was a year (or rather, five ...
The Transport Minister has released almost all of the letters he's received from Green MPs, but still refuses to release the letter from Julie Anne Genter that is now at the centre of an Ombudsman complaint. ...
Court documents have confirmed Winston Peters was sent a letter by officials four years into his seven-year overpayment of national superannuation asking him to check details he had supplied, including that he was 'single'. ...
Olympic sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are throwing their weight behind a campaign encouraging New Zealander consumers and businesses to reduce their plastic pollution. ...
National Party leader Simon Bridges says his MP Agnes Loheni let him know she'd be contesting the candidacy for Botany, adding it's a "free world". ...
Think you’ve got your KiwiSaver sorted? Try Kōura’s ‘robo-advice’ questionnaire and you might be surprised.If a person who looks like they know about finance asks you whether your appetite for risk is low, medium or high, what do you say? The problem is most Kiwis don’t understand what the question ...
The Social Services and Community Committee is seeking submissions on the Rates Rebate (Statutory Declarations) Amendment Bill. This bill aims to improve the process of applying for rates rebates. It proposes: • Removing the requirement to make a statutory ...
The Māori Affairs Committee is calling for submissions on the Te Ture Whenua Maori (Succession, Dispute Resolution, and Related Matters) Amendment Bill. ...
The New Zealand Police have been used as a political pawn which is stretching their resources and seriously affecting their ability to address the real causes of crime, such as gang related supply of illicit drugs. ...
Alex Casey yarns to Karen O’Leary, early childhood teacher by day and star of Wellington Paranormal and What We Do in The Shadows by night. Two of the funniest moments in New Zealand television last year were entirely fence-based. First up there was Agni on The Block NZ, who packed a ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
NZ Police wish to clarify that cartridges filled with steel or lead shot are not prohibited. They may still be used under the Arms (Prohibited Ammunition) Order 2019 as shotgun cartridges are specifically excluded from the prohibition order. ...
Josie Adams is in tonight’s episode of Have You Been Paying Attention. Specifically, she is in the audience.When you watch Have You Been Paying Attention? tonight, please consider the bladders of audience members watching it live. They offer beverages, but my God it’s a dangerous offer. As I found out ...
Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th--there is very little evidence that says high pay and bonuses improve the performance of a company. Most ...
By Michael Andrew Pacific diplomats, academics and youth leaders will gather in Auckland this week to discuss security, economic development and other pressing issues shaping the region’s future. Pacific Futures will be held on October 18 and will feature speakers from across the region, including Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, Australian National University It has been more than two years since “clearance operations” by Myanmar’s security forces, the Tatmadaw, forced more than 700,000 Rohingya across the border to neighbouring Bangladesh. During this time, the UN Security Council has ...
Fast food company Restaurant Brands has made a smaller half year profit largely because of accounting changes as it prepares to invest heavily in the launch of Taco Bell in New Zealand. ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Papua New Guinea police have issued a warrant for the arrest of former Prime Minister Peter O’Neill. According to EMTV News, the Waigana district court issued the warrant which was based on evidence previously compiled by police investigators. Acting Police Commissioner David Manning said he ...
Patient Voice Aotearoa welcomes the comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters on ‘The Project’ on Friday last week. Peters stated “Right now…we know we are not spending nearly enough on pharmaceuticals and first world drugs…the ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on outgoing Porirua Mayor Mike Tana to repay money clocked up on his ratepayer-funded fuel card for personal travel. The Ernst and Young report released yesterday reveals that, within less than three ...
Barely a month after the Solomon Islands switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China, the country’s Central Province has signed an agreement with the Beijing-based Sam Group to develop Tulagi Island, across Ironbottom Sound from the capital Honiara. Tulagi was the pre-war base of the British ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, a new hole-in-the-wall eatery in Auckland dedicated to New Zealand’s favourite snack.Cheese On Toast has unsavoury connotations for a lot of New Zealand music fans, but now you can wash that bad taste out ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Md Arif Hasan, PhD candidate, Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert ...
There’s an innovation renaissance brewing in post-earthquake Christchurch as multicultural entrepreneurship replaces the old boys’ network. This required a new name, writes Steven Moe.An unusual name that evokes images from Harry Potter is fine by the Ministry of Awesome, because it immediately sets it apart. Founded in the aftermath of ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Ngā Tāngata Microfinance endorse the Salvation Army’s call for tougher regulations on debt collectors and mechanisms to provide forgiveness or waivers for debts to private lenders and Government that are "effectively ...
Cotton On members are currently negotiating a new Collective Agreement with their employer, but despite the company’s repeated claims that they will provide “a pathway to the living wage”, a “people first focus” and a “commitment to ...
Today the Wellington Howard League releases the results of its fourth annual Wellington Howard League prison survey. The survey suggests a variation in the conditions experienced across prisons in New Zealand and an overall decline in most aspects surveyed. This ...
Some people go for a run to let off steam after work, while others try their hand at ballroom dancing or hit up a pub quiz. And some, as Greta Yeoman discovers, throw sharp objects at walls. She gives it a go.An uncoordinated, anxious journalist with terrible aim is probably ...
A move by Australia's financial regulator could be enough to turn the big banks' threat to ditch New Zealand into a reality - or at least see them charge customers more. ...
A staffing survey carried out by the senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, has found a gaping shortfall of hospital specialists at the Northland DHB. ...
Iain Lees-Galloway has defended granting residency to a man with multiple drink-driving convictions saying the person had been in the country for 20 years and had kept out of trouble for a long time. ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Industrial relations Luke Malpass (Stuff): Winston Peters holds the keys to new union laws. Will ...
Not the impeachment investigation. Nor Ukraine. Syrian Kurds.Last week, Turkey invaded the bit of Syria controlled by America’s Kurdish hitherto-allies, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he only wants to occupy a border strip to resettle Syrian refugees and create a buffer zone between ...
Yes we fully support Minister of transport plan to use special speed cameras finally catching all speeding trucks, and other vehicles on our narrow single lane roads that are not fit to use as a speedway by any vehicle. ...
This afternoon Fish & Game posted a public statement responding to my email to supporters this morning – specifically rejecting our claim that steel shot is now deemed "enhanced penetration ammunition" and therefore possession of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mandie Shean, Lecturer, School of Education, Edith Cowan University Two-thirds of young people experience levels of exam stress that mental health organisation ReachOut describes as “worrying”. Research shows high levels of exam stress can interfere with attention and reduce working memory, leading ...
The National Party's outrage that the Immigration Minister granted residency to a protected person and recidivist drink driver, entitling them to the same benefits as New Zealanders, has backfired. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer Beckett, Lecturer in Media and Communications, University of Melbourne Reports of Facebook moderators’ appalling working conditions have been making headlines worldwide. Workers say they are burning out as they moderate vast flows of violent content under pressure, with vague, ever-changing guidelines. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Lycett, Senior Research Officer, Deakin University; Honorary Fellow, The University of Melbourne, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Three simple factors can predict whether a child is likely to be overweight or obese by the time they reach adolescence: the child’s body mass ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Marshall, Lecturer, Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, University of Melbourne You may mock the national anthem by singing “Our land abounds in nature strips” but what you might not know is how true that is. In Melbourne, for example, more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University It’s unlikely Daryl Morey, general manager of the Houston Rockets basketball team, realised he’d be sparking an international diplomatic incident when, on October 4, he tweeted the following Stand with Hong ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure on government from unions, mosque attack victim widows turned down for residency, and another Nat eyes safe Botany seat nomination.Pressure is being put on the government to deliver on one of their major promises to the union movement, reports the NZ ...
It’s the end of an era at Three as MAFS NZ and Guy Williams’ new show canceled and 7 Days cut to bone, writes Duncan Greive.A trio of shows which have been amongst Three’s most important local productions are either being canceled or severely cut back, as the channel’s agonising ...
'Joker' expects viewers not only to understand its cruelty, but to understand the justified violence of a white man when the protests of black men and women in the US are regularly met with condemnation, vilification and exclusion. ...
She runs the women's Aussie Rules and netball programmes at one of Australia's oldest sports clubs, so why is Jane Woodlands-Thompson sitting on the Silver Ferns bench? ...
As someone with a severe chronic illness, Hannah McGowan has a vested interest in getting to the bottom of what cannabis can and can’t do for her health. The reality, she discovers, is complicated.Woo [colloq.]: Mystical, supernatural or pseudo-scientific beliefs not backed up by evidence. I crave a well informed, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The last PM shock jock Alan Jones slapped down was Jacinda Ardern. His language was particularly offensive, advertisers deserted his program and he apologised to New Zealand’s leader. But at least Ardern didn’t have to ...
Open Mike 12/10/2018 
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...12 hours ago
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...16 hours ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz There is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...19 hours ago
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...19 hours ago
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...2 days ago
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...2 days ago
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...2 days ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...5 days ago
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...6 days ago
https://mailchi.mp/7d9133add053/closing-the-gap-october-2019-newsletter ...7 days ago
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...14 hours ago
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...2 days ago
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...9 hours ago
Justice Minister Andrew Little says if National withdraws support from counter-terrorism legislation it would leave New Zealanders unsafe. ...41 mins ago
The Second Fleet was reactivated to patrol the Arctic. Only problem is, the fleet’s home is on the front lines of sea-level rise. ...1 hour ago
Mildly dyslexic Sportsroom editor Steve Deane breaks down the keys to victory for the All Blacks in their World Cup quarterfinal against Ireland. ...1 hour ago
Black Fern Vania Wolfgramm has been given a golden opportunity to learn from leaders in US sport, and in return, make a lasting contribution to Kiwi female athletes. ...1 hour ago
A symposium to mark the 50th anniversary of the formation of Halt All Racist Tours shook and changed our society, taking NZ into a new and different national and international consciousness. ...1 hour ago
When Hannah Yang complained about a racist clue in the daily paper, she was reminded of the prevalence of casual racism in New Zealand.I’d never seen a racist clue before.It happened in the morning when I sat down in our break room to look at the day’s cryptic crossword (yes, ...2 hours ago
What happens when an historic air base that used to be well out of Auckland finds the city has grown up around it? ...2 hours ago
Court documents have confirmed Winston Peters was sent a letter by officials four years into his seven-year overpayment of national superannuation asking him to check details he had supplied, including that he was 'single'. ...13 hours ago
An ambitious target for new officers seems to have turned into a cynical redefinition - how will police take the news? ...13 hours ago
Olympic sailors Blair Tuke and Peter Burling are throwing their weight behind a campaign encouraging New Zealander consumers and businesses to reduce their plastic pollution. ...13 hours ago
The Social Services and Community Committee is seeking submissions on the Rates Rebate (Statutory Declarations) Amendment Bill. This bill aims to improve the process of applying for rates rebates. It proposes: • Removing the requirement to make a statutory ...14 hours ago
By Michael Andrew Pacific diplomats, academics and youth leaders will gather in Auckland this week to discuss security, economic development and other pressing issues shaping the region’s future. Pacific Futures will be held on October 18 and will feature speakers from across the region, including Samoa’s Deputy Prime Minister ...16 hours ago
Fast food company Restaurant Brands has made a smaller half year profit largely because of accounting changes as it prepares to invest heavily in the launch of Taco Bell in New Zealand. ...16 hours ago
Higher household costs helped to push consumer prices higher in the past three months, beating expectations. ...16 hours ago
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Principals nervously wait for the final outcomes of the biggest education system review in 30 years. ...18 hours ago
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A move by Australia's financial regulator could be enough to turn the big banks' threat to ditch New Zealand into a reality - or at least see them charge customers more. ...21 hours ago
A preview of the public lecture to be given at the National Library in Wellington this week by distinguished playwright Dean Parker. ...1 day ago
Zhang Jun looks at how China can move beyond imitating its more developed counterparts to leading the world in innovation. ...1 day ago
After two bad polls, Jacinda Ardern was greeted by a friendly crowd of unionists - but one eager for faster and greater progress. ...1 day ago
'Joker' expects viewers not only to understand its cruelty, but to understand the justified violence of a white man when the protests of black men and women in the US are regularly met with condemnation, vilification and exclusion. ...1 day ago
She runs the women's Aussie Rules and netball programmes at one of Australia's oldest sports clubs, so why is Jane Woodlands-Thompson sitting on the Silver Ferns bench? ...1 day ago
Is the Government going soft on its so-called Electric Vehicles pledge? The University of Auckland's Basil Sharp doesn't think so. ...1 day ago
Volunteer drug testers must tip-toe around a legal grey area to be able to spell out the risks of drug-taking to festival-goers. ...1 day ago
Media Lens is spot on.
“A reminder: from 1939 (and before), the Nazi threat was front-page news in every viewspaper, every day, for years. The threat of near-term climate collapse is an incomparably greater threat. That gives an idea of the awesome bias of corporate media in downplaying this threat.”
https://mobile.twitter.com/medialens
“UN Says Climate Genocide Is Coming. It’s Actually Worse Than That.
Just two years ago, amid global fanfare, the Paris climate accords were signed — initiating what seemed, for a brief moment, like the beginning of a planet-saving movement. But almost immediately, the international goal it established of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius began to seem, to many of the world’s most vulnerable, dramatically inadequate; the Marshall Islands’ representative gave it a blunter name, calling two degrees of warming “genocide.”
The alarming new report you may have read about this week from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — which examines just how much better 1.5 degrees of warming would be than 2 — echoes the charge. “Amplifies” may be the better term. Hundreds of millions of lives are at stake, the report declares, should the world warm more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, which it will do as soon as 2040, if current trends continue. Nearly all coral reefs would die out, wildfires and heat waves would sweep across the planet annually, and the interplay between drought and flooding and temperature would mean that the world’s food supply would become dramatically less secure. Avoiding that scale of suffering, the report says, requires such a thorough transformation of the world’s economy, agriculture, and culture that “there is no documented historical precedent.” The New York Times declared that the report showed a “strong risk” of climate crisis in the coming decades; in Grist, Eric Holthaus wrote that “civilization is at stake.”
If you are alarmed by those sentences, you should be — they are horrifying. But it is, actually, worse than that — considerably worse. That is because the new report’s worst-case scenario is, actually, a best case. In fact, it is a beyond-best-case scenario. What has been called a genocidal level of warming is already our inevitable future. The question is how much worse than that it will get.”
Read the whole article here
https://t.co/KF98AlJgt9?amp=1
In NZ – government cut benefits in 1991 but introduced grants which could be applied for of about $300 each year, okay for dentists etc.
Now the RW have just turned bennies into a profit centre for loans at high interest – which is appropriate for a business approach.
But people need to have grants available to them from government again. Give the help where it is needed, assist the people that government has impoverished through cutting tariffs so forcing local business to close, and then enforcing a low wage regime and bringing about working poverty.
Aiming too low their Greywarshark, if you wanted millions/billions for a stadium, marina, free or cheap public land and millions of dollars in hand outs to solve some big problem, the government would only be too happy to supply you with the cash.
Try either getting super rich so you can have lobbyists and be feted by government for being a ‘winner’ or set up your own charitable trust for the moneys to be deposited into.
Any ‘charity’ with “affordable” housing, kids, poverty, political or big item infrastructure is popular now. Expect to spend a considerable amount of the money you collect on actually lobbying, marketing and advertising to get the money, then pay your costs of administration, lawyers and accountants, ensure their is enough to cover wages costs of the above (millions is generally required) and anything left can be distributed with a lot of publicity, photo shots etc and a desperate cry, we need more money for this desperate need…
What we need to do is up the basic benefit to a liveable level and get rid of most if not all of the supplementary grants. The housing one for instance has turned out to be a grant for landlords. Respect beneficiaries and encourage rather than punish.
@TFG – Reinvent beneficiaries into professional sports lobbyists who need infrastructure for international events for the .01%, or developers and you will get more attention for your cause.
Look how many councils seem more interested in stadiums than council housing… they also seem happy to take away kids, amateurs and semi professional locals sports fields in the process…
But do agree, it would be easier to have set benefit rather than a complicated smorgasbord of add ons to benefits… but then making it simple and easy would probably make it easier for vulnerable people to get it, and that is not the purpose of welfare these days, it’s to make sure that the least needy get it, and the rest goes to those handy with the paperwork, and government friendly lobby groups to redistribute the rest.
Godmother
+100
Did you ever tried to get one of those grants greywarshark.?
Its not easy, generally they prefer to wait till your mouth is a seething pit of pain and infection before you can get the grant. Even though that means a more expensive potentially less successful trip to the dentist.
I agree in theory with the idea of government loans, but the application process needs to be handled very carefully, with the cost of NOT giving the loan being taken into account.
And definitely not done through the staff at work and income.
There needs to be a professional setup, maybe through kiwibank, where the applicants are treated like customers not scam artists and bludgers. Where staff are encouraged to give loans, not incentivised to turn people away.
I don’t have the link but popped into my feed the other day, some rich fucks will build a stadium sunk into the Auckland waterfront (with climate change around the corner, so we know that is the wrong location already, something that the IYI class probably did not bother to explore in their million dollar personal study for Phil Goff) and then Auckland council gives them billions in free land in one of the most expensive suburbs from the ratepayers/taxpayers so they can profit off housing…
What a winner – it’s free land for the right deals/people around Auckland these days. And sounds like ChCH is similar.
Phil REALLY wants that stadium.
I’m all for it as long as those involved go to prison for stupidity and fraud for their actions of stealing and misappropriating land from the public.
Why does this pathetic stadium idea keep coming up? We already have one on the Shore and Eden Park, multiple other facilities around Auckland, and rampant poverty and homelessness. Perhaps we could spend this money solving those problems before building a vanity trophy building directly in the path of rising sea levels?
Helen wants Eden Park shut down. It disturbs her beauty sleep on the occasional nights she spends there. Look at her moaning about the possibility of having a concert there.
And, as that song in the musical Damn Yankees says:
“Whatever Helen wants, Helen gets ……”
‘No jerks allowed’: the egalitarianism behind Norway’s winter wonderland
Norway have powered to the top of the Olympics medal table on a budget a 10th of Britain’s thanks to an inclusive approach based on camaraderie and grassroots participation
““Our vision is sport for all,” Tvedt says. “Before you are 12 you should have fun with sport. So we don’t focus on who the winner is before then. Instead we are very focused on getting children into our 11,000 local sports clubs. And we have 93% of children and young people regularly playing sport in these organisations.””
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/22/norway-winter-olympics-success
Sound like opposite to NZ neoliberal sports approach then, which is to sell off the schools lands and other public land, make it harder at grass roots level, make families shell out big bucks for uniforms and fees to be on special squads and drive their kids all over the show to play at dwindling sports areas adding to congestion… and winning and being good at sports being a big driver now into sports rather than inclusion (even for the bad kids at sports) and fun…
Nice to go back to sports actually at the schools during the curiculum, no driving around, uniforms or professionalism until they hit 14 years at least…
For a lot of kids sport as part of the school curriculum is a complete waste of time and often counter-productive in that it puts them off exercise, which should actually be fun.
SaveNZ @ 3.1.1.1:”“Before you are 12 you should have fun with sport. So we don’t focus on who the winner is before then.”
Hear. Hear.
Kids who are good at their sport love to rub it in.
Parents who love to win push their kids to win.
Parents and coaches who love to win make their team members feel bad.
Schools use winning as a mark of success.
Coaches who love to win use the best kids to win.
Meanwhile the bulk of “others” loose interest in sport and avoid participation.
‘No jerks allowed’
????
What about….us?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2018/09/max-key-launches-instagram-account-documenting-john-key-s-personal-life.html
@Alwyn – Since Aunty Helen was not that keen on a Macc’ers next to her house, not sure she wants listening high rises with massive price tags (and a few ‘affordable houses’ for the spin doctors to spin) ‘ in a dwindling historic area of Auckland..
Oh but wait rest of Auckland has to pay for that travel and congestion from those houses too… and the waster water, and the pollution… etc etc
It’s win win to be a developer these days when you get the poor to subsidise your luxury offerings and profits.
You lie through your teeth which are false you little worm alwyn.
Are you incapable of accepting people making accurate statements about your favourite goddess?
It is you who are lying. My statement was accurate.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/07/former-prime-minister-helen-clark-opposes-eden-park-charity-concert.html
ps. I did not choose the photo of Ms Clark in the article.
That is a lovely photo of Ms Clark.
Here’s a lovely photo of Mrs Shipley.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/107619078/dame-jenny-shipley-prepares-to-give-evidence-in-mainzeal-high-court-trial
It would take:
5 years to get the money together,
3 to get the land and consents,
2 to build it, and
at least a year to demolish Eden Park.
Then a further 3 to redevelop Eden Park.
That group would need either Chinese capital or a sovereign wealth fund to go through that kind of long haul.
But Save NZ climate change is NOT around the corner … IT IS HERE !
Read again from Eds post above :
https://t.co/KF98AlJgt9?amp=1
Looking abroad, Germany’s largest opposition party, the AfD, calls for the denunciation of teachers who express political views, and Germany’s bourgeois left party, the SPD, traditional voting home of centre-left voters since WWII, falls to 15% in one poll, behind both the populist, right-wing AfD and the Greens. The Liberals and the actual (if very broad-based) left-wing party, “Die Linke”, both sit on 10% (too lazy to find a credible link for that one in English).
Beto O’Rourke gets a full hour on CNN as Cruz pulls out. There’s got to be some luck for a good Democrat who has forsworn all Superpac money and could just maybe take Texas. One day, LBJ, one day.
NYTimes is currently polling that Texas Senate race and in that poll at least, Cruz looks comfortable.
Fivethirtyeight tracks a solid 5-8 poll margin.
Aye well, one day……
They call 100,000 phone numbers to get 1000 responses. A lot of people arent registered voters and because its mid terms even less bother to vote than the main election time
I’m sure someone will have posted this before, but Chris Trotter nails it here in regard to why we need the “Waka Jumping” Bill.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-political-amnesia-of-winston-peters.html
I’m a Green voter and have never understood why the Greens can’t get it that this Bill is needed-at least in the end they voted for it.
Thats right . MPs have had to toe the party line …since for ever.
When was the last conscience vote ? The Marrriage equality one ?
Wouldn’t it be Seymour’s Assisted Dying Legislation which was referred to a Select Committee in a Conscience vote back in January?
It might not have reached the third reading but it is certainly underway as a conscience matter.
Yeah but that’s not a confidence and supply issue-should be a free vote.
A Conscience vote on Confidence and Supply?
I really don’t think I am going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
Maybe our own electricity meters are being hacked too?
Bloody disgusting this is!!!!!!
Electricity Authority heads should now roll over this!!!!!!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107733440/faulty-smart-meter-to-blame-for-1100-power-bill
Bradley Tuhi had monthly power bills of more than $1000, but there was no obvious reason why.
Genesis Energy has admitted a faulty power meter is to blame for a Christchurch man receiving exorbitant electricity bills for 12 months.
Bradley Tuhi’s monthly power bill peaked at $1105 in July, yet at the time Genesis Energy failed to accept it could be at fault.
Tuhi spent months trying to convince Genesis Energy it was not possible for him, his wife and step son to consume that much electricity at their fully-insulated, double-glazed, 10-year-old Governors Bay home that was heated using gas.
Always been a bit suss on the smart meter, do most households have them now?
We ended up writing on the meter box, ‘if you attempt to install a smart meter you will be prosecuted by the home owner’.
Good on you Cinny. Wise.
That must of had them shivering in their boots.
Got a hug from the meter reader, does that count?
When’s your 49th birthday James ?
what that got to do with the subject in hand?
About as much as your comment to Cinny..
You could be turning 50 this year…
Are you turning 50?
I think you have some mental health issues.
I dunno – 1-2 seems to have moved on from Baby’s First Cartesian Doubt (man-in-the-sky bless whoever came up with that line) and have now flicked through Cold-Reading for Dummies.
I reckon they are just incredibly stupid, but are so stupid they think they’re really smart. The sort of person who gets put forward as an example of Dunning-Kreuger and everybody assumes they’re just an extreme hypothetical rather than an actual case study.
I met someone like that in real life – incredibly stupid, but the mouth never stopped. We had about a dozen FB friends in common. There was one memorable party where they said something like “actually, I’m pretty smart”, and the room just stopped dead.
I discovered a few weeks back that I was still FB friends with them. We had no friends in common, even though I was still friends with the others in that crowd. A bit sad, really.
I think they are great. I can go to the website anytime and check a bar graph of how much power i have used each day and how much my bill will be based on an average of what i am using. Really easy to see the cost when i run an electric heater.
I thnk there are different types of meter. It is hard to get an understanding on what you find solkta and what power companies do when the system isn’t working to the best interests of the user.l
Can understand how that would be useful, we don’t use electric heaters, luckily the fire and heat transfer is enough to warm the house and heat the water.
Clothes drier seems to be the major power sucker at ours in the winter.
That poor man being stung by $1k monthly bills.
However it’s encouraging to know that our government is not going to sit on it’s hands while big corp monopolies are ripping off consumers.
I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for the guy. He says that he had a few power bills of $5-600 but didn’t start complaining till he got one of $750. Surely a prudent consumer would complain a lot earlier and change supplier if not resolved promptly long before they had paid more than $4300 too much!?
My nephew’s power bill for 4 winter months was $1900. And he has gas water heating and gas stove. He seems to be unconcerned.
Wow, that’s enormous.
You could do that simply by looking at the little disc in your meter. If it was spinning too fast then you were using too much power
Yes if someone really wanted to they could read their analogue meter every day and make their own graphs and estimates.
One of the useful spinoffs of having solar power is that I can read my power consumption, as well as production, in 15 minute increments if necessary. A daily report on a graph shows when the power is being used.
It was a digital meter., discs dont spin anymore
By pushing the button it can scroll through the voltage, the amps and the current kW being drawn
A hot water cylinder on draws 3 kW. or test with a bar heater that uses 1kW or 2kW depending on switch.
So many benefits to solar, hopefully we can afford it one day, that would be awesome.
Dont do it. The cost will outweigh any ‘free power’ . Most of your power drawdown is evening and night when sun doesnt shine ( or low in sky)
Dukeofurl,
I still generate over 2000 kw off a 1.4kw array per year. That’s $600 p.a. The array cost $5500.
I use 90% in my home and sell 10% back to my supplier. That is 1800kw at 30c kw/h or $540 plus 200 kw/h at 7c is $14. Per annum income of $540.
I will recuperate my outlay in ten years.
$5500 at 4% is $220 pa. Over ten years $2200 income. That would take another five years to recuperate.
I will recuperate my money in 15 years.
Ten years free power at least saving $6000.
Out of curiosity what is the economic lifetime of a solar generation system?
Consumer New Zealand had a look at solar power in Auckland, Wellington and Hawkes Bay a little while ago. They seemed to think it was worth it in Hawkes Bay but not in Auckland or Christchurch.
The results will be on consumer.org.nz I don’t know whether they are free to access if you aren’t a subscriber.
Alwyn, the 25 years I’m quoting is what I understand to be the estimated useful life, conservatively assessed. The panels degrade over time.
A factor I did not mention is the increasing cost as electricity inevitably rises in price which will tilt the payback my way.
Funnily enough with the talk of costs, it was not the biggest factor by far. We are making some contribution to conserving power and fossil fuel, as some of the generated power goes into an EV.
I hope that all makes sense.
@mac1.
Thank you. I didn’t realize that the panels lasted that long.
“What Is the Lifespan of a Solar Panel? Photovoltaic (PV) modules typically come with 20 year warranties that guarantee that the panels will produce at least 80% of the rated power after 20 years of use. The general rule of thumb is that panels will degrade by about 1% each year.”
Googled from search for ‘ roof panels electricity longevity’.
Factoring that in, after 25 years I would have paid off the installation, recouped any interest I had forgone if I had made a straight investment at 4%, and made a profit of $4000 since I sell some 10% of my annual 2010 kw/hr (the first year’s total production) back to my provider at only 7c per kw/h.
So, it makes a little money, the installation continues to generate after 25 years and hopefully is still worth something at the time of house sale.
Meanwhile at the other end !! a computer is recording how many times you go to the toilet how many loads of washing you do weather you have three pieces of toast or two what time you get up an what time you go to bed how long you watch tv how many computers are switched on at any given time etc etc etc thats the bonus of having a smart meter all the information you can get for free paid for by the guy you did out of a job …in no time !!!
What complete and utter bollocks. All it does is measure the amount of power coming in.
I work for one of the companies that has the contract to install and maintain the smart meters and…
1) There is a lot of trouble with them. We are forever having to get called out for faults such as part power, no hot water, etc. The technicians are put under pressure to install a certain amount of meters each day, and get minimal training, as such, they tend to incorrectly install them.
2) It is not cumpolsory to get the meters installed. You can refuse. They will tell you that they need to be installed by law, but there is no such law.
3) There are many different types of smart meters, some use the Vodafone network, communicating every half hour (they have a regular sim card installed), others have are connected to a mesh network, ie in a valley there may be 5-10 houses in a network and one of then sends the reads to the central server.
4) The old analogue meters lasted 50-60 years. And a lot of them are in pretty good condition. The smart meters are only designed to last 15-25 years and then are replaced. They are also unpredictable, easy to turn off remotely, but when it comes to reconnecting, it doesn’t always work.
Thanks millsy useful to know, good to have facts re the general use.
No hot water isnt a meter fault. Normally its fault with the water heater itself. You know this Millsy
It can either be an issue with the meter or water heater.
We had a problem with our hot water after they installed a smart meter.
It was entirely a fault with the installation.
They were meant to connect it so that we had hot water available 24 hours/day. In fact they connected it through a meter that was intended only for a night store heater and that only heated the water for a limited number of hours/day. We still got charged through the main meter though.
We didn’t realise we had a major problem until we went away on holiday for a couple of weeks. When we got back the water didn’t heat up. It was only doing so in the middle of the night. We had our electrician in because we thought we had a problem with the hot water cylinder.
He told us it was wired wrongly. We had a terrible job getting the lines company to come back and fix it. They claimed that what was happening was impossible. They also said we would have to pay for them to come and look at it.
Finally they came, blushed, fixed it and paid the electricians bill.
Hi Millsy, I recently had a notice from Genesis that they would be installing a smart metre. I don’t want one, but when I read the fine print of the contract, it was specified that I must, under the terms of the contract, have one. Is that legal?
Sorry, there is no government mandate for smart meters as in other countries. You are still bound to have one as per the contract with your retailer. But you can have one without the modem so it is still manually read.
For those advocating for a HR link from Auckland Airport to Puhunui…
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2018/10/12/over-estimating-the-importance-of-city-airport-trips/
I think it’s high time some scrutiny was applied to the gang of old geezers who make up PTUA and Transport 2050. And why the hell Mike Lee (whom I’ve always respected as a great voice for Auckland) is having anything to do with them.
There is a studied benefit for the people of Onehunga, and along Dominion Road, and they quite rightly state that it is more than a benefit than for airport travellers.
However, those PT travellers already have existing PT, and we should also be looking those who live in parts of Auckland who have abysmal PT, and see whether the social value of investing in that instead of improving existing services would be better served by delivering the HR option in this case.
Greater Auckland collates information that leads to certain outcomes, and does not consider the wider demographics (despite the name) of all Auckland residents.
The high cost of the delivery of LR, when so many of the less financially robust Aucklanders are being hit with higher transport costs because there is no reliable affordable public transport in their areas is a discussion point that is often missed at GA.
fine. but don’t roll a turd in glitter, polish it, then present some sort of botched add on a-la-EA & ubisoft as a PT solution from the CBD to the airport.
Either get trucks off the road round the aiport, get more people PT in more deprived areas so they don’t have to drive to the airport or do a proper job of fast PT from the airport to CBD.
Light rail to the airport. lol.
“those PT travellers already have existing PT”
Boosting capacity along Dominion Rd is for the many thousands of extra people who will move there over the next couple of decades. There is no more room in the city centre for buses to go to, let alone cars.
15 storey apartment buildings. This will send the nimbyists into a frenzy
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/107775894/auckland-park-and-rides-the-1-billion-deal
property porn. The best size for suburban apartments is up to 6 stories max not 15 . That would be repeating the failed ‘towers’ for low income residents.
I had this discussion with a Korean friend back in the day. It’s a function of land price. The more expensive the ground, the more sense it makes to build upward.
That said, smaller apartment buildings tended to be four stories over there – achievable on the private means of a family that built to provide retirement income.
In principle I agree with you Dof. Even further the great Jane Jacobs argued persuasively in Death and Life of Great American Cities that 2 storey terrace housing could easily house the same number of people as the post war tower blocks with the added advantage of giving everyone a front door onto their street and the resulting sense of ownership of their neighbourhood.
However some locations in a city suit high rise housing models, the CBD for example and I would argue that the transit park and ride areas mentioned in the article would be suitable areas for that sort of development too.
dukeofurl
+1000
Major storm brewing up on Kiwiblog
It started when Mr. Farrar (praise Him!) made the bizarrely untruthful claim that the “Sensible Sentencing” Trust provides “a network of support to families of victims.”
Let the fireworks begin….
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2018/10/lovely_libby.html/comment-page-1#comment-2331165
Crikey!
Speaking of fireworks, William Shatner and Jacinda are about to open Rocket Labs new factory.
Any Trekkies on the kb?
Link for livestream, which starts soon apparently.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12141427
The only storm brewing up is the one between your ears Morrissey.
You do know the difference between the SST and SSGT?
SST – PO Box 701 Napier
SSTG – PO Box 701 Napier both at 32 Hastings St Napier, a small office bloc.
Who knew that they are using ‘catfishing’ techniques
What storm?
A storm of abuse, Jimmy.
http://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/10/absurd-ss-supporting-victims-families.html
What a pathetic trolling little creep you are Moz.
My friend, could you please expand on that interesting observation?
Sadly your dear old mother dropped me a note Moz – what you’ve put her through is quite unacceptable….and I quote.
‘I do apologise for our Morrissey’s behaviour. He really is an utter cunt. Takes after his father unfortunately.
Morrissey’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s always been what you would call a “problem child” very rude and disobedient from a very young age with a very strange obsession with disabled toilets. He’s never sparkled in the love department either having only one boyfriend as far as I can remember. That was a disaster as well. I remember the first time he brought Benjamin Longhair home and they went straight to Morrissey’s room. I could over hear their love talk quite clearly. Benjamin said “ooh Moz, I want you to show me something 8″ long, rock hard and full of spunk !
So Morrissey pulled a sock out from under his bed. It had been there for fucking months, I should know, its me what has to change his soiled sheets every week.’
Oooooohhh, Mullet, you are AWFUL.
But I like you!
Let’s be frank Moz, you have an EQ/IQ which would worry a moron.
Sad, pathetic and forever alone, poor Moz is doomed and destined to forever inhabit the disabled toilet of his tortured and diseased mind. Arse.
Let’s be frank Moz, you have an EQ/IQ which would worry a moron.
Do morons worry about such things? Maybe they have a dim apprehension there’s something wrong, but…. Anyway, it’s an interesting point you make.
Sad, pathetic and forever alone, poor Moz is doomed and destined to forever inhabit the disabled toilet of his tortured and diseased mind.
Yes, I guess I’m kind of an Aaron Smith in some ways.
Arse.
Indeed.
Still delusional.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1810/S00105/kiwis-better-off-under-the-national-government.htm
I particularly like the part where Louise still thinks National increased benefits for the first time in 40 years. I’ve just fired her off an email (first time in my life I’ve ever knowingly engaged with the enemy) to politely enquire where mine is because I’m still waiting for it. I don’t anticipate a reply but had fun writing and sending it 🙂 Do Nats understand sarcasm?
The survey shows that more than 50% of households that get the Accommodation Supplement pay more than 5O% of their income in housing costs. I don’t see how people are better off?
The accomodation supplement has fast become a means to increase rents, with a hefty subsidy by the tax payer. The calculation is like watching a cat chase it’s tail.
The supplement is increased to cover past rent increases only to fuel current and future increases.
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/57062/accommodation-supplement-landlord-subsidy-punching-big-hole-govt-books-due
Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei attacked the Accommodation Supplement in Parliament last year, saying it was merely a subsidy for landlords
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/331777/govt-pulled-u-turn-on-accommodation-supplement
Millsy, landlords are ok 👌
The accommodation supplement does not increase rents. You could successfully argue it is a Govt funded top-up for employers (paying their employees) but you also need to take into account it is paid out to people on benefits who are not in a state provided house.
Rents are directly linked to supply and demand.
If (and it will not happen due to the political fallout) the accommodation supplement was stopped, then employers would need to step in and make-up at least some if not all of the difference.
The demand for housing will still be there, I see little room for rent reductions with or without the accommodation supplement.
If there were no AC in the 1st place, there would not be the mountain of money available $1.2b+ to fuel increases for rent. As those seeking private accomodation would not have the same ability to pay current prices, tempering rents and reducing the ability to fuel house price increases, as ROI’s wouldn’t be what they currently are.
Once implemented we are now faced with the continuation of AC as it would be impossible to remove this
I may be wrong BUT was not the AC implemented by Nats in the 90’s to allow for tenants to be no worse off should they rent a state house or private rental ?
“The Accommodation Supplement was introduced in July 1993 as a part of radical change in welfare policies announced by then Finance Minister Ruth Richardson in 1991 in her so-called ‘mother of all budgets’.”
“In 2001 the Labour Government reintroduced income related rent subsidies”
“It is sometimes argued that the Accommodation Supplement is a landlords’ subsidy and that as such any increase in the value of the Supplement will simply leak out to landlords in the form of higher rents. Remarkably there has been little analysis undertaken of either the income or price effects of the Accommodation Supplement and the two published studies appear to have been written to order to suit the argument that the payment is not a landlord subsidy17.”
https://www.cpag.org.nz/assets/A%20Policy%20of%20Cynical%20Neglect%20-%20%28Final%29.pdf
I guess the jury is out Herodotus…I concede there may be some correlation but not to any significant degree.
Way to go Simon. Populist action?
“”National has launched a petition to repeal the Government’s new fuel taxes to “relieve some of the financial pressure” on Kiwis, the party’s leader Simon Bridges has said.”
Well I see Russell McVeagh are doing the right thing.
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=113094
When are the Labour Party going to insist on a resignation by Meka Whaitiri?
Or is it OK to bash your staff if you are a Labour Party member?
Liar ! You get booted off for such falsehoods you know.
She grabbed her by the arm as she came from behind her.
By your standard grabbing a ponytail from behind is ‘bashing’
It’s ok to lie if you’re a nat. They do it all the time.
When’s wally going to let that teat go?
New Zealand
12:46 pm today
NZ activists fined nearly $19k by Israeli court over Lorde’s concert cancellation
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/349388/nz-activists-sued-over-lorde-concert-cancellations
Its a nonsense. Its not a fine , as its a civil case.
Unenforceable in NZ, mainly as no NZ – Isreal treaty on reciprocal court cases and no NZ court would allow this sort of thing where there is no loss even if there was a treaty
Geddes pulls it all apart and throws it in the bin.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/12-10-2018/can-an-israeli-court-really-make-nzers-pay-19000-for-an-open-letter-to-lorde/
well she cant sing!
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/in-depth/368436/universities-face-a-crisis-of-the-humanities
…when the university senate [University of Otago] met on 26 September and decided to axe Otago’s art history programme from 2020.
There wasn’t much of a programme left to cut. Through a process of attrition, the department had been whittled down, since 2014, to 19 full-time students, three undergraduate papers and a single full-time lecturer….
Across 25 BA majors that RNZ classified as unambiguously part of the humanities, the number of degree and post-graduate level students actually rose during the global financial crisis, mirroring university enrolment patterns in other countries. From 2010, however, the numbers began to drop away again. There were 1000 fewer humanities students enrolled in 2017 than in 2008, despite an increase of almost 40,000 students across all degrees and subjects….
The current Tertiary Education Strategy, released in 2014, states this in bald terms: “This strategy focuses in particular on the economic benefits that result from tertiary education, and therefore on employment, higher incomes and better access to skilled employees for business as critical outcomes of tertiary education.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/in-depth/365540/why-being-made-redundant-in-nz-is-so-tough
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/in-depth/366084/the-reality-of-life-on-the-minimum-wage-in-nz
NZ might be thinking of limiting organic growing methods in Sri Lanka, when we should be copying them, and instead demonstrating better systems for handling the vegetables.
There is talk about the need to grow more food for the world, but we don’t want to regard that as concern, it is talking about markets and money making. When business steps into a people-run economy, it is likely that traditional dealers will be swept aside in the shadow of mechanisation and export of crops for greater return that would normally have been bought by locals paying the local affordable prices.
I am concerned by this upbeat item from Radio nz. We don’t want to export our bizarre culture of destruction of ordinary people’s livelihoods and ability to manage their basic needs, in favour of higher education that produces nothing, with the obvious disconnect in access to a standard of living that is adequate for people living simply.
Most of what was grown in Sri Lanka was largely organic, with apparently minimal use of fertiliser.
“We did ask those questions around sprays, and didn’t see any evidence of it, at all.
“We understand fertiliser is used in rice production, and that’s one of the major crops for the 21 million people, but when the rice is harvested those paddocks are used to grow vegetables.”
Mr Chapman said portions of the fields were hand-tilled for vegetable growing.
He said there were similarities in that a lot of New Zealand growers were also inter-generational, so they’ve been very focused on sustainability of the land.
“As with New Zealand there is also a reducing number of people willing to work in the fields especially, where the work is largely done by hand.”
Mr Chapman said while Sri Lanka could be classed as Third World, it had made incredible advances in education, which was free through to university level, and the literacy rate was now second to Japan among Asian countries.
“We asked for food but you gave us a stone with a certificate of higher learning on it” – that might be the way the land lies in future.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/368530/sri-lanka-an-example-for-plant-based-diet-horticulture-nz
Protected birds left at parliament by anti-1080 protestors were completely unrelated to 1080.
So the protestors broke the law to lie about 1080. If 1080 really killed so gazillions of birds, why couldn’t the protestors at least present actual 1080 victims? Seems legit lol.
A powerful symbolic protest:
Red hands wave behind blood-stained U.S. Secretary of State
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-redhands/red-stained-hands-wave-in-protest-at-u-s-hearing-on-syria-idUSBRE98319L20130904
You can see the red hands behind that evil spectre John Kerry early in this clip (from the 0:50 mark). There should also have been a whole lot of blood-red hands waving behind the awful BBC woman at about the 8:30 mark…
Poor people are naturally sexy.
Can’t buy sex, hang out in bars or afford flowers.
Teeth not the best, clothes from The Warehouse or knock-offs.
No outlook of comfortable security, jewelry or sports cars.
Poor people are the most naturally charming, seductive and sexually satisfying people in the world because we have to be.
There was a reason every Elvis movie started with our hero sporting a skinny wallet. Check them out, even with his awful thesping, Broken arse Elvis is much sexier at the start of his movies than the rich Makegood at the end. If Elvis movies were true to life the final scene would end with the Starlet saying “Frankly, you’ve become a bit boring.”