“Tony Blair’s presence in front of the Cenotaph is grotesque. It’s like having an arsonist attending the funeral of the victims of his fire starting. One million Iraqis dead, ME plunged into the abyss, Blair is a war criminal. ”
George Galloway.
“There is no Poppy large enough, no overcoat thick enough to hide the black evil hearts of the War Criminals amongst whom Corbyn was forced to linger in London this morning.”
“’ll use Twitter sparingly from now on, and only for either my latest column or when I’ve something I really want to say. Real life awaits. Given the planetary state of things, we’d all likely do better by spending more time with family, friends, animals & nature. Peace out.”
Some could infer that the govt has now moved regarding the teachers, to engaging in the PR war with the voter, placing a wedge between the teachers and the public. The phrasing of the $9,500 is of interest as it grosses 3 annual rises of 3% into 1, and has been used to destroy favourable public opinion towards teachers. That is something you could think another govt would use, the tactic shouldn’t employed by Labour 🤔
Hipkins said the proposed pay rise exceeded that of many other professions.
“I think that a $9500 pay rise is a pay rise that many other New Zealanders would certainly appreciate.” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12158332
Of course Hipkins is Labour Ed. Labour is a neoliberal party which seems to hope people will eventually forget that they unleashed neoliberalism in NZ and have never said sorry.
Didn’t you see the part where most new Teachers leave in the first few years, due to crippling workloads, unrealistic expectations from their employers, micro-management and the stultifying effect of Nationals dumbing down of education.
Before you even get into pay, about half of the earnings of a tradesman, or other equivalently educated, skilled trade. I.E. Lawyers, dentists and real estate agents.
The right wing say we should pay millions to managers and directors to ensure competence. Teachers are supposed to do it for love.
I know. I was one of them. I didn’t expect to earn the same as my real job, but I expected to earn enough to live on reasonably, and to go to the scale they told me I would be on, before I retrained for Teaching.
Not sure how big an issue it is, but I have heard in interviews and the mighty talk back radio, that one of the issues new teachers have is their obvious lack of experience.
Some schools being hesitant to hire too many newbies.
As I say, not sure how prevalent it is, as a lot of it seemed to be anecdotal
That’s across a lot of hiring practices – demanding two years experience. It makes things very hard for people who qualify in NZ because the job market is neither large nor extensive. Getting a job near one’s family and friends or your partner’s workplace is hard enough without such nonsense. Teachers used to have some protection in the first two years though – not sure if it’s still there.
A major problem is the requirement for continued training for the first two years. The Beginning Teacher had to be under a suitable Senior Teacher for two years as part of certification. That senior person was meant to broaden the junior teacher’s curriculum and classroom management strategies.
Many schools were caused headaches by Boards of Trustees failing to keep a balance of staff, through choosing younger staff… (close to their own age often).
Older Teachers were seen as costly, harder to manage and not progressive enough. That started a chain of failures and stressed teachers and boards.
Yeah, friend of mine did a midlife swap to teaching – gave notice in year one due to stress and was essentially saved by a good mentor teacher & principal. Now much in demand at a highend private school – one of the few who knows the NCEA stuff well enough to coach the younger & foreign imports – on top of her actual job.
But the systemic prejudice against kiwis is frankly huge, and not confined to teaching. The worthless English buffoons who’ve run the MSA for the last few decades pretty much killed the training path for kiwis – took me till I was thirty to get my coastal masters, not because I failed anything but because the useless deleted expletives wouldn’t recognize my seatime. Teaching in China, one of the blokes who owned the company I worked for had got his master foreign going by the time he was 19. He was from Hong Kong – which had the same UK descended qualification framework but without the obstructive culture that was allowed to ruin NZ’s system. And still does.
In the MSA’s case, now Maritime New Zealand, it was organizational incompetence, which seems to be intergenerational. Governments putting taxi drivers or real Estate agents in charge, and employing ex cops, doesn’t help. There are some good people in MNZ, but they tell me you have to keep your heads well down, if you have any real knowledge.
Having experience in New Zealand shipping, is a definite barrier to employment with MNZ.
The current international requirement for only one years sea time for a second mates certificate, and the like, is even more pandering to cost cutting shipowners.
Useless Management in NZ is systemic throughout the Public Service & Private Companies “the harder you suck the higher you get & it depends on who you know not what you know ?”.
Most Public Companies here in NZ have either been bankrupted through management incompetence or sold to offshore investors.
Government Departments and SOE’s run as little fiefdoms ?
“I can’t see how there can be a teacher shortage” – are you saying there isn’t one?
If so, where is your analysis to back that up?
If you don’t have that analysis – and I’m sure you don’t – or you are not saying there isn’t a shortage, then stop introducing distractions like this to every single discussion.
My dentist has just awarded himself a pay rise, of double that.
Average pay rises for top managers over 17%.
Civil service managers are now on hundreds of thousands.
Teachers used to be on the same as a backbencher.
I think they are being rather restrained, myself. Especially when you consider the rises are nowhere near that for all Teachers, and they are over several years.
Lastly. If you want to attract competent people from other jobs, you need to, at least, pay them enough to live in Auckland.
The time of expecting women with well paid husbands, to do the job for love and peanuts, is over.
Teachers are used as scapegoats, regularly chastised, blamed, painted as unsatisfactory servants just carrying on at a higher level from pre-school education. Their achievements and workload aren’t respected, and for decades also teach mentally unabled childre, those who are disturbed and mind-stressed from unhappy homes and from watching mind-warping television and videos, as well as those who are to be prepared for a regular working life if they can find that.
Just as government and leaders play games with them, expecting more but also increasing their difficulties, they do the same to the adults who have finished school, and they have difficulties finding that regular working life. All are easured all the time with forms to fill out. This is a society that is built around the idea that people are not good enough to be treated as satisfactory; niggling and fault-finding by those who have managed to climb the ladder is constant but those at the upper level somehow avoid much of it themselves.
“A University of Otago study shows CEO pay is increasing at almost five times the rate of the average worker.
Otago University Business School Accountancy and Finance researcher Dr Helen Roberts’ longitudinal study study, which adjusted for inflation, showed the proportion of CEOs paid over $500,000 per year had also increased approximately five-fold across three different compensation measures.
It showed chief executives were now paid 30 to 50 times more than the average wage of $60,000.”
“Chief executive pay packes often do not seem to relate to performance. Fonterra and Fletcher Building are good examples. Or CBL. The troubled insurer’s boss was paid $2.6 million in 2016 and the company was placed in voluntary administration in early 2018.
For context, the chief executive pay in the top 50 companies in New Zealand averaged average under NZ$2 million. That’s around 35 times the average worker pay.”
And that same CEO will have large investments in the stock market that has tripled in value in the last 9 years and he/she will own multiple houses that, as everybody knows, have gone up massively in value in the last 20 years.
The combination of massive salary increases and massive capital gains represents a huge shift in wealth to the top 5-10%.
at least you did not say capital gains where the ‘family home’ is tax free ha ha.
Problem with asset tax is, if you are not a CEO how the hell do you pay it on NZ wages? Can you imagine a teacher adding that tax on to their mortgage, rates and other expenses to pay?
Obviously fine if you work or have income from overseas and therefore can earn money in relation to cost of living. In NZ there is a disparity of wages including those middle class wages i.e. teachers and police which is why there is an issue with ‘asset’ taxes on NZ wages.
I’d prefer more targeted taxes aka stamp duty on assets over 5 million for example – business/farm/house. Even if it was the ‘family home’ you would still have to pay.
Also more investigation into ‘minimum’ turnover taxes aka comanies like Google that pay little taxes here have to pay a minimum of tax on turnovers over 10 million for example even if they make a ‘loss’.
And a financial transaction tax on banks and money coming into and out of NZ to get all those ‘profits’.
Some of the people inconvenienced by the teachers this week will be paid even less than teachers and work just as hard.
I have doubts about how far the model of individual unions seeking improvements for their members alone can be pushed. I would prefer to see increases in the ‘social wage’ that benefit all low and moderate income earners.
The rich and the powerful are pointing out the minor problems caused by people demanding to be paid enough while distracting from the major problems that they themselves cause such as under paying people.
Worse DTB, the rich demand private schools and suitable packages to attract the best teaching staff for their children. Further they take the funds from the General Education Budget, thus lowering the money for the rest.
Exactly. But the media now portray reasonable catch-up as beyond reasonable.. (Thanks, ERA..)
I have lived many years (I started in 1970) wishing that NZEI and my PPTA could actually work together. It appears that from the start of next year this may actually happen. The foolish promoters of the economy need to be taught that there are many things more important than what they think is good for the economy. Society matters far more than the economy, … the economy has to be a servant, not a master.
Worse DTB, the rich demand private schools and suitable packages to attract the best teaching staff for their children.
Oh yes, the rich believe in performance-based pay and meritocracy; the best get paid better, the better-paid are the best. They would say that, wouldn’t they?
This feeds into the urban myth that teachers in low-decile schools are generally inferior to teachers in high-decile ones with only the best carefully handpicked for private schools (the elite schools). Consequently, the low-decile schools are inferior too, which is obvious when you look at academic success of the students, now and in future.
This BS keeps self-perpetuating and even some of the poor are buying into it.
Don’t!
One’s pay (or wealth) is not a marker of one’s competence as a teacher.
But AB teachers aren’t unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and they are extensions of the socialising and informing role that parents do (if all is going well). Teachers are trained to carry out their role, unlike parents who struggle to get along with or without teachers strikes. Teachers are trying to maintain their numbers with training to expected levels of expertise in these difficult times. While we have teachers who care and try to help children through their school years to a level that enables them to manage in the world, we have some hope that they will be able to negotiate social wages for themselves as adults, if their parents have not learned enough to achieve that themselves.
‘Teach your children well, their parents hell will surely go by’.
Grey – I find comparisons between who is ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ a bit odious. And I don’t really like the idea of people’s economic wellbeing coming down to how well they can make the case that they are more skilled than someone else, who therefore deserves less than they do.
I would like to see a sort of cross-occupational solidarity that assumes the baseline of a decent economic life for everyone, then places some relatively modest skill differentials (insofar as these can be determined) on top of that. If people are in occupational silos trying to do the best for themselves alone, that plays into the individualistic habits of mind that are part of our current predicament.
We aren’t and can’t all be the same AB. Chance to realise the fullness of oneself through work and opportunities and decent conditions in one’s community and the world would be a fine thing. But life and self management has to be learned, just scrambling along, dragging oneself up with no wise and caring help rarely results in a well-balanced and wise person. Teachers are worthy, should be nurtured and respected and have reasonable expectations placed on them in return.
They, and informed and thinking people, know too well today that they are the first rather than the second stage of support and introduction to life skills for many children in our society. That is why these skilled people need to get more attention than the unskilled, who in turn should get better conditions offered for their living and advancement. I don’t agree with the theory of communism, and everyone getting the same if that is what is behind your thinking.
Certainly would not get many to do my present job, without a skills and responsibility premium. We offered to train some staff. The response was, “you couldn’t pay me enough to take the responsibility”.
The lifestyle which made it an adventure for young people in the past, are long gone.
However there is no justification for jobs that I regard as semi-skilled, such as management in large companies, getting 35 times the average wage.
How much did teachers pay rise under the Natz and how much now under Labour would be a good comparison.
My gut feeling is that maybe the Natz did not give the teachers enough pay rises, and now labour are being blamed for it.
Plus the neoliberal immigration policies of the last 12 years in particular mean that it sounds like teachers would not have enough pay for even Kiwibuild ‘affordable’ houses up to $180k dual income.
In addition the glut of spec houses being built in Auckland were based around a Ponzi scheme and Kiwis can’t afford or not interested in 1 million+ dollar McMansions and want/need that 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with double garage and tiny section or 2 bedroom apartment with $13,000 a year body corporates and chance of leaks?
The ‘market driven’ developers have failed to build for the market of NZ and the high paid jobs were never created to keep the migrants or Kiwis in NZ with enough wages to live here without an overseas job to fund it? Aka once people get residency here, they leave their $20p/h insecure NZ job… NZ back where it started the ponzi but with much more liabilities and satellite families earning nothing but kids to teach, kids to give health care to, kids to commute to schools, WFF and tops ups to pay…
It would have to be a pretty flash apartment to have $13,000 body corporate fees. I have been looking at apartments around the $700,000 mark for a relative. Body corporate plus rates are around $5,000 to $6,000.
You have got to be joking Wayne! Just the insurance component on many apartments in Wellington exceeds $5000 to $6000. Now add $3000 p.a. for rates and varying amounts for future maintenance charges in the range of $1000 to five times that. One can be sure that $13,000 is not exceptional, particularly for older repurposed buildings. Also, you must realise that there are a number of apartments around that are at give-away prices as owners cannot afford the repair bills for earthquake and structural problems.
There are pockets of excellence in NZ in-between vast deserts of doubt and apathy. Many good ideas get buried by bureaucracy and/or suffocated by mediocre managers. Access to funding is like a 3,000-mile pilgrimage carrying a heavy load and with self-flagellation at each and every step, bare feet, I should add. It’s dire.
There are pockets of excellence in NZ in-between vast deserts of doubt and apathy.
Dear God is that such a true statement.
I’m sorry to say this; but it’s the one thing that becomes vividly apparent the moment you get on a plane and leave. If only NZ would learn to believe in itself the way our best rugby players and our world class sailors do … the country would be unstoppable.
Elite NZ athletes ‘learn to believe in themselves’ through expensive ongoing coaching and psychological support. Let’s invest in the equivalent for everyone else and reap the benefits.
Perhaps we could make lemonade out of something sour? The long spiritual walk of Spain the Carmino de Santiago is a selling point to meditative visitors and bucket-list tourists;, a spiritual and physical task that attracts thousands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago
Our pain and spiritual exercise of effort obtaining resources to try and save what is good in NZ from destruction and to nurture, build and develop better things in NZ, could be sold as a journey that attracts sympathetic tourists. Sell ourselves as a small green jewel in the world being threatened by the twin hazards of neoliberal freemarketing and runaway climate change. ‘Join us in our fevered attempts to rise above this tide’; better than an epic blockbuster.
/sarc or is it a step outside the square that could be the floating something that we grasp to save ourselves from drowning? I’ll leave you to conjecture what the something would be!
In 2010, Rocket Lab worked on a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, a US Department of Defense agency. The result of this work was passed on to the US military in 2012.
In 2013, Rocket Lab received funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Around this time Rocket Lab moved its company registration to the US and opened a corporate office in Los Angeles. In a recent TV interview, Peter Beck stated that he now spends his time betwwen LA and NZ.
In 2014, the US military and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin invested an undisclosed amount in Rocket Lab. Lockheed Martin is one of the US largest defence contractors, $35.2 billion in US military contracts last year. Rocket lab have refused to discuss the amount of funding they recieve from Lockheed Martin.
Is naive little NZ developing military and surveillance technology for the US?
I don’t think cube satellites are of much interest to the military. Way too small for serious comms and data use, and way too small for aerial surveillance. The camera lens needs to at least 30 cm is diameter to be of any serious military use. Way too big for a cube sat.
LM will just want Rocket Lab to be in its overall portfolio. After all LM won’t want to be completely reliant on military contracts. For instance the F35 project (largest single military contract in the world) will be complete in 10 years, and that probably accounts for 30% of current LM revenue.
Fireblade that is what concerns me. One thing to notice is that every new finding and invention gets looked at by ‘defence’ to see if they can use it to advantage. And they very likely be funding the tech.
And the othr thing that anything is moral if it makes a profit to these things parading themselves as people. So what if we are dependent for jobs on making butterfly bombs, rocket parts with impregnated mine material into every sq cm. etc?
How come the Opposition is doing all this quizzing of every meeting of some Ministers? It is as if they have taken over the snooping job of those detectives Thomson and Clark? What is the task they should be doing in their role?
3000 questions they asked of just Shane Jones, let alone anyone else, and that was a ploy they signalled early in the term of the new government. I would like to know exactly what the questions were? Clearly by dint of the number of questions there would be “gaps”. Likewise when you see the range of people he spoke to that seemed entirely normal, I doubt the same can be said of opposition “meetings” both during this term and prior.
The more people in NZ meet and talk with genuine intention the better off the country will be in the longterm.
One thing that has been absent other that weasel worded, relentless and empty badgering from the entire opposition party is what they would do to improve NZ and the lives of NZers, prior, within this term by positive example and if they ever, god forbid, got themselves back on the government side of the house without a major shift in dedication and intentions for NZ.
Goldsmith is obsessed with trying to hang something on Shane Jones, it appears to be an obsessive delusional trait with the National Party at present, maybe they have private investigators following all the Government MP’s, National have plenty in their coffers from their Asian Backers ?
Goldsmith appears to be working from the John Key & Crosby Textor Dirty Tricks Handbook ?
I was scratching my head as to what a good/easy issue to practice bipartisanship.
Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
Ongoing, big budget (not one term fiscal responsibility) fairly apolitical.
Who knows what could come of it?
Every human is better when we cooperate.
Jacinda Ardern told NZ this would be the most open transparent government ever, a none too subtle dig at National, so when the present government is less than transparent you think National shouldn’t remind voters of what Jacinda Ardern said
PR We had to learn of some meetings by National with their funders and masters through a fallout between friends.
Don’t come to this forum spouting the current Government is not transparent.
The last National Government was totally hiding meetings and schemes.
That is now being reflected in their shrinking support.
They are trying to build an impression of holding the government to account – severely handicapped by their own cavalier behavior in office. They may fool some of their base by it, but not much more.
Goldsmith is obsessed with trying to hang something on Shane Jones, it appears to be an obsessive delusional trait with the National Party at present, maybe they have private investigators following all the Government MP’s, National have plenty in their coffers from their Asian Backers ?
Goldsmith appears to be working from the John Key & Crosby Textor Dirty Tricks Handbook ?
Clare Curran was an incompetent Minister whose downfall in part brought about by questioning about her ‘meetings’. It might be unpleasant, but it is a legitimate part of opposition.
Am I the only that is slightly cynical and amused that the teachers strikes “just happen” to give both Auckland and Wellington teachers a long weekend?
“The whole weekend was supposed to be a show of western solidarity, and ended up proving its absence. Trump showed himself ill at ease with most of his European counterparts and the fleeting encounter with Putin was a reminder of his much greater affinity for autocrats.
He has claimed warm, even affectionate, relations with Putin, Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Mohammed bin Salman, Rodrigo Duterte and now Brazil’s president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump may have cut a lonely figure in Paris, but on the world stage, he is less and less isolated.”
Yes. This has been apparent from the outset and is alarming. The man is a god-awful lout and his election symptomatic of a deeply divided and troubled society.
Having said that, there may well be another side to this. In a world now increasingly dominated by dangerously authoritarian figures in places like Russia, China, Saudi, Brazil and so on … the liberal instincts of the west have proven an inadequate response.
It’s possibly worth remembering that just prior to WW2 Churchill was widely regarded with similar disdain by almost the entire educated, leadership class in Britain. They saw him too as an erratic, uncouth man with a patchy record. (The ‘appeasers’ were by no means confined to Chamberlain; if events had transpired just a little differently there is no doubt that Rudolf Hess’s attempt at a peace treaty might well have succeeded.)
Events play strange tricks with us, the leaders we need in peacetime are not necessarily the ones we need in times of trouble. I’m not trying to compare Trump with Churchill directly; but there are some parallels between the two men and their place in history that are worth thinking about.
I do think trump is a manifestation of his society, a consequence and predictable. To me he is dangerous, not just because of his ideas and beliefs but more because of the company he enjoys. He is like them and them ain’t good.
Churchill was the man of the times as was Hitler as is t.rump. The hardest thing for me in some ways is knowing that he is just the beginning and he will be far from the worst as the Empire crumbles little bit by little bit. T.rump is funny in some ways, amongst the carnage – other ones coming won’t be funny.
Yes. If I’m reading you correctly then I agree wholeheartedly. The potential for utter catastrophe is chilling and stalking us daily.
My optimism pivots on this one thing; that for fear of the consequences these leaders of the world will soon agree to set aside some portion of their unconstrained national sovereignty in favour of a wider common good. Events in Paris more than hint at this possibility:
Dozens of leaders, except Mr Trump, gathered in Paris later in the day for a peace forum.
Opening the event, Mrs Merkel said: “Most of the challenges today cannot be solved by one nation alone, but together. That’s why we need a common approach.
“If isolation wasn’t the solution 100 years ago, how can it be today in such an interconnected world?”
With US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting in the nearby audience, Macron said that “old demons are reawakening” and warned against ignoring the past as a lesson to the danger of nationalist sentiments.
Yes there does appear to be attempts to bring people together as per macrons speech. T.rump is diametrically opposed to that and him and his supporters are proud of that. This is their agenda. Thus the delusions perpetuate.
There is a coalescing occurring around very fundamentally different ways of looking at things.
Thanks for posting that marty-superb article. What a nasty prat Trump is.
I think the mid-term results have been poorly reported. The democrats now look like taking 35-36 seats in the House where early results showed more like 25. This is close to the “blue-wave” 40-seat gain they were after. The Democrats won 7 important Governor races.
In Florida the Senate race is now within 0.14 percent where the Republican spent $60 million (NZ$90m) of his own fortune on trying to get elected. The recount will be interesting.
Meanwhile there was a massive increase in young voters. Bodes well for 2020.
“The purpose of my work was never to destroy but always to create, to construct bridges, because we must live in the hope that humankind will draw together and that the better we understand each other the easier this will become.”
Alphonse Mucha
As he was inaugurated for a second term this evening, President Michael D Higgins said “ideas matter” and “history tells us that anti-intellectualism” is the “the weapon of authoritarian and anti-democratic forces in so many parts of our shared, vulnerable planet” .
“Our choice must be to actively extend and deepen democracy, to express it in wider forms and in new ways,” he said.
Not alone was “the very existence of our planet in its bio-diversity threatened but we have not yet slowed the pace of that destruction. We live with ongoing violence against women which must be ended.
“We must confront and challenge any excuses offered for the denial of the irreducible rights, of women who make up, let us not forget, a majority of humanity on this planet. It is important that we recognize the rights and culture of indigenous peoples. It is also important that each person is free to express their sexuality, gender or relationship,” he said.
There should be a set curriculum at all schools in NZ with schools able to add to these, but not to forego important factual stuff we should all know and understand.
And religion should not be taught, it should be part of a philosophy based curricu,um teaching about culture and how values are established.
However, University of Canterbury School of Teacher Education senior lecturer Dr Richard Manning …
Difficulties arose because of “perceived white backlash”. He had encountered history teachers who pushed back on teaching Māori history saying it was “all political correctness”.
> There should be a set curriculum at all schools in NZ with schools able to add to these, but not to forego important factual stuff we should all know and understand.
Sorry dude, schools have taught very little ‘factual stuff’ of any sort for some time.
You have to teach your own kids facts, or hope they pick it up in books.
Well, I don’t think kids learn a lot of facts at primary school, even compared to in my day (the 80s).
This is based on a sample size of 1 (my kid) plus what I hear from others and read in the media.
If you have information to the contrary I would be pleased to hear it.
> Most of the kids these days seem pretty onto it.
I never said they weren’t ‘onto it’! I said they don’t learn a lot of facts at school! It doesn’t actually seem that controversial of a statement. I do not think many modern educators would seriously contend that they try to stuff kids’ heads with facts nowadays.
>Maybe the poor influence on your kids isn’t at school?
You seem like a decent bloke overall, I don’t know why you act like an asshole towards me. Should I just stop trying to engage you in conversation?
To sum up, I think Cleangreen thinks that the Ministry of Education in Wellington sets a list of information (not skills, not competencies, but facts) that kids must learn. I respond that if this was ever the case, it has not been so for decades.
“Onto it” as in knowing stuff. Facts. Their math seems pretty good. Same with basic NZ history and plants and stuff. Most of the sprogs I know love to interrupt discussions with vaguely-relevant crap they picked up somewhere.
Sure, there’s not so much rote learning, but this isn’t a bad thing. And in my day they just hit us if we didn’t remember whatever shit was being taught at the time.
I had a chat to a modern teacher in regards to rote learning vs enquiry learning (not sure what correct terminology is).
This was after watching my son get to a level at maths ok then largely struggle. From about year 8.
I came through with the times table, rote learnt in the 70s.
With that foundation, I found it easy to hold 2or 3 parts of the solution in mind before getting answer.
I don’t think the answer is one or the other but a combo, but we have a habit of throwing out all of the old when we have a new.
One interesting element is the ‘Key Competencies.’ Calls for teacher performance pay usually mention testing kids for how much the kids ‘know’ in subjects and paying teachers accordingly not on how essential competencies have been achieved and to what level.
In front of the world, America has shown everyone what a piss weak president they have. He would not walk a step to honour the American soldiers WWI. Because of rain drops.
In front of the great State of California the same piss weak president has poured out his piss weak insults on the devastated, the dead and dying in the fierce hell fires – fiddling like a mad man with his insipid tweets.
America is at its Weakest. Surely they can rid themselves of the current Whitehouse Fool.
Kia ora The Am Show It is alarming that the Pola Ice Cap’s could be melting faster than previously thought that will raze sea levels by mtr and not just cm there will be stronger storm and Hurricanes smashing the coastal community’s.
.Christina its cool that we are talking about Human Caused Climate Change its about time I have worked out what has happened a BLUE Tsunami thank’s for your word’s Christina.
Kiwi are kind when the telephon 24 hour TV fun razing money for to aid 3 world country’s was running Kiwi donated million’s we were one of the highest for donation’s per capital time’s were much easier in those day’s we had spear money.
That the internet correcting thing’s again the fuel community price app is a cool Idea that will keep the gas company’s honestest may be you could have other consumer good’s and services listed to your app will pump.
With our teachers strike they mone about there work load .
I will give a example of the kicks and work smarter theory its fact actually.
I was part of a organization that milked 5000.00 cow’s twice a day through one 80 bale shed the neighbour and the newbees could not milk 3500 2 80 bale sheds it was a finely run farming group .
Point the teacher have heap’s of tool at there disposal to teach tamariki with the internet at there disposal they just have to look outside of the square to come up with smart efficient teaching solution’s.
Also these strikes will hit the common poor tamariki the most if the parents have to take time off work to care for there tamariki the wealthy will just hire a carer
There is a glut of oil on the market and we have hundred’s of thousands of electric vehicles coming on stream and millions of solar panels wind turbines displacing oil Thanks to China’s manufacturing muscle and people like Mus .
Its good that the Anglican Church is backing the public inquiry into child abuse of
state care tamariki and the Religious groups that cared for tamariki . Ka kite ano P.S no flash video links I need some DIMP for my computer the sandflys keep attacking it
Here is the reason our fuel prices have dropped trump’s tricks have been countered
the world woke up to his moves to inflate oil prices his oil baron supporters net worth went up by billions
Also, the weekly estimates are not as accurate as the monthly figures, which are published on a roughly 2-month lag. As such, they should be taken with a grain of salt. However, the massive increase comes just days after the EIA reported a huge increase in production in the monthly data – at 11.346 mb/d in August, the U.S. oil industry has clearly been producing a lot more than previously thought. That lends some weight to the weekly figures.
Another previously-bullish factor was Iran. With Iran’s oil exports spiraling downwards at the end of the summer and into September, the oil market grew very concerned about adequate global supply and the rapidly dwindling volume of spare capacity. U.S. waivers on countries importing Iranian oil removed that threat. Washington still wants to tighten the screws – and in fact, the sudden bearishness in the market gives the Trump administration more leeway to do just that – but in the near-term, Iran will continue to export.
A third factor is OPEC+ production. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Russia and Libya have all increased production in recent months, offsetting the losses from Iran. Now, the group has a different problem on its hands. A technical committee to the OPEC+ coalition is set to meet this weekend where it will take stock of the oil market. They will also consider options going forward for managing the market, including the potential for a production cut in 2019 to avoid another market downturn. The 180-degree turn – from adding supply just a few months ago to now considering a cut – is a remarkable indicator that demonstrates how quickly the sentiment has turned.
Ka kite ano
Plunging Battery Costs To Trigger Energy Storage Boom YEA YES KA PAI
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast a veritable boom in energy storage installations in the coming years with investments hitting US$1.2 trillion by 2040. Falling battery costs will be the driver behind this boom, with BNEF projecting a 52 percent drop in utility-scale lithium-ion systems by 2030. .
It is a fact that the cost of producing batteries for energy storage is falling. Cost reduction, after all, is a top priority for everyone from EV makers to utilities betting on energy storage as a future source of revenues
But what about energy storage installations’ effect on the grid? That should be all-round positive, except for utilities that generate power from non-renewable sources. They better start preparing because BNEF’s analysts projected energy storage may rise to 7 percent of the world’s total installed power generation capacity by 2040.
In more good news for renewables, while until about 2030 most energy storage installations will be utility-scale from about 2035 behind-the-meter facilities will begin to take over, which means they will probably be affordable by then, and Elon Musk’s concept of a household featuring a solar roof, a household battery pack, and an EV could become a reality not just for billionai Ka kite ano link below . P.S I could build a offgrid solar power system for a small family for $4000 all up .
I decided to wait and see what happened when I first seen reports on China lifting Ban on trade in endangered animal parts
The Chinese government announced on Monday that it would postpone a plan to lift the 25-year ban on the endangered animals, following a storm of international protest.
It’s important to send the strongest message that the value of wild populations of tigers and rhinos and their ecosystems is much greater than the value of their bones and horns. Ka pai China they get the big picture its te tangata its te tangata and we need Papatuanuku and all her creatures to be respected to have a prosperous future for all.
Link below ka kite ano
We need to protect OUR worlds forest and start planting billions of trees for our future
decedents to have a good life .There are many cases in OUR History that show’s a complete collapse of the environment and the society all because we did not respect mother nature .
The UK, France and Germany have called on the European commission to launch tough new action to halt deforestation by the end of the year.
A long-delayed EU action plan should be brought forward “as soon as possible”, says a letter to the commission sent by the Amsterdam Declaration group of countries, which also includes Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.
To help meet a UN goal of halting deforestation by 2020, the EU should show “a leadership role, mobilising its political and market leverage, and promoting broader international dialogue and cooperation”, the letter says.
Link below ka kite ano
Its people like Stan Lee who have provided us with fantastic comic books he has ignited
the imagination of billions of people and a lot have gone on to become the worlds greatest inventors condolences to his whano/family he will be missed he is in a higher place now
Stan Lee: Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers creator dies aged 95
Born Stanley Martin Lieber on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in 1922, Lee’s childhood was marked by the Great Depression. In his 2002 autobiography Excelsior!, Lee described how his father’s struggle to find a steady job had forever affected him: “It’s a feeling that the most important thing for a man to do is to have work to do, to be busy, to be needed,” he wrote.
At 17, Lee landed a job at a publishing company owned by his relative Martin Goodman, and began writing scripts for superhero and mystery comics. When Goodman fell out with his editor in 1941, Lee found himself editor-in-chief at just 19.
Link below ka kite ano. P.S my eldest grandson has a flash suit
Our Pacific cousins have a positive influence on Aotearoa society culturally and financially
“The [NZ Pacific Economy] report reveals Pacific peoples are contributing significantly to the economy despite some of the poor health, housing, education and employment outcomes experienced by many in their communities,” Robertson said.
Pasifika families and businesses are big contributors to NZ economy: Finance Minister Assets from about 1500 Pacific business employers and almost 500 not-for-profit organisations totalled up to $8.3b and, from those assets, the total value added was thought to be $3.1b annually. Ka kite ano link below.
ASB has joined the fray in the latest round of mortgage rate wars – dropping its one year fixed rate to match the record low 3.95 per cent offered by ANZ.
Its good to see ANZ bank start to the one year fixed interest rate drop that’s cool.
But I will still be after one of there board members /shonky but if you can save money go for it put all the saving on the mortgage .The low rate specials offered by ANZ, BNZ and Westpac are only available to home owners with a deposit or 20 per cent equity stake in their homes.
Its a buyers market now and about time thanks to the moves of our new Coalition Government. ka kite ano P.S we have other’s banks competing for your custom and the interest rate battle begins link below.
Kia ora Te Kaea I have to use my phone to get the post out the sandflys are attaking my other computer.
It will be a good trip for our Prime minister meeting all the heads of states talking about the Pacific relations and Climate change impacts on the Pacific and Aotearoa.
It been good seeing Te IWIs helping there tangata into housing that’s the best way to escape the poverty trap a lot of our tangata fall into.
Son of Zion are a cool banned music is good for te Wairua.
It would be nice if our government did advocate for Indigenous people consern.s at the gathering of our world leaders.
Ka kite ano P.S I will get some dimp tomorrow
Kia ora Newshub Paddy Andrew is letting the people go into the Pike River mine that will be of great relief for Berne and the family of all the people who have lost love ones in the mine.
Kate I have a post early on for the Great Comic writing legend Stan Lee.
Those fires in Northern Calafornia is a great desaster condolences to the people who have lost.
I say that the Shane Jones NZFirst billion tree program has had a minor hick up its what could happened to anyone when you have Papatuanukue and Tawhirirmate one can not pradict the weather.
It looks like they had a good day at the Addington race way in Christchurch Ra is shining to.
That’s what I wanted Sukieanne get her houners taken away for the atrocities that her government is doing to those poor people in Mayna.
We get half our meat from my sons they buy a beef so I dive into their freezers.
I do like my veggies to but I have to have some meat unprocessed we don’t eat as much meat as we used to.
That must have been a shock to SUE she is doing a fine job the new Auckland Prison told her that she needs to have a photo ID and finger print to she helps people who are having proroale problems we have seen a lot of people can’t get prole no fix abode if they can’t read a write
. Plastic water bottles leaching toxins well. I say know one has tested them for the effects on the fetus and the long term effects on anmials humans one to.
Ka kite ano P.S mind the spelling sandflys muppets
Some people try and play ECO MAORI they get the benefit of doubt they believe the lies the sandflys are spinning about ECO MAORI to them they get one chance.
I should listen to my instinct it’s always correct Ana to kai
The Crowd goes Wild Mulls and James.
Manu and Butterbean fight will be interesting. Monty ECO a South paw.
Mulls you lost weight can you still shuffle my moko is good at the shuffle they get their groove from the Wife my children give me shit when I have enough cups of tea to start to fluffel LOL.
The Addington races NZ trotting Cup was Winston there.
Butterbean has to get the message out drop the sugar us Pacific Islanders body’s are to effect at storing fat and sugar stuff up our health.
Ka kite ano P.S that’s the way guys support the Bowls teams and Showing heaps of Wahine Sports Stars on The Crowd goes Wild
Good morning The AM Show Azzes is having fun at the AMP Show.
There you go Winston Peters and Andrew Little The Coalition Government has helped the Pike River family to find the truth about the explosion.
This all happened because shonky made a unwise bet on COAL/Carbon. I have story that links shonky to Aotearoa losing 1 billion dollars of assets will tell when the time is right.
The road accidents =not enough investment in roads and a xtra 1 million people and cars = more accidents.
Lloyd the britexit I say it’s a can of worms they wish they never opened.
Robots are the future and AI Is a big threat to human kind and the World take it seriously one just. To see how the sandflys are behaveing with the technology tools help you to understand part of my concern of Artifical Intelligents every single thing we do will have computers integrated into it and if one App has that power we’ll people who make movies about this subject are warming US.
IF a person like trump gets the power of total control that AI can have we are in the SHIT.
It will be cool if Israel gets a title fight at the UFC.
There you go Berne Monk you want justice and accountability shonky was covering up the big mistake they made with the health and safety prosses at Pike River mine. Because the familys of the people who died are common people it’s worth the massive effort yous have put into getting justice a big WIN for the common tangata.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show. The Pike River scandle is just one issue from shonky
The Britexit don’t count your chickens May I have read that Nigal Farr has been linked to the Muler Russian investorgation I smelt that far right money all over his actions.
I East Asia summit Tova I bet Mike Pence wanted to talk about more issues that the dumb trade tariff.??????????
It has been the reward of a lot of people’s hard work that has paid off with the Mountain Grilla coming of the most endangered list.
The Black Ferns are getting heaps of game time and coverage on TV
Ka kite ano. P.S flip flop
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Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Long term consequences from heavy weekend weather, hospitality giant apologises for many mishandled complaints, and Auckland traffic chaos looms.There will be long term consequences from the weather that hammered the country over the weekend. Chief among them is a massive slip ...
A new report from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Adviser envisages a future with much less plastic, all of it recycled or dealt with responsibly within New Zealand borders. ...
America's Cup defenders Emirates Team New Zealand have done things differently by building their own boats for the first time, and so far, it's paying off ...
Liam Hehir makes a plea to education minister Chris Hipkins not to discriminate against integrated schools when it comes to school funding.The government’s announcement of a big maintenance funding boost for schools was greetedwarmly by many principals, teachers and parents. Excluded ...
In the wake of the OFLC report Breaking Down Porn, an academic studying the gendered influence of pornography urges people not to panic, but to be aware of when – and why – pornography becomes problematic.Contemporary pornography is immensely popular, accessible and mostly free via pornographic ‘tube’ sites such as ...
Sustainable New Zealand Welcomes the Government’s Announcement on Phasing Out Waste But Wants to See More Action on Building and Construction Waste ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future.Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film ...
Five New Zealanders from across culturalspaces explain what it is they love about basketball.Historically, basketball has always held a relatively small but special in Aotearoa’s sporting landscape. The NBL was established in 1981, giving provinces the chance to duke it out for national supremacy. In 2002 the Tall Blacks ...
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from.What’s going on?Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Soong, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education Practice, School of Education, University of South Australia Australian 15 year olds were around three and a half years behind their counterparts in China in maths, according to the OECD’s latest results for education systems ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitri Perrin, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology More than a year ago, the world was shocked by Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui’s attempt to use CRISPR technology to modify human embryos and make them resistant to HIV, which led to the birth ...
Cabinet minister Kris Faafoi has apologised to the Prime Minister for his messages to Jason Kerrison regarding an immigration case, but will not lose his job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Flinders University The decision to merge the Department of Communications and the Arts with Transport, Infrastructure and Regional development (dropping the “Arts” entirely) ends a year in which Australian politics has been deeply confused over its ...
A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
Dairy farmers had some Xmas cheer this week, as dairy giant Fonterra told them the forecast payout would be the fourth-highest-ever, at the mid-point of its farmgate milk price range. The $7.30kg/ms means the cash payout for the season will reach $11.2bn, a rise of about $400m from the earlier forecast. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Caitlin Syme, PhD in Vertebrate Palaeontology, The University of Queensland When you find dinosaur skeletons, how can you tell how old the dinosaur was? Like, if the skeleton is from a child dinosaur or an adult dinosaur? – Henry, aged 8. ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
This week a petition with more than 15,000 signatures was presented at parliament to Nicola Willis, MP and opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Education. Also attending were Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick and Hon Nikki Kaye. ...
It’s that time of year again when, for the third year running, a new A Christmas Prince movie is released. Sam Brooks was in front of a TV screen for the latest instalment’s debut on Netflix last night, and here catalogues the many stupid, wild, and wildly stupid things he ...
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire.There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown music than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever ...
Kris Faafoi, Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media; Minister ofCommerce and Consumer Affairs;Minister of Government Digital Services; Associate Minister forHousing; MP for Mana.The latest allegations of a corruption scandal involving a Cabinet minister suggests this government is far too loose when it comes to providing access to power ...
The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
As Christmas is near, it’s time to set the record straight on some of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of employment law that apply to the festive season. ...
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.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
The Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta has announced changes to prevent Māori wards being voted down by referendums are off the table, saying she believes such a change is not possible within the coalition. ...
It’s officially the festive season, and what does that mean? An office Secret Santa with a budget of $20 and you’ve picked your boss. Instead of settling for a bottle of average wine and a ribbon, follow our essential guide on what to get those unique workmates.At last year’s Secret ...
The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
Open Mike 12/11/2018 
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...2 days ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...2 days ago
Michael Schulson When Shane Burcaw flies on an airplane, he brings along a customized gel cushion, a car seat, and about 10 pieces of memory foam. The whole arsenal costs around $1,000, but for Burcaw it’s a necessity. The 27-year-old author and speaker — who, alongside his fiancée, Hannah ...2 days ago
We are very pleased to publish this submission is from Lucinda Stoan. She is a social justice activist, mother, and educator, based in Washington State in the US. This detailed and comprehensive source-linked overview of trans issues and what is at stake will be useful for many people, especially in ...3 days ago
Newshub last night reported that Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi had apparently promised to help out a mate with an immigration issue. While its normal for people to approach MPs for assistance in this area, when you're a Minister, the rules are different: as the Cabinet Manual says, Ministers must "at ...3 days ago
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...3 days ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...4 days ago
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...4 days ago
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...4 days ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...6 days ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...1 week ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 1 week ago
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...1 week ago
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John Wight
“Tony Blair’s presence in front of the Cenotaph is grotesque. It’s like having an arsonist attending the funeral of the victims of his fire starting. One million Iraqis dead, ME plunged into the abyss, Blair is a war criminal. ”
George Galloway.
“There is no Poppy large enough, no overcoat thick enough to hide the black evil hearts of the War Criminals amongst whom Corbyn was forced to linger in London this morning.”
Rachel Stewart
“’ll use Twitter sparingly from now on, and only for either my latest column or when I’ve something I really want to say. Real life awaits. Given the planetary state of things, we’d all likely do better by spending more time with family, friends, animals & nature. Peace out.”
Some could infer that the govt has now moved regarding the teachers, to engaging in the PR war with the voter, placing a wedge between the teachers and the public. The phrasing of the $9,500 is of interest as it grosses 3 annual rises of 3% into 1, and has been used to destroy favourable public opinion towards teachers. That is something you could think another govt would use, the tactic shouldn’t employed by Labour 🤔
Hipkins said the proposed pay rise exceeded that of many other professions.
“I think that a $9500 pay rise is a pay rise that many other New Zealanders would certainly appreciate.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12158332
Hopkins is just another neoliberal politician.
He is no socialist.
He does not represent the working class.
He is not Labour.
Who is Hopkins?
Hipkins!
A member of the elite.
Of course Hipkins is Labour Ed. Labour is a neoliberal party which seems to hope people will eventually forget that they unleashed neoliberalism in NZ and have never said sorry.
Hipkins is right at home.
So that will solve the shortage!!!!
Yea Right
I can’t see how there can be a teacher shortage, we train thousands of new teachers every year.
Where do they all go? do they all have teaching jobs?
Didn’t you see the part where most new Teachers leave in the first few years, due to crippling workloads, unrealistic expectations from their employers, micro-management and the stultifying effect of Nationals dumbing down of education.
Before you even get into pay, about half of the earnings of a tradesman, or other equivalently educated, skilled trade. I.E. Lawyers, dentists and real estate agents.
The right wing say we should pay millions to managers and directors to ensure competence. Teachers are supposed to do it for love.
I know. I was one of them. I didn’t expect to earn the same as my real job, but I expected to earn enough to live on reasonably, and to go to the scale they told me I would be on, before I retrained for Teaching.
But hasn’t that all been changed under this Government ? There should be a massive increase in people wanting to train as teachers now.
Nope. Labour are still holding on to the delusional tradition that a new government doesn’t change the policies set by the previous government.
And the reality is that it’s going to take time to recognise the damage that the right-wing policies are doing and then fix them.
Not sure how big an issue it is, but I have heard in interviews and the mighty talk back radio, that one of the issues new teachers have is their obvious lack of experience.
Some schools being hesitant to hire too many newbies.
As I say, not sure how prevalent it is, as a lot of it seemed to be anecdotal
That’s across a lot of hiring practices – demanding two years experience. It makes things very hard for people who qualify in NZ because the job market is neither large nor extensive. Getting a job near one’s family and friends or your partner’s workplace is hard enough without such nonsense. Teachers used to have some protection in the first two years though – not sure if it’s still there.
A major problem is the requirement for continued training for the first two years. The Beginning Teacher had to be under a suitable Senior Teacher for two years as part of certification. That senior person was meant to broaden the junior teacher’s curriculum and classroom management strategies.
Many schools were caused headaches by Boards of Trustees failing to keep a balance of staff, through choosing younger staff… (close to their own age often).
Older Teachers were seen as costly, harder to manage and not progressive enough. That started a chain of failures and stressed teachers and boards.
Yeah, friend of mine did a midlife swap to teaching – gave notice in year one due to stress and was essentially saved by a good mentor teacher & principal. Now much in demand at a highend private school – one of the few who knows the NCEA stuff well enough to coach the younger & foreign imports – on top of her actual job.
But the systemic prejudice against kiwis is frankly huge, and not confined to teaching. The worthless English buffoons who’ve run the MSA for the last few decades pretty much killed the training path for kiwis – took me till I was thirty to get my coastal masters, not because I failed anything but because the useless deleted expletives wouldn’t recognize my seatime. Teaching in China, one of the blokes who owned the company I worked for had got his master foreign going by the time he was 19. He was from Hong Kong – which had the same UK descended qualification framework but without the obstructive culture that was allowed to ruin NZ’s system. And still does.
> the obstructive culture that was allowed to ruin NZ’s system
Do you think this is largely grounded in protectionism – those that are already ‘in’ pulling up the ladder after them?
A.
In the case of the MSA, yes.
Most cultures do this in their own country in fact – it’s a colonial legacy that this strange version of it remains so prevalent in NZ.
In the MSA’s case, now Maritime New Zealand, it was organizational incompetence, which seems to be intergenerational. Governments putting taxi drivers or real Estate agents in charge, and employing ex cops, doesn’t help. There are some good people in MNZ, but they tell me you have to keep your heads well down, if you have any real knowledge.
Having experience in New Zealand shipping, is a definite barrier to employment with MNZ.
The current international requirement for only one years sea time for a second mates certificate, and the like, is even more pandering to cost cutting shipowners.
All NZ companies, hate paying for training.
Experience, short term contracts and long trial periods.
Don’t forget, young. Skilled older tradespeople, who are often better with the stroppy kids, not wanted.
Only seems to apply to New Zealand trained Teachers?
Useless Management in NZ is systemic throughout the Public Service & Private Companies “the harder you suck the higher you get & it depends on who you know not what you know ?”.
Most Public Companies here in NZ have either been bankrupted through management incompetence or sold to offshore investors.
Government Departments and SOE’s run as little fiefdoms ?
In one word Management in NZ is “Useless” IMHO.
“I can’t see how there can be a teacher shortage” – are you saying there isn’t one?
If so, where is your analysis to back that up?
If you don’t have that analysis – and I’m sure you don’t – or you are not saying there isn’t a shortage, then stop introducing distractions like this to every single discussion.
A couple from my kids school shot the gap to Dubai as soon as there 1 1/2 ? Probation was up .
My dentist has just awarded himself a pay rise, of double that.
Average pay rises for top managers over 17%.
Civil service managers are now on hundreds of thousands.
Teachers used to be on the same as a backbencher.
I think they are being rather restrained, myself. Especially when you consider the rises are nowhere near that for all Teachers, and they are over several years.
Lastly. If you want to attract competent people from other jobs, you need to, at least, pay them enough to live in Auckland.
The time of expecting women with well paid husbands, to do the job for love and peanuts, is over.
Teachers are used as scapegoats, regularly chastised, blamed, painted as unsatisfactory servants just carrying on at a higher level from pre-school education. Their achievements and workload aren’t respected, and for decades also teach mentally unabled childre, those who are disturbed and mind-stressed from unhappy homes and from watching mind-warping television and videos, as well as those who are to be prepared for a regular working life if they can find that.
Just as government and leaders play games with them, expecting more but also increasing their difficulties, they do the same to the adults who have finished school, and they have difficulties finding that regular working life. All are easured all the time with forms to fill out. This is a society that is built around the idea that people are not good enough to be treated as satisfactory; niggling and fault-finding by those who have managed to climb the ladder is constant but those at the upper level somehow avoid much of it themselves.
“A University of Otago study shows CEO pay is increasing at almost five times the rate of the average worker.
Otago University Business School Accountancy and Finance researcher Dr Helen Roberts’ longitudinal study study, which adjusted for inflation, showed the proportion of CEOs paid over $500,000 per year had also increased approximately five-fold across three different compensation measures.
It showed chief executives were now paid 30 to 50 times more than the average wage of $60,000.”
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/ceo-pay-increases-five-times-average-rate
“Chief executive pay packes often do not seem to relate to performance. Fonterra and Fletcher Building are good examples. Or CBL. The troubled insurer’s boss was paid $2.6 million in 2016 and the company was placed in voluntary administration in early 2018.
For context, the chief executive pay in the top 50 companies in New Zealand averaged average under NZ$2 million. That’s around 35 times the average worker pay.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/106499178/what-to-do-about-the-everincreasing-rate-of-ceo-pay
And that same CEO will have large investments in the stock market that has tripled in value in the last 9 years and he/she will own multiple houses that, as everybody knows, have gone up massively in value in the last 20 years.
The combination of massive salary increases and massive capital gains represents a huge shift in wealth to the top 5-10%.
We need an asset tax and a land tax.
at least you did not say capital gains where the ‘family home’ is tax free ha ha.
Problem with asset tax is, if you are not a CEO how the hell do you pay it on NZ wages? Can you imagine a teacher adding that tax on to their mortgage, rates and other expenses to pay?
Obviously fine if you work or have income from overseas and therefore can earn money in relation to cost of living. In NZ there is a disparity of wages including those middle class wages i.e. teachers and police which is why there is an issue with ‘asset’ taxes on NZ wages.
I’d prefer more targeted taxes aka stamp duty on assets over 5 million for example – business/farm/house. Even if it was the ‘family home’ you would still have to pay.
Also more investigation into ‘minimum’ turnover taxes aka comanies like Google that pay little taxes here have to pay a minimum of tax on turnovers over 10 million for example even if they make a ‘loss’.
And a financial transaction tax on banks and money coming into and out of NZ to get all those ‘profits’.
yep agree….like the turnover tax but not set at a pathetically low token level like in the UK
Some of the people inconvenienced by the teachers this week will be paid even less than teachers and work just as hard.
I have doubts about how far the model of individual unions seeking improvements for their members alone can be pushed. I would prefer to see increases in the ‘social wage’ that benefit all low and moderate income earners.
That is how we got descent wages and welfare in the first place. Bit by bit. Mostly by striking. The horror.
Nationwide strikes in support are illegal. Otherwise you may find that many of the people you are so concerned about, support Teachers.
Increases in the social wage, means Government share of the economy must increase. Taxes on the rich may have to go up! Horrors.
Quality Teaching and education, is part of the “social wage”, by the way.
+111
Exactly.
The rich and the powerful are pointing out the minor problems caused by people demanding to be paid enough while distracting from the major problems that they themselves cause such as under paying people.
Worse DTB, the rich demand private schools and suitable packages to attract the best teaching staff for their children. Further they take the funds from the General Education Budget, thus lowering the money for the rest.
Exactly. But the media now portray reasonable catch-up as beyond reasonable.. (Thanks, ERA..)
I have lived many years (I started in 1970) wishing that NZEI and my PPTA could actually work together. It appears that from the start of next year this may actually happen. The foolish promoters of the economy need to be taught that there are many things more important than what they think is good for the economy. Society matters far more than the economy, … the economy has to be a servant, not a master.
NZEI have always been too terrified of upsetting parents and far too into self-sacrifice.
Oh yes, the rich believe in performance-based pay and meritocracy; the best get paid better, the better-paid are the best. They would say that, wouldn’t they?
This feeds into the urban myth that teachers in low-decile schools are generally inferior to teachers in high-decile ones with only the best carefully handpicked for private schools (the elite schools). Consequently, the low-decile schools are inferior too, which is obvious when you look at academic success of the students, now and in future.
This BS keeps self-perpetuating and even some of the poor are buying into it.
Don’t!
One’s pay (or wealth) is not a marker of one’s competence as a teacher.
But AB teachers aren’t unskilled and semi-skilled workers, and they are extensions of the socialising and informing role that parents do (if all is going well). Teachers are trained to carry out their role, unlike parents who struggle to get along with or without teachers strikes. Teachers are trying to maintain their numbers with training to expected levels of expertise in these difficult times. While we have teachers who care and try to help children through their school years to a level that enables them to manage in the world, we have some hope that they will be able to negotiate social wages for themselves as adults, if their parents have not learned enough to achieve that themselves.
‘Teach your children well, their parents hell will surely go by’.
Grey – I find comparisons between who is ‘skilled’ and ‘unskilled’ a bit odious. And I don’t really like the idea of people’s economic wellbeing coming down to how well they can make the case that they are more skilled than someone else, who therefore deserves less than they do.
I would like to see a sort of cross-occupational solidarity that assumes the baseline of a decent economic life for everyone, then places some relatively modest skill differentials (insofar as these can be determined) on top of that. If people are in occupational silos trying to do the best for themselves alone, that plays into the individualistic habits of mind that are part of our current predicament.
We aren’t and can’t all be the same AB. Chance to realise the fullness of oneself through work and opportunities and decent conditions in one’s community and the world would be a fine thing. But life and self management has to be learned, just scrambling along, dragging oneself up with no wise and caring help rarely results in a well-balanced and wise person. Teachers are worthy, should be nurtured and respected and have reasonable expectations placed on them in return.
They, and informed and thinking people, know too well today that they are the first rather than the second stage of support and introduction to life skills for many children in our society. That is why these skilled people need to get more attention than the unskilled, who in turn should get better conditions offered for their living and advancement. I don’t agree with the theory of communism, and everyone getting the same if that is what is behind your thinking.
Certainly would not get many to do my present job, without a skills and responsibility premium. We offered to train some staff. The response was, “you couldn’t pay me enough to take the responsibility”.
The lifestyle which made it an adventure for young people in the past, are long gone.
However there is no justification for jobs that I regard as semi-skilled, such as management in large companies, getting 35 times the average wage.
How much did teachers pay rise under the Natz and how much now under Labour would be a good comparison.
My gut feeling is that maybe the Natz did not give the teachers enough pay rises, and now labour are being blamed for it.
Plus the neoliberal immigration policies of the last 12 years in particular mean that it sounds like teachers would not have enough pay for even Kiwibuild ‘affordable’ houses up to $180k dual income.
In addition the glut of spec houses being built in Auckland were based around a Ponzi scheme and Kiwis can’t afford or not interested in 1 million+ dollar McMansions and want/need that 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house with double garage and tiny section or 2 bedroom apartment with $13,000 a year body corporates and chance of leaks?
The ‘market driven’ developers have failed to build for the market of NZ and the high paid jobs were never created to keep the migrants or Kiwis in NZ with enough wages to live here without an overseas job to fund it? Aka once people get residency here, they leave their $20p/h insecure NZ job… NZ back where it started the ponzi but with much more liabilities and satellite families earning nothing but kids to teach, kids to give health care to, kids to commute to schools, WFF and tops ups to pay…
It would have to be a pretty flash apartment to have $13,000 body corporate fees. I have been looking at apartments around the $700,000 mark for a relative. Body corporate plus rates are around $5,000 to $6,000.
You have got to be joking Wayne! Just the insurance component on many apartments in Wellington exceeds $5000 to $6000. Now add $3000 p.a. for rates and varying amounts for future maintenance charges in the range of $1000 to five times that. One can be sure that $13,000 is not exceptional, particularly for older repurposed buildings. Also, you must realise that there are a number of apartments around that are at give-away prices as owners cannot afford the repair bills for earthquake and structural problems.
Hipkins use of that is bullshit and propaganda, an easily used line to be picked up by people like Michael Barnett.
Last week Hipkins had it at $10,000 so it’s already dropped!
Congratulations to Rocketlab on their successful launch of their rocket last night.
In New Zealand; who’da thought?
There are pockets of excellence in NZ in-between vast deserts of doubt and apathy. Many good ideas get buried by bureaucracy and/or suffocated by mediocre managers. Access to funding is like a 3,000-mile pilgrimage carrying a heavy load and with self-flagellation at each and every step, bare feet, I should add. It’s dire.
There are pockets of excellence in NZ in-between vast deserts of doubt and apathy.
Dear God is that such a true statement.
I’m sorry to say this; but it’s the one thing that becomes vividly apparent the moment you get on a plane and leave. If only NZ would learn to believe in itself the way our best rugby players and our world class sailors do … the country would be unstoppable.
And yes big congrats to RocketLab !!
Elite NZ athletes ‘learn to believe in themselves’ through expensive ongoing coaching and psychological support. Let’s invest in the equivalent for everyone else and reap the benefits.
Perhaps we could make lemonade out of something sour? The long spiritual walk of Spain the Carmino de Santiago is a selling point to meditative visitors and bucket-list tourists;, a spiritual and physical task that attracts thousands.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago
Our pain and spiritual exercise of effort obtaining resources to try and save what is good in NZ from destruction and to nurture, build and develop better things in NZ, could be sold as a journey that attracts sympathetic tourists. Sell ourselves as a small green jewel in the world being threatened by the twin hazards of neoliberal freemarketing and runaway climate change. ‘Join us in our fevered attempts to rise above this tide’; better than an epic blockbuster.
/sarc or is it a step outside the square that could be the floating something that we grasp to save ourselves from drowning? I’ll leave you to conjecture what the something would be!
The Rocket Lab launch is interesting.
In 2010, Rocket Lab worked on a project for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, a US Department of Defense agency. The result of this work was passed on to the US military in 2012.
In 2013, Rocket Lab received funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Around this time Rocket Lab moved its company registration to the US and opened a corporate office in Los Angeles. In a recent TV interview, Peter Beck stated that he now spends his time betwwen LA and NZ.
In 2014, the US military and aerospace giant Lockheed Martin invested an undisclosed amount in Rocket Lab. Lockheed Martin is one of the US largest defence contractors, $35.2 billion in US military contracts last year. Rocket lab have refused to discuss the amount of funding they recieve from Lockheed Martin.
Is naive little NZ developing military and surveillance technology for the US?
I don’t think cube satellites are of much interest to the military. Way too small for serious comms and data use, and way too small for aerial surveillance. The camera lens needs to at least 30 cm is diameter to be of any serious military use. Way too big for a cube sat.
LM will just want Rocket Lab to be in its overall portfolio. After all LM won’t want to be completely reliant on military contracts. For instance the F35 project (largest single military contract in the world) will be complete in 10 years, and that probably accounts for 30% of current LM revenue.
Fireblade that is what concerns me. One thing to notice is that every new finding and invention gets looked at by ‘defence’ to see if they can use it to advantage. And they very likely be funding the tech.
And the othr thing that anything is moral if it makes a profit to these things parading themselves as people. So what if we are dependent for jobs on making butterfly bombs, rocket parts with impregnated mine material into every sq cm. etc?
More information about the Rocket Lab, US and Lockheed Martin connections.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12159204
How come the Opposition is doing all this quizzing of every meeting of some Ministers? It is as if they have taken over the snooping job of those detectives Thomson and Clark? What is the task they should be doing in their role?
Deflecting away from their 3 terms of damage and the car crash that is bridges and Bennett’s handling of bagman JLR.
A full time job.
3000 questions they asked of just Shane Jones, let alone anyone else, and that was a ploy they signalled early in the term of the new government. I would like to know exactly what the questions were? Clearly by dint of the number of questions there would be “gaps”. Likewise when you see the range of people he spoke to that seemed entirely normal, I doubt the same can be said of opposition “meetings” both during this term and prior.
The more people in NZ meet and talk with genuine intention the better off the country will be in the longterm.
One thing that has been absent other that weasel worded, relentless and empty badgering from the entire opposition party is what they would do to improve NZ and the lives of NZers, prior, within this term by positive example and if they ever, god forbid, got themselves back on the government side of the house without a major shift in dedication and intentions for NZ.
Goldsmith is obsessed with trying to hang something on Shane Jones, it appears to be an obsessive delusional trait with the National Party at present, maybe they have private investigators following all the Government MP’s, National have plenty in their coffers from their Asian Backers ?
Goldsmith appears to be working from the John Key & Crosby Textor Dirty Tricks Handbook ?
Goldie will only ever get pompous crap out of that flatulating blowhard.
I was scratching my head as to what a good/easy issue to practice bipartisanship.
Treaty of Waitangi settlements.
Ongoing, big budget (not one term fiscal responsibility) fairly apolitical.
Who knows what could come of it?
Every human is better when we cooperate.
Well when you proclaim to wanting the most open and transparent government ever then you have to expect the opposition will hold you to that
What? The patently ridiculous and time wasting crap from National, has nothing to do with “holding the Government to account”.
It is just designed to prevent this Government achieving anything.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/watch-jacinda-ardern-admits-government-not-most-open-transparent-after-questioning-simon-bridges-in-parliament
Jacinda Ardern told NZ this would be the most open transparent government ever, a none too subtle dig at National, so when the present government is less than transparent you think National shouldn’t remind voters of what Jacinda Ardern said
PR We had to learn of some meetings by National with their funders and masters through a fallout between friends.
Don’t come to this forum spouting the current Government is not transparent.
The last National Government was totally hiding meetings and schemes.
That is now being reflected in their shrinking support.
Bbbut they had hats. The meetings were in other hats. It was all ok.
Wally Haumaha clean as a whistle according to the latest QC Report another Natzi beat up by the little worm Christopher Bishop down the shitter ?
I think ‘clean as a whistle’ is a bit of a stretch.
You mean the integrity of the process has been maintained.
They are trying to build an impression of holding the government to account – severely handicapped by their own cavalier behavior in office. They may fool some of their base by it, but not much more.
Goldsmith is obsessed with trying to hang something on Shane Jones, it appears to be an obsessive delusional trait with the National Party at present, maybe they have private investigators following all the Government MP’s, National have plenty in their coffers from their Asian Backers ?
Goldsmith appears to be working from the John Key & Crosby Textor Dirty Tricks Handbook ?
Clare Curran was an incompetent Minister whose downfall in part brought about by questioning about her ‘meetings’. It might be unpleasant, but it is a legitimate part of opposition.
National think that being in opposition involves getting back power at all costs..
Their MP’s are tasked as being snipers, taking endless shots at the coalition, in the hope of winging as many as possible.
Representing New Zealanders in Parliament is obviously not part of their job description.
Am I the only that is slightly cynical and amused that the teachers strikes “just happen” to give both Auckland and Wellington teachers a long weekend?
Yes
Yes except for the opposition party, that will be way up there to the level of any one of their 3000 questions, you’d fit right in there.
Go away christy
Also less disruptive for parents and children..
Parents tend to whinge that the least those stroppy commie teachers could do is strike on the edge of the weekend christy.
Good article on the t.rump debacle.
“The whole weekend was supposed to be a show of western solidarity, and ended up proving its absence. Trump showed himself ill at ease with most of his European counterparts and the fleeting encounter with Putin was a reminder of his much greater affinity for autocrats.
He has claimed warm, even affectionate, relations with Putin, Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Mohammed bin Salman, Rodrigo Duterte and now Brazil’s president-elect, Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump may have cut a lonely figure in Paris, but on the world stage, he is less and less isolated.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/thumbs-up-from-putin-as-trump-rains-on-armistice-parade
Yes. This has been apparent from the outset and is alarming. The man is a god-awful lout and his election symptomatic of a deeply divided and troubled society.
Having said that, there may well be another side to this. In a world now increasingly dominated by dangerously authoritarian figures in places like Russia, China, Saudi, Brazil and so on … the liberal instincts of the west have proven an inadequate response.
It’s possibly worth remembering that just prior to WW2 Churchill was widely regarded with similar disdain by almost the entire educated, leadership class in Britain. They saw him too as an erratic, uncouth man with a patchy record. (The ‘appeasers’ were by no means confined to Chamberlain; if events had transpired just a little differently there is no doubt that Rudolf Hess’s attempt at a peace treaty might well have succeeded.)
Events play strange tricks with us, the leaders we need in peacetime are not necessarily the ones we need in times of trouble. I’m not trying to compare Trump with Churchill directly; but there are some parallels between the two men and their place in history that are worth thinking about.
I do think trump is a manifestation of his society, a consequence and predictable. To me he is dangerous, not just because of his ideas and beliefs but more because of the company he enjoys. He is like them and them ain’t good.
Churchill was the man of the times as was Hitler as is t.rump. The hardest thing for me in some ways is knowing that he is just the beginning and he will be far from the worst as the Empire crumbles little bit by little bit. T.rump is funny in some ways, amongst the carnage – other ones coming won’t be funny.
Yes. If I’m reading you correctly then I agree wholeheartedly. The potential for utter catastrophe is chilling and stalking us daily.
My optimism pivots on this one thing; that for fear of the consequences these leaders of the world will soon agree to set aside some portion of their unconstrained national sovereignty in favour of a wider common good. Events in Paris more than hint at this possibility:
https://news.sky.com/story/armistice-day-in-europe-macron-warns-against-nationalism-as-wwi-remembered-11551693
Another link:
https://www.businessinsider.com/r-with-trump-sitting-nearby-macron-calls-nationalism-a-betrayal-2018-11/?r=AU&IR=T
Yes there does appear to be attempts to bring people together as per macrons speech. T.rump is diametrically opposed to that and him and his supporters are proud of that. This is their agenda. Thus the delusions perpetuate.
There is a coalescing occurring around very fundamentally different ways of looking at things.
Thanks for posting that marty-superb article. What a nasty prat Trump is.
I think the mid-term results have been poorly reported. The democrats now look like taking 35-36 seats in the House where early results showed more like 25. This is close to the “blue-wave” 40-seat gain they were after. The Democrats won 7 important Governor races.
In Florida the Senate race is now within 0.14 percent where the Republican spent $60 million (NZ$90m) of his own fortune on trying to get elected. The recount will be interesting.
Meanwhile there was a massive increase in young voters. Bodes well for 2020.
Sanders for president? (Corbyn for PM?).
A good thought from Alphonse Mucha 1860-1939
Ideas matter.
As he was inaugurated for a second term this evening, President Michael D Higgins said “ideas matter” and “history tells us that anti-intellectualism” is the “the weapon of authoritarian and anti-democratic forces in so many parts of our shared, vulnerable planet” .
“Our choice must be to actively extend and deepen democracy, to express it in wider forms and in new ways,” he said.
Not alone was “the very existence of our planet in its bio-diversity threatened but we have not yet slowed the pace of that destruction. We live with ongoing violence against women which must be ended.
“We must confront and challenge any excuses offered for the denial of the irreducible rights, of women who make up, let us not forget, a majority of humanity on this planet. It is important that we recognize the rights and culture of indigenous peoples. It is also important that each person is free to express their sexuality, gender or relationship,” he said.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/president-michael-d-higgins-says-ideas-matter-as-he-is-inaugurated-for-second-term-1.3694089
When is New Zealand going to have its own President. ?
There should be a set curriculum at all schools in NZ with schools able to add to these, but not to forego important factual stuff we should all know and understand.
And religion should not be taught, it should be part of a philosophy based curricu,um teaching about culture and how values are established.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/107206925/new-zealands-schooltaught-colonial-history-is-racist-and-needs-changing–say-teachers
However, University of Canterbury School of Teacher Education senior lecturer Dr Richard Manning …
Difficulties arose because of “perceived white backlash”. He had encountered history teachers who pushed back on teaching Māori history saying it was “all political correctness”.
> There should be a set curriculum at all schools in NZ with schools able to add to these, but not to forego important factual stuff we should all know and understand.
Sorry dude, schools have taught very little ‘factual stuff’ of any sort for some time.
You have to teach your own kids facts, or hope they pick it up in books.
A.
Maybe they just don’t teach “alternative facts”?
Have you got school age kids??
A.
I do, a 10 year old, she gets taught facts, thanks for your concern though.
Wasn’t talking to you,
Besides, I also have a primary school age kid and not a lot of facts going on. More emphasis on doing their own research…
A.
lol
Because possession grants more expertise than merely knowing a few through friends, maybe?
Most of the kids these days seem pretty onto it. Maybe the poor influence on your kids isn’t at school?
Well, I don’t think kids learn a lot of facts at primary school, even compared to in my day (the 80s).
This is based on a sample size of 1 (my kid) plus what I hear from others and read in the media.
If you have information to the contrary I would be pleased to hear it.
> Most of the kids these days seem pretty onto it.
I never said they weren’t ‘onto it’! I said they don’t learn a lot of facts at school! It doesn’t actually seem that controversial of a statement. I do not think many modern educators would seriously contend that they try to stuff kids’ heads with facts nowadays.
>Maybe the poor influence on your kids isn’t at school?
You seem like a decent bloke overall, I don’t know why you act like an asshole towards me. Should I just stop trying to engage you in conversation?
To sum up, I think Cleangreen thinks that the Ministry of Education in Wellington sets a list of information (not skills, not competencies, but facts) that kids must learn. I respond that if this was ever the case, it has not been so for decades.
A.
“Onto it” as in knowing stuff. Facts. Their math seems pretty good. Same with basic NZ history and plants and stuff. Most of the sprogs I know love to interrupt discussions with vaguely-relevant crap they picked up somewhere.
Sure, there’s not so much rote learning, but this isn’t a bad thing. And in my day they just hit us if we didn’t remember whatever shit was being taught at the time.
Heel yes I wish I was taught the new way . ..
Imagine being taught to think rather than remember .
> Most of the sprogs I know love to interrupt discussions with vaguely-relevant crap they picked up somewhere.
Bet it wasn’t at school
A.
Unless it’s about dinosaurs or superheroes, you’d probably lose that bet.
I had a chat to a modern teacher in regards to rote learning vs enquiry learning (not sure what correct terminology is).
This was after watching my son get to a level at maths ok then largely struggle. From about year 8.
I came through with the times table, rote learnt in the 70s.
With that foundation, I found it easy to hold 2or 3 parts of the solution in mind before getting answer.
I don’t think the answer is one or the other but a combo, but we have a habit of throwing out all of the old when we have a new.
Yep. We have gone away from simply regurgitating long lists of facts, without understanding!
Rote recitation only works for times tables and the alphabet.
> Rote recitation only works for times tables and the alphabet.
That is just not so.
A.
Worked for me.
No, I mean you can learn other things through rote recitation, I have done it.
e.g. conjugation of verbs in a foreign language.
A.
The NZ curriculum for those who haven’t looked at it.
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/English/Learning-areas
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum#collapsible7
One interesting element is the ‘Key Competencies.’ Calls for teacher performance pay usually mention testing kids for how much the kids ‘know’ in subjects and paying teachers accordingly not on how essential competencies have been achieved and to what level.
These California wildfires are getting apocalyptic:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/officials-order-evacuations-camp-fire-threatens-8000-acres/story?id=59065896
And the lout in charge makes outrageous claims as usual:
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/11/politics/california-wildfires-trump-tweets/index.html
they did not vote for him. So there.
Here’s a needle in a haystack, but it’s a start. Headline acknowledging climate change:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/11/la-fire-chief-climate-change-california-wildfires
Skyrocket consciousness. When your ass is on fire, you’ll move.
It’s A Pity
In front of the world, America has shown everyone what a piss weak president they have. He would not walk a step to honour the American soldiers WWI. Because of rain drops.
In front of the great State of California the same piss weak president has poured out his piss weak insults on the devastated, the dead and dying in the fierce hell fires – fiddling like a mad man with his insipid tweets.
America is at its Weakest. Surely they can rid themselves of the current Whitehouse Fool.
Kia ora The Am Show It is alarming that the Pola Ice Cap’s could be melting faster than previously thought that will raze sea levels by mtr and not just cm there will be stronger storm and Hurricanes smashing the coastal community’s.
.Christina its cool that we are talking about Human Caused Climate Change its about time I have worked out what has happened a BLUE Tsunami thank’s for your word’s Christina.
Kiwi are kind when the telephon 24 hour TV fun razing money for to aid 3 world country’s was running Kiwi donated million’s we were one of the highest for donation’s per capital time’s were much easier in those day’s we had spear money.
That the internet correcting thing’s again the fuel community price app is a cool Idea that will keep the gas company’s honestest may be you could have other consumer good’s and services listed to your app will pump.
With our teachers strike they mone about there work load .
I will give a example of the kicks and work smarter theory its fact actually.
I was part of a organization that milked 5000.00 cow’s twice a day through one 80 bale shed the neighbour and the newbees could not milk 3500 2 80 bale sheds it was a finely run farming group .
Point the teacher have heap’s of tool at there disposal to teach tamariki with the internet at there disposal they just have to look outside of the square to come up with smart efficient teaching solution’s.
Also these strikes will hit the common poor tamariki the most if the parents have to take time off work to care for there tamariki the wealthy will just hire a carer
There is a glut of oil on the market and we have hundred’s of thousands of electric vehicles coming on stream and millions of solar panels wind turbines displacing oil Thanks to China’s manufacturing muscle and people like Mus .
Its good that the Anglican Church is backing the public inquiry into child abuse of
state care tamariki and the Religious groups that cared for tamariki . Ka kite ano P.S no flash video links I need some DIMP for my computer the sandflys keep attacking it
Here is the reason our fuel prices have dropped trump’s tricks have been countered
the world woke up to his moves to inflate oil prices his oil baron supporters net worth went up by billions
Also, the weekly estimates are not as accurate as the monthly figures, which are published on a roughly 2-month lag. As such, they should be taken with a grain of salt. However, the massive increase comes just days after the EIA reported a huge increase in production in the monthly data – at 11.346 mb/d in August, the U.S. oil industry has clearly been producing a lot more than previously thought. That lends some weight to the weekly figures.
Another previously-bullish factor was Iran. With Iran’s oil exports spiraling downwards at the end of the summer and into September, the oil market grew very concerned about adequate global supply and the rapidly dwindling volume of spare capacity. U.S. waivers on countries importing Iranian oil removed that threat. Washington still wants to tighten the screws – and in fact, the sudden bearishness in the market gives the Trump administration more leeway to do just that – but in the near-term, Iran will continue to export.
A third factor is OPEC+ production. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Russia and Libya have all increased production in recent months, offsetting the losses from Iran. Now, the group has a different problem on its hands. A technical committee to the OPEC+ coalition is set to meet this weekend where it will take stock of the oil market. They will also consider options going forward for managing the market, including the potential for a production cut in 2019 to avoid another market downturn. The 180-degree turn – from adding supply just a few months ago to now considering a cut – is a remarkable indicator that demonstrates how quickly the sentiment has turned.
Ka kite ano
Plunging Battery Costs To Trigger Energy Storage Boom YEA YES KA PAI
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has forecast a veritable boom in energy storage installations in the coming years with investments hitting US$1.2 trillion by 2040. Falling battery costs will be the driver behind this boom, with BNEF projecting a 52 percent drop in utility-scale lithium-ion systems by 2030. .
It is a fact that the cost of producing batteries for energy storage is falling. Cost reduction, after all, is a top priority for everyone from EV makers to utilities betting on energy storage as a future source of revenues
But what about energy storage installations’ effect on the grid? That should be all-round positive, except for utilities that generate power from non-renewable sources. They better start preparing because BNEF’s analysts projected energy storage may rise to 7 percent of the world’s total installed power generation capacity by 2040.
In more good news for renewables, while until about 2030 most energy storage installations will be utility-scale from about 2035 behind-the-meter facilities will begin to take over, which means they will probably be affordable by then, and Elon Musk’s concept of a household featuring a solar roof, a household battery pack, and an EV could become a reality not just for billionai Ka kite ano link below . P.S I could build a offgrid solar power system for a small family for $4000 all up .
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/Plunging-Battery-Costs-To-Trigger-Energy-Storage-Boom.html
I decided to wait and see what happened when I first seen reports on China lifting Ban on trade in endangered animal parts
The Chinese government announced on Monday that it would postpone a plan to lift the 25-year ban on the endangered animals, following a storm of international protest.
It’s important to send the strongest message that the value of wild populations of tigers and rhinos and their ecosystems is much greater than the value of their bones and horns. Ka pai China they get the big picture its te tangata its te tangata and we need Papatuanuku and all her creatures to be respected to have a prosperous future for all.
Link below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/12/campaigners-welcome-china-u-turn-over-rhino-and-tiger-products
We need to protect OUR worlds forest and start planting billions of trees for our future
decedents to have a good life .There are many cases in OUR History that show’s a complete collapse of the environment and the society all because we did not respect mother nature .
The UK, France and Germany have called on the European commission to launch tough new action to halt deforestation by the end of the year.
A long-delayed EU action plan should be brought forward “as soon as possible”, says a letter to the commission sent by the Amsterdam Declaration group of countries, which also includes Italy, the Netherlands and Norway.
To help meet a UN goal of halting deforestation by 2020, the EU should show “a leadership role, mobilising its political and market leverage, and promoting broader international dialogue and cooperation”, the letter says.
Link below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/12/eu-states-call-for-tough-action-on-deforestation-to-meet-2020-un-goal-amsterdam-declaration
Its people like Stan Lee who have provided us with fantastic comic books he has ignited
the imagination of billions of people and a lot have gone on to become the worlds greatest inventors condolences to his whano/family he will be missed he is in a higher place now
Stan Lee: Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers creator dies aged 95
Born Stanley Martin Lieber on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in 1922, Lee’s childhood was marked by the Great Depression. In his 2002 autobiography Excelsior!, Lee described how his father’s struggle to find a steady job had forever affected him: “It’s a feeling that the most important thing for a man to do is to have work to do, to be busy, to be needed,” he wrote.
At 17, Lee landed a job at a publishing company owned by his relative Martin Goodman, and began writing scripts for superhero and mystery comics. When Goodman fell out with his editor in 1941, Lee found himself editor-in-chief at just 19.
Link below ka kite ano. P.S my eldest grandson has a flash suit
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/nov/12/stan-lee-spider-man-x-men-avengers-marvel-universe-dies
Our Pacific cousins have a positive influence on Aotearoa society culturally and financially
“The [NZ Pacific Economy] report reveals Pacific peoples are contributing significantly to the economy despite some of the poor health, housing, education and employment outcomes experienced by many in their communities,” Robertson said.
Pasifika families and businesses are big contributors to NZ economy: Finance Minister Assets from about 1500 Pacific business employers and almost 500 not-for-profit organisations totalled up to $8.3b and, from those assets, the total value added was thought to be $3.1b annually. Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12159122
ASB has joined the fray in the latest round of mortgage rate wars – dropping its one year fixed rate to match the record low 3.95 per cent offered by ANZ.
Its good to see ANZ bank start to the one year fixed interest rate drop that’s cool.
But I will still be after one of there board members /shonky but if you can save money go for it put all the saving on the mortgage .The low rate specials offered by ANZ, BNZ and Westpac are only available to home owners with a deposit or 20 per cent equity stake in their homes.
Its a buyers market now and about time thanks to the moves of our new Coalition Government. ka kite ano P.S we have other’s banks competing for your custom and the interest rate battle begins link below.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12159386
Kia ora Te Kaea I have to use my phone to get the post out the sandflys are attaking my other computer.
It will be a good trip for our Prime minister meeting all the heads of states talking about the Pacific relations and Climate change impacts on the Pacific and Aotearoa.
It been good seeing Te IWIs helping there tangata into housing that’s the best way to escape the poverty trap a lot of our tangata fall into.
Son of Zion are a cool banned music is good for te Wairua.
It would be nice if our government did advocate for Indigenous people consern.s at the gathering of our world leaders.
Ka kite ano P.S I will get some dimp tomorrow
Kia ora Newshub Paddy Andrew is letting the people go into the Pike River mine that will be of great relief for Berne and the family of all the people who have lost love ones in the mine.
Kate I have a post early on for the Great Comic writing legend Stan Lee.
Those fires in Northern Calafornia is a great desaster condolences to the people who have lost.
I say that the Shane Jones NZFirst billion tree program has had a minor hick up its what could happened to anyone when you have Papatuanukue and Tawhirirmate one can not pradict the weather.
It looks like they had a good day at the Addington race way in Christchurch Ra is shining to.
That’s what I wanted Sukieanne get her houners taken away for the atrocities that her government is doing to those poor people in Mayna.
We get half our meat from my sons they buy a beef so I dive into their freezers.
I do like my veggies to but I have to have some meat unprocessed we don’t eat as much meat as we used to.
That must have been a shock to SUE she is doing a fine job the new Auckland Prison told her that she needs to have a photo ID and finger print to she helps people who are having proroale problems we have seen a lot of people can’t get prole no fix abode if they can’t read a write
. Plastic water bottles leaching toxins well. I say know one has tested them for the effects on the fetus and the long term effects on anmials humans one to.
Ka kite ano P.S mind the spelling sandflys muppets
Some people try and play ECO MAORI they get the benefit of doubt they believe the lies the sandflys are spinning about ECO MAORI to them they get one chance.
I should listen to my instinct it’s always correct Ana to kai
The Crowd goes Wild Mulls and James.
Manu and Butterbean fight will be interesting. Monty ECO a South paw.
Mulls you lost weight can you still shuffle my moko is good at the shuffle they get their groove from the Wife my children give me shit when I have enough cups of tea to start to fluffel LOL.
The Addington races NZ trotting Cup was Winston there.
Butterbean has to get the message out drop the sugar us Pacific Islanders body’s are to effect at storing fat and sugar stuff up our health.
Ka kite ano P.S that’s the way guys support the Bowls teams and Showing heaps of Wahine Sports Stars on The Crowd goes Wild
Good morning The AM Show Azzes is having fun at the AMP Show.
There you go Winston Peters and Andrew Little The Coalition Government has helped the Pike River family to find the truth about the explosion.
This all happened because shonky made a unwise bet on COAL/Carbon. I have story that links shonky to Aotearoa losing 1 billion dollars of assets will tell when the time is right.
The road accidents =not enough investment in roads and a xtra 1 million people and cars = more accidents.
Lloyd the britexit I say it’s a can of worms they wish they never opened.
Robots are the future and AI Is a big threat to human kind and the World take it seriously one just. To see how the sandflys are behaveing with the technology tools help you to understand part of my concern of Artifical Intelligents every single thing we do will have computers integrated into it and if one App has that power we’ll people who make movies about this subject are warming US.
IF a person like trump gets the power of total control that AI can have we are in the SHIT.
It will be cool if Israel gets a title fight at the UFC.
There you go Berne Monk you want justice and accountability shonky was covering up the big mistake they made with the health and safety prosses at Pike River mine. Because the familys of the people who died are common people it’s worth the massive effort yous have put into getting justice a big WIN for the common tangata.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show. The Pike River scandle is just one issue from shonky
The Britexit don’t count your chickens May I have read that Nigal Farr has been linked to the Muler Russian investorgation I smelt that far right money all over his actions.
I East Asia summit Tova I bet Mike Pence wanted to talk about more issues that the dumb trade tariff.??????????
It has been the reward of a lot of people’s hard work that has paid off with the Mountain Grilla coming of the most endangered list.
The Black Ferns are getting heaps of game time and coverage on TV
Ka kite ano. P.S flip flop
You can talk muppet puppet