. Scrutinizing Jane Clifton’s claims as an exemplar of the current Media Orthodoxy
In which i take serious issue with key claims made by Jane Clifton (Politics column in the latest edition of the Listener‘For Whom the Polls Tell’ December 15 2018) and, by extension, with an entirely fallacious Media consensus on National’s supposedly “remarkable” Poll ratings this year:
Me too thanks swordfish. Actually I think that your research is far more deserving of words like “amazing, phenomenal, herculean, …”
Specially note that the Right is National without other Right partners except Seymour.
[OK, Morrissey. Enough pointless and unwarranted attacks on women in the media. Take a week off and have a good think about how to critique media without resorting to misogyny. Back next Thursday. TRP]
It’s a hard row sometimes when trying to fight curmudgeonhood @ Morry eh?
In case you hadn’t noticed – it is a new era
And especially when confronted by complete fucking muppetry by those anxious to maintain their veneer and what they perceive is their social status , and more especially when they’re operating within a bubble (just as you are – and me for that matter).
Try and catch my idol (Kim) this Saturday coming, while you’re having a lay down – she might even read out some Moz feedback.
In the meantime, watch a fashion show like parliament (you’ll need to watch rather than just listen) and learn to laugh – there’s enough gNat/Act material in there for a comedy TV series if you could get NuZull on Ear funding
Yes, I agree. It is a tenant’s letting fee repayment plan with no end date.
Property Managers will retain the first week’s rent and after the add-on to the rent has covered the proxy letting fee the benefit will revert to the owner.
Property managers are going to have to present an accompanying benefit to owners when they advise them: “We’re keeping the first week’s rent.”
“Excessive rents” are merely a reflection of what a house is worth.
Just say I owned a house worth 600k, 500k of that was the mortgage.
I’d have to charge at least $480 dollars a week to just cover the interest payments on the mortgage
Add on to of that rates, insurance, maintenance, letting fees, a bit of profit etc and you can see why rent is so high.
For rents to come down the price of housing needs to fall, unfortunately, Kiwi Buy has stopped that, because Tywford is now underwriting property developers by buying their developments he’s created an artificial price point in the market.
That’s it, while Kiwi buy exists in its current form, this is as cheap as it gets
The solution is to lower the cost of land, the cost of materials, the cost of labour and the cost of compliance.
For Auckland and Queenstown those prices are cheap but as you point out if a new landlord is in property for profit it only makes sense if there is a decent capital gain existing landlords will be questioning the returns on capital especially if prices start falling. That’s why most landlords like National doing nothing or very little to solve housing shortage. It creates a speculative bubble.
It is a landlords choice Muttonbird to own a rental, and my guess is that less and less people will want to own one (in the 1990’s it was encouraged by government because they told everybody that NZ could not afford pensions in the future and so they should start saving now and that encouraged the drive of ‘mums and dads’ owning rentals and the surplus of them which led to a decent supply and lower rents).
Now the message from government is not to own a rental, and everyone should be an owner occupier, so a certain percentage of landlords will sell up and the government is not exactly adding shit loads of state houses or new rentals but going for the sales models…. this is because they believe in trickle down, aka if they increase supply then this will trickle down into lower rents… but again increasing supply is a waste of time if your demand is also increasing through immigration or gold bricks investors who don’t necessarily have to rent the property.
To stem the gold bricks they will have to bring in more laws about empty houses and then start to police the rentals if they are empty or not, so it’s getting more and more complicated for everyone, when government could do some quick easy fixes, see 2.2.2.2.1.2 at little cost which would do a lot more to help straight away as well as build houses just for state house renting while allowing the market to do the more middle class to luxury side which they are already preferring to do anyway.
I also thing that anybody owning over 5 houses/land or having shares in a company with houses/land over 5 titles should be taxed a bit more, aka 1/2 percent of their worth, etc. This will encourage people not to ‘hog’ houses and those that do are rightly identified as a land business and should pay a tax on it to stem housing shortages or land banking.
Likewise a stamp duty on houses, assets and land over 5 million dollars.
This is much fairer and more profitable than capital gains and will do the same thing but on steroids while not effecting the middle class at all. In fact will lower prices as people don’t hog assets.
Again if NZ and the world bought in laws to challenge the super rich and not the middle to upper class that people aspire to, then governments would be much more popular and inequality would diminish as the super rich were taxed more on land/asset banking assets.
@BM, If we look at what you want historically when have we ever had over decades the cost of land going down? (pretty much never unless something is wrong with it) the cost of materials going down (hardly ever and generally for the same reason aka some is wrong with it (asbestos) or it is advanced by something newer and better, the cost of labour traditionally also does not fall (although historically in line with expenses it has) and the cost of compliance, (judging by Auckland council increasing their consent costs and investing ratepayers money into America’s cup and stadiums etc, not likely to come down, new scam is to make the consumers pay for it over decades).
So my take home of that is, new tech might help[ make buildings cheaper, labour has already fallen in real terms but due to the amount of subcontractors we are actually paying a fortune over multiple companies for poor skills and the middle men are making a significant profit, so that needs to change back to the old model of one contractor one building, and until the councils are forced to go back to their knitting and spend the rates on running council services and not being amateur investors and charities for their pet projects, and also get much better skilled and highly trained building inspectors and planners, then compliance costs will not go down.
What they can change, is incomes going up. Which is why we have a huge problem at present aka the cost of living is out of kilter with many people’s incomes.
P>S> When the Natz forced through the zoning changes to allow much greater density, guess what, land prices went through the roof. So whatever great ideas these politicians are having. please take a seat and don’t fiddle.
The best thing for government to do, is to build shit loads of small but well built state houses themselves with no middlemen and then rent them out with reduced rents which over time will be cash positive. Leave the private sector alone. Any help has so far done the opposite of it’s supposed intentions.
They could over night solve a lot of the affordable housing crisis, by allowing people to convert existing multiple level houses into a flat by allowing a kitchen to make a granny flat. Then it only costs someone about $10k to create another unit, and they are then happy with a small rent of a few hundred dollars which is what many people can only afford these days and is now in Auckland the cost of a single room.
Newshub has obtained a letter from a rental agency urging landlords to raise rents by $10 a week to cover the cost
Did you that….Some rental agencies exploit both tenants and landlords.
Anyways I see that judith is coming out against this move by the government. So naturally you will be on her side no matter what. Your loyalty is endearing.
I find it weird that letting agencies have escaped with no regulation on them like every other body has in this country. Maybe part of our renting woes, also stems from the idea that any one seems to be able to set up shop as a letting agent, and when things go wrong the landlord is the one in the firing line who probably had no clue what was going on? Real Estate agents have a body you can complain to, whereas nothing for letting agents if they are in breach of their duty or acting illegally very hard to quickly hold them to account and they are in a position of power and holding keys to people’s houses…
Letting agents also have substantial amounts of money going through their books and often the landlords are quite elderly and have no clue what is going on. If there are discrepancies then it goes to highly expensive court proceedings… the meth tests are a case where hundreds of thousands of dollars were at the mercy of letting agents views on meth contamination or not and had the power to call in on any ‘private’ companies. But even day to day, the amount of rents going through their books is high and the agents are not exactly trained or vetted very well. All that money is a temptation.
These are a lot of frauds being prosecuted from real estate, so highly likely that similar fraud is going on for letting agents but they are just not being caught or it is too much money and effort to prosecute the letting fraudsters because there is not clear pathway to do it.
I can’t see that this will make a big difference. There will be no cost to recoup until a new tenant is needed but it is commonplace to review the rent anyway when re-renting a property, and most landlords will already set this at what they think the market can deliver.
Are you suggesting that property managers are currently failing to look after their clients’ interests by collaborating in setting rents at lower than what the market will bear?
It’s worth it for the opportunity to show up those that usually claim *the market sets the price* as just shilling for rich people when they claim landlords will put up rents because one of their costs has just gone up.
@ Andre, it is pretty much a given that certain unscrupulous agents were under renting properties to get the tenants in and get their letting fee, then increasing the rents within 6 months of the tenants paying the letting fees…
@ Andre, 2.4, Yes some agents defiantly are because say you have a $500 p/w house to rent. The rental agent only gets about 7% of that aka $35 p/w so the big money of $500 + GST is nice to get as an xtra bonus. Even better if there is a dispute at the tenancy tribunal then the landlord pays the letting agent to attend. A percentage is added to repairs also. So when places are relet or there are problems the letting agents get extra fees.
The fact is, James, letting fees were just too much of a burden for poor people to pay. Especially when it is the policy of WINZ not to pay letting fees.
Initially, yes but WINZ have advanced complete move-in monies including letting fees for some years. Average Joe tax payer getting it in the neck again. No assistance for his letting fee and his taxes pay the letting fees for those that qualify for Govt assistance.
Bond Grant
WINZ can make a non-recoverable (you don’t have to pay it back) contribution to your bond or rent in advance. They’ll look at how much your bond or rent in advance is and you’ll need to show you can afford the rent payments in the future. There are income or cash asset limits placed on who can qualify for bond grants.
Letting fees assistance
Sometimes rental agencies will charge a ‘letting fee’ for securing a place to live. If you are having trouble paying this letting fee you can apply to Work and Income for assistance. You don’t need to be receiving a benefit or pension to apply for financial assistance up to the cost of one week’s rent, plus GST. You can only use letting fees assistance once a year, but it doesn’t need to be paid back. There are income or cash asset limits on who can qualify for letting fees assistance.
Rent in Advance
Rent in Advance is a non-recoverable (you don’t have to pay it back) payment towards your rent if your needs qualify you. There are income or cash asset limits on who can qualify for Rent in Advance.
The article you link to has “could” in the title and it contains “maybe”‘s and “seemingly” etc . There is no proof that rents have gone up.
“Everyone” includes me. I didn’t say rents would go up.
Rents may go up for many reasons. They may come down! I bet you won’t give praise to Jacinda if that happens. You’ll say it was due to other factors. It will be hard to tell if this change gets passed on to renters or not. Letting hopefully doesn’t happen once a year as is implied by $10 per week suggested.
I’m guessing some regions rents won’t go up. So increases (if any happen) will be due to other factors…
There in the Jail House this morning is the Kiwi Murderer of a young Woman waiting for his breakfast – as if he deserved it. He will await for three comfortable meals each day.
While his snappy Lawyer will be wiggling and manipulating reasons and excuses to smother the crime, and explain the Dreadful Tragedy away. For the Lawyer and the Murderer will blame anything and anybody but themselves in the so called “fair trial”.
It is said that most women in NZ do not report the Grim Rape they suffer, because the lugubrious Barrister and his companions will destroy what is left of her self esteem. Rape is rampant here. Absolutely Rampant.
The Lawyer Brutes will pat themselves on the back for having persuaded Judge and Jury that the raped woman “had it coming to her”. There will be celebrations in Chambers later, over their legal brilliance – and discussions about how pretty the young woman was.
You don’t believe me ? Ask the women in Chambers – throughout New Zealand !. Sex is the PAVLOVA of NZ Lawyers. We do not realise that the real Whores are numerous predator kiwi men – in all sectors. We never face up to it.
We must not allow the snappy smart Lawyer to divert and tarnish the Course of Justice this time. They have done that far too often – over so many days and years and decades
Grace – in her lasting silence – will draw the true graphic of every cowardly evil kiwi male, for now and for decades, and centuries to come. She has done so much for Kiwi Women. So so much. Grace has displayed our Male Evil.
I am horrified and disgusted that Epilepsy New Zealand has asked Bill English (yes, that one) to become their patron, and that he accepted. Apparently they feel his “mana” will help in raising their profile.
Many people with epilepsy by necessity are on benefits. English’s views on this subject are a matter of record as are what the Nats did to us for 9 years, and the deliberate suffering his Government inflicted on people with disabilities, alongside the cuts to health services funding; this guy is directly complicit in doing a great deal of harm to disabled people in NZ. There is no reason to believe that, just because he is no longer an MP his ideology has changed one iota.
So the national organisation who as part of their brief are suppose to advocate for people with epilepsy approach an ex-PM with a track record of openly despising the disabled as non-productive economic units (aka lowest form of life and drain on the hard working tax payer) and offer him the patronage. Brilliant.
English makes caring noises. Like the bird call on Radionz. He also makes a big deal of how Catholic he is, and might be expected to have some moral concern for needy people. Epilepsy NZ are desperate for some action and gone to the heart of the National Party. I hope they have found one there that is not diseased beyond recovery.
@grey, I’m wondering if someone high up was star struck by the ‘Knight of the Realm’ bit? Or this being NZ, more than likely knows him personally hence the approach.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the roles of ex-MPs/PMs on boards etc. Boards are one thing- often the business/charity corresponds quite well with the idelogical leanings of the ex-politician. We’re not surprised seeing Key on the ANZ board, I’d have no problem with ex-Green MPs on conservation-related charity boards.
But in a situation like this political neutrality is called for, and necessary. And the Patron’s past actions have to be scrutinised for suitablity. A few years back the ENZ patron was the sitting Governor General, which was perfectly reasonable. Our version of Royal patronage, but whatever your views there, politically neutral.
@ Kay, the start to his Knighthood maybe, since I’m not sure he has ever done anything charitable before, maybe he needs to have something charitable on his CV to justify the “honour”?
English has appeared to be on the charitable line to RWs with his talk of social investment and a new way of doing welfare. He and his wife seem hard-line Catholic and I think against abortion which goes with that. It suits such people to be engaged with charities that are not connected with behaviour not validated by their value models, drugs, sex, weaknesses of the human condition as they see them. So epilepsy, the blind are likely outlets for any kind concerns they have.
“…an ex-PM with a track record of openly despising the disabled as non-productive economic units (aka lowest form of life and drain on the hard working tax payer) and offer him the patronage.”
“As examples he cites work being done at Housing New Zealand and specifically at the Ministry of Social Development by the welfare working advisory group looking at the big driver of future costs: long-term invalids and sickness beneficiaries, a group he describes as “this big hard lump of long-term waste of human potential”.
English says the MSD is not set up to deal with them.
Rather, it is set up to deal with “the easy stuff” – the unemployment and the domestic purposes benefits.
“How did the Nazis see disabled people?
The Nazis took Darwin’s ideas of natural selection, in particular the idea of survival of the fittest in the animal kingdom, and applied them to the human world and society (Darwin’s Origin of the Species had been published in 1859). It was argued that allowing disabled people to live and have children, led to the “unfit” reproducing more quickly than “the fit”. It was said that this weakened society’s ability to function efficiently, placing an unnecessary toll on non-disabled people.
The Nazis claimed that the social and economic problems that Germany experienced in the 1920s and early 1930s were due in part to the weakening of the population created by an unfair burden.”
I rest my case Rosemary.
I’m seriously considering taking this to the media to try and get this made more known (I don’t do social media). I have a reporter I’m thinking of as somewhere to start, if you have any suggestions please let me know?
I get totally why you have an issue with Bill ‘the lizard’ English being a Patron of a charity advocating for those with a health condition/disability. While he may not actually be in charge of the hen house , having him sitting atop the structure as some kind of figurehead is plain wrong. And it’s hard to put into words why.
Epilepsy New Zealand must think Bill as pulling power (oh what an image that conjures!) and have chosen him pragmatically…it gives them some credibility, authority?
In my mind there are a number of organisations and individuals who have been active in the health and disability ‘sector’ over the past 10-20 years (snouts firmly in the trough of neoliberal policy generated government funding) who should, were we actually committed to shucking off the nefarious policies and practices of the past 20 years, be consigned to the dustbin where all the enablers belong.
Happy they have been to take the government coin and pretend advocacy, while those in need of that advocacy drift further into the margins. These charities will claim that it is better to be sitting at the table with the policy makers…that compromise is required to facilitate change.
I cry bullshit to that. And you know all too well Kay that there has been no meaningful improvement for those with long term health and disability needs.
And we see no hope of any meaningful improvement in the near future as those enablers of the past decade or so still claim exclusive rights to the ears of the politicians and policy makers. (I am indulging in a little transference here as this is what seems to be happening right this minute with the review of the family care policy.)
There are some good journalists out there doing sterling work, and the likes of me who scour the net for such articles will read them. As for the wider ‘community’? I don’t know…I’m feeling a bit like a stranger in a strange land at the moment. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/11/17/feeling-like-a-stranger-in-a-familiar-land/
“Remember when Jacinda said she was a pragmatic idealist? In Sam’s letter to Eugenie, he has an answer for that. He quotes, ‘when the law is subject to pragmatism then the firm foundations on which we set our society turn to sand’ and that ‘pragmatism and compromise are corrosive elements that most threaten the architecture of democracy’. Elsewhere online, pragmatism, it is said, ‘reflects with almost disarming candour, the spirit of the prevailing business culture’, (Max Horkheimer); ‘Pragmatism contains nothing but sophistry and illusion’, (David Hume); ‘It is the attitude of looking away from first things, principles, ‘categories’, supposed necessities, and of looking toward last things, fruits, consequences and facts’ (William James). Idealism and pragmatism are almost incompatible.”
Mind you Rosemary may have other views as she has had personal experience of Kirsty. Articles on Rosemary and Peter are amongst those in the above link.
Yes, Kirsty does good work and has been a constant friend on disability issues.
If I look like a reluctant participant in that piece it was because I was a reluctant participant. Not because of Kirsty, but because I felt it was more important for Peter to have his say and have centre stage, as often the voice of the person with the disability is lost. (I was also being peripherally distracted by a mate and her mate who were having problems, as homeless people, with the local council.)
It will be interesting to see if Kirsty does a follow up article if this government fails to honour its promise to repeal the Part 4 amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act and dispose of the iniquitous Funded Family Care.
Thanks for that Rosemary. And fully understand what you said re Peter needing to be centre stage. Wanted to defer to your personal experience, but I have considerable respect for Kirsty, despite her young age! (From an oldie, LOL)
Jess McAllen is also superb in the mental health area, particular for young people. But don’t think disability is her focus.
VV, thanks for the suggestion. I’ve always liked Kirsty’s work.
I haven’t been this furious about something for a very long time (which is saying a lot given how much there is to be angry about, I just don’t tend to have the energy anymore!) so am trying the outsourcing approach 🙂 Unfortunately for very good reasons I still can’t use my real name in connection to this topic publicly- active discrimination is alive and kicking in NZ and there would be serious consequences for me- so I can but try to get to get this information out by other means.
Rosemary
It sounds as if English would like to take the disabled people and churn them from one welfare management group to another so they can’t take the easy way out ‘playing the victim’. I would think that is at the base of his thinking though he would not explicitly say that. Though I think he has come close if he has actually been documented as saying things referred to in your comment.
It’s using capitalist, neo lib thinking, and the fact that he claims religion and Catholicism doesn’t make any difference because religions have been been friends with capitalism for ever. If Maori can hold on to their belief *’He Tangata, He Tangata, – the people are the core of everything – we may be able to save the nation’s soul. Otherwise it’s hard work making headway and its getting wrinkled like a raisin. But then even small and wrinkled raisins can be sweet, so we must just try and stop these moves to monetise everything. Nazis get mentioned because the Holocaust was so scary, now organ taking from unaethetised persons in China. It’s hard to cope. Hold onto that soul, it’s the meaning of life.
*This is an expression taken from a Maori proverb that ponders. He aha te mea nui o te ao, he tangata he tangata he tangata. The meaning roughly translates as What is the most important thing in the world, it is the people, the people, the people. https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/5200
Some of the more recent comments on TS refer to the Dunedin Longitudinal Study on domestic violence, which I have unsuccessfully been trying to access online.
I have looked to the search page on the Otago University website, and the closest I can come to what seems to be an indication of higher female violence is perhaps the 1998 study – “Physical assault in New Zealand: the experience of 21 year old men and women in a community sample”.
The other studies seem to indicate otherwise: “Physical assault among 21-year-olds by partners”
Do any of the commentators who reference that study, know the name and/or have a link to an accessible copy online?
Unfortunately, in our village, the guy who didn’t ‘tune up’ his wife was considered unusual. I was a big fan of Mrs K*****, her husband came home after drinking, tried to hit her, got a black eye and a night out cold on the porch for his trouble.
The ladies used to comment how distinguished and handsome Mr K***** was. But not after that night. He was a bitch slapped schmuck.
She was my secret hero.
Bit off topic. From where/when I grew up, the real figures for domestic abuse possibly > 90%. The official figures were probably much less. Everyone was scared, nobody talked about it. The men laughed at their antics over beer.
If you don’t mind, did that experience while you were young emerge at any time when you began to form relationships with partners? That is, did you have moments where you deliberately chose another way, or were you lucky enough to escape unscathed emotionally?
I’m interested in having a look at the study because it is referenced very often on discussions on gender in NZ. From the looks of it is relates to a group of 21 year olds in Dunedin all part of a longitudinal study, and would be unlikely to have a lot of the later pressures of supporting children, and accompanying money issues. Also, don’t know whether the demographic would reflect the NZ demographic in terms of income, education and ethnicity.
There have also been indications that the study referred to used the CTS (Conflict Tactics Scales). The Wikipedia page states that:
“CTS is one of the most widely criticized domestic violence measurement instruments due to its exclusion of context variables and motivational factors in understanding acts of violence. The National Institute of Justice cautions that the CTS may not be appropriate for IPV research “because it does not measure control, coercion, or the motives for conflict tactics.”
Use of CTS would count your Mrs K’s violence as equal to Mr K, without acknowledging that it was a response to previous and intended violence against her.
I would think that would be an important consideration to include when looking at patterns of violence in an effort to reduce it – valuable for both men and women looking to change societal behaviour.
I hit my first partner at age 16. I was horrified at myself. It has not repeated I sought help anger management and counsel around drinking too much. She threw the first punch, but no excuse. There is a woman down the road from me gives her man a hiding when they drink. He finally left after many years of it.
I resolved issues with men with fist fights. I learned black and white thinking so compromise was unheard of. That behavior stayed till almost my 30’s. University education was the biggest turnover in my life I reckon. It helped me to think critically, to listen, to be wrong… and the counselors there, taught me its ok to be wrong. I used to get 99% in school and get a hiding for not trying hard enough…
Very hard to talk of, it’s putting yourself up for more abuse by people who don’t understand what it’s like being trapped in a cycle of crazy. I’m aspergers, PTSD, a general clusterf*** of disastrous childhood happenings… But I pulled myself up (with help).
The victim shit stops here. I’m responsible today. I can snap at people online but that’s as violent as it gets.
My sisters all chose abusive partners. Then a string of them. We were all damaged, us, the strangers we met…
The fact women return many times to abusive partners shows just how psychologically damaging it is. To go back to that your self worth is just gone.
Terrible state of affairs deeply afflicting our nation.
It must be nigh on impossible for many men to do what I just did. Now let’s see how people react.
Any response seems inadequate to your comment, WeTheBleeple, but I do value your honesty in sharing, and think it is of immense value to have these discussions in the open. Thanks seem so trite in this case, but I’ll offer it in absence of anything better to mind, Thank you.
I have a very dear friend that was brought up in a chaotic household and community who found an alternative choice through dedicated nursing practice and service in the armed forces, but this came at a cost of relationship disconnect with family members and others in her community. Although her family members had chaotic lives and made destructive choices, they were still her family – and loved – and because of her choices she was effectively “out of the loop” and ridiculed. That is, until situations occurred that required self-sacrifice and sustained effort solutions – when she was hooked back into the fold to sort the problems out.
What I admired – and still admire – about her, was her ability to continue to love without judgement and take opportunities when offered to improve the lives of her family members. Such a deft and sincere human response, when dealing with other people.
“I used to get 99% in school and get a hiding for not trying hard enough…” The effect of this was probably amplified by the self-critical trait of those with ASD, who are often perfectionists. I’m on the spectrum myself, and healthy self-examination has been a big help. Not only to me, but those in my life.
Perhaps your contribution is important because it shows that both environmental and individual choices can be considered in regards to solutions, it is not an either/or scenario.
And it is important to have these conversations in context, and to discuss violence without seeking simple solutions – when perhaps complex ones are required and will be more effective.
Apart from the counselling and support services, did you find any particular studies at university level helped?
“Look what you made me do!
One of those phrases that I found myself saying in my early parenting years almost automatically. Thankfully managed to have some form of self-awareness there and stopped, now only have to work on the many other unworthy techniques – hopefully before they all move out.
I missed that last question: Apart from the counselling and support services, did you find any particular studies at university level helped?
Te Ao Maori was amazing. Gave me white guilt for a bit but it also gave me some history and understanding of NZ, and what I perceived as casual racism everywhere – it’s called institutionalized racism so I learned. I also immediately identified with Kaitiakitanga.
The Tertiary Foundations Certificate was quite brilliant. I’d dropped out by form 3 so needed catch-up. But it was the other adult students in that program gave me some peers to walk the journey with. Some of them had it pretty rough too. Having support is so important. Also, having someone to support. I guess I learned community.
We were there to give ourselves another chance. We lost a few on the way, one went back to stripping, another to the dole… but most of us graduated.
I wasn’t in engineering but biology, so my peers were for the most part non racist, non sexist, highly intelligent, and from all over the world. I was in heaven.
“Having support is so important. Also, having someone to support. I guess I learned community.”
I honestly believe that if a stated outcome and effective implentation of creating healthy communities was a priority with government, many solutions would be found for the problems we face on an individual, family, community and national level.
I am not sure Grace death is domestic (family) violence, because they had just met on a dating app, aka they only met each other a few hours before her death by the sounds of it? It is a separate crime to family violence.
Hi SaveNZ, I wasn’t referring to the Grace Millane case.
Just have had some discussions lately with people referring to this study, and wanted to find an online accessible one to see what the study actually was about.
@ Molly, sorry wasn’t sure, but the MSM are now full of family violence and anti shit men, due to the Grace case. While there is validity of being angry, blaming all men probably isn’t the right solution. They needed to clean up family violence decades ago, instead they just do little to nothing and I am not sure that keeping men in prison on remand or the new strangulation law is justice is the right place to start. Prevention is always the best way and NZ is catapulting into a very punitive and US style society rather than early prevention, aka the boys at school and teaching them better ways to think about women when they are forming their views on gender.
Also boys that grow up feeling disempowered deal with the in a variety of often very anti social ways.
Men top the suicide rates and many statistics. Men commit harm to themselves, men commit harm to others.
Either way, if there are ways to prevent it, and society should be concerned about it, and not just trying to profit from it, have talkfests about it, bury statistics or not take detailed ones from people who are experts in it, or react too late to tragedy.
Many feminists recognise the harm that society places on men.
But there have been many comments on TS lately, that seem to jump to great generalisations and have intimated that female perpetrated violence is ignored by all feminists, court decisions, and society. They often refer to the Dunedin study, which is why I wanted to have a look.
Your first response is a case in point. I have asked for a link and you have responded with two comments that are not in line with that request, the latter being a list of statements (that I do not disagree with) but with the focus only on the harm to men.
As someone who has always appreciated the value of male companionship in her life, who values the male partner in her life, and the mother of three sons, I am aware of the pressures on males in our society which are not conducive to healthy mental health, valuable and varied inter-relationship skills and a stable sense of self-worth. So I am always interested in hearing about solutions to these issues.
There seems to be a trigger reaction amongst more than few, that are trying to ensure that discussions on violence are always concerned with the harm done to men. When really it should be about the harm done to society – women and children included.
It’s hard for men to talk openly about this stuff. This is the age of outrage, of finger pointing and blame. I’m talking under an alias. Some here might know who I am. Nobody wants to own being human or having history in case they are crucified. Picture perfect, that’s what’s expected.
Me too was/is brilliant in bringing predatory behavior to light, but men are scared to be flawed at all in today’s environment. Take Louis CK. He immediately owned his behavior and went into soul searching mode not realising that, though he asked permission, his was a position of power. He’d done the same thing with Sarah Silverman when they were relative unknowns he’s a freak. Predator? He almost lost it all. Others deserve to lose it all e.g. Weinstein.
Now, the outrage over predatory men in general is absolutely vindicated. Many men will be soul searching but they don’t want to put their heads up.
Too scary.
This makes the conversations required very difficult to have.
Sexual violence is off topic of domestic violence, but part of the same as well.
There is a component of public shaming for past behaviours that seems to be automatic, and misses the opportunities many have taken to improve behaviour and have sincerely changed their views and actions.
From a personal point of view, I think of some of my past actions, and consider it a form of grace to my sanity that I don’t have the public persona that would preserve and record all meltdowns and mistakes, and would undergo such relentless scrutiny that others are exposed to.
It also doesn’t help when recognisably public relations statements are issued that ring with insincerity when past behaviour is called into question.
But if we are discussing solutions and improvements in violent behaviour, we do have to give space for people to change and encourage and celebrate genuine change when it does occur.
Yes savenz NZ is punitive about bad behaviour. WTF it’s too late then, and doesn’t stop it just imposes harsh circumstances on someone who has already gone troppo. It’s just military, get back into line, stand straight do the right thing.
But we are living life not army soldiers, and it’s the learning how to get started and getting the hang of it that needs attention, not punishing people for being such bad-arse proponents of life. The time when to do the good thing, is to care about the young. But this culture of neo lib actually doesn’t care about people from cradle to grave, we are just things to be manipulated.
We need to get rid of the shapeshifters, with new aliens popping out of their minds, and find enough like-minded real people to get back to a caring society that values people for themselves, and how they want to both give and receive, and not how much money they have, styley house, clothes, holidays…blah to that.
If they bothered to keep better statistics rather than going on some political gut feelings (aka the vulnerable). For example it has come out that the Grace alleged killer was from divorced parents… these days people meet one day, have kids the next, then divorce soon after or just live together and split up… it would be good to have NON political or identity politics input on this, but just gather the hard cold statistics. Makes sense to me, that kids from broken homes might suffer emotional trauma for example, and maybe we need to think about their rights more and from a prevention point of view, rather than being this tolerant liberal society to a certain set of whims and then the collateral damage is swept under the table. Suicide and depression also on the increase.
I don’t think we keep proper statistics on this type of thing and it’s manipulated completely the small amounts we do. Divorce is not an identity indicator, aka race, gender, sexuality, age etc
Divorce/relationship break up with children involved, is an event.
I’m trying to say, to get equality and or a better society we need to widen the factors to be studied about modern life, not just focus on factors like identity such as race, gender, sexuality, age or socio economic group and think that will solely make the change alone.
Aka the Natz thinking that targeting a few factors in kids would do anything. Life is complicated now, and maybe like areas like smoking, something which people thought was harmless a few decades later, might not be with further study. Same might help for how people live now, and common things that are occurring to kids throughout their lives.
Modern economics (aka neoliberalism) could be having negative effects on society that are not measured and I think that looking wider at modern life and the statistics of that and people who might be succeeding or not succeeding might help look at what might be causing things like high levels of violence, suicide, mental illness, depression etc and what factors might help a child/person have much better outcomes…
I agree on limiting perspectives, but I think with some issues – such as violence – there are many successful approaches that are specific to specific outcomes for identified demographics. Rather than eliminating success stories, we should be adding to them so that violent offending is reduced or eliminated, and all victims of violence are helped in the way that best suits them.
It seems you are asking for a one-stop shop in terms of framing the situation and providing solutions for it by requiring all relevant considerations to be stripped out. This will result in a flawed framework of discussion, and less than efficient outcomes.
I see value in specific programmes addressing both bullies and victims at different ages, and in different environments. There is also value in specialised support a child victim of violence receives, as well as specific approaches for both female and male victims.
Gender based solutions – when they provide best outcomes – are surely dependent on gathering that data and info during research.
There is a list put together for counselling, assessing trauma etc that prioritises life shocks that impact on peoples’ wellbeing.
Just moving house, school is one. Being divorced, with other shocks added to it may be a large trauma to a child. The trouble is that staying with a violent or erratic parent where the child cannot have a stable relationship may be worse than divorce.
Helping parents with their needs so they can manage their lives and cope, making the best they can with them would diminish trauma to manageable. But instead we have pious preachy punishing politicians and leaders who have their lives sorted out satisfactorily to them, probably sending their kids to boarding school, and they love to feel superior to others struggling to cope, automatically they feel they are inadequate and unintelligent.
It may not be as different as you think. There are men who seem to think they are undermined if, as a woman, you don’t do as you are told, and the response can be violent. It is almost irrelevant what the status of the relationship is.
Most of us harbour a fear of men, though many of us are so used to it that we hide it even from ourselves.
Molly, re your request for links etc to the “Dunedin Longitudinal Study”, I did a Google search for that exact phrase and came up with long list which seems to have links to the Study itself. I don’t have time right now to check them out, but hope this helps.
I have also wanted to see the actual study and results etc so have added this link to my Summer Recess Watch and Read list for checking out further.
I did scout around a bit before asking, but couldn’t find access to the whole paper, and though your search threw up a couple extra, am limited to the abstract or the intro of a book.
If you do find links to the studies, would appreciate if you could post here on TS, will watch out for your comments.
There were just a couple of commenters on TS that referred to the studies more than once, I was hoping one of them could provide a link 🙂
As I said I have put it on my list of Reads etc for the Summer break, so will see what I can find. Will also ask a couple of people I know who may be able to help. Will post here mentioning you to alert you if I get any closer to the elusive study. But as a Longitudinal Study I would expect that it is many reports rather than one single one ….
All good. Really would like those who refer to it often to provide the link, to show that they have put some effort into reading the source, rather than relying on third-party interpretations, and ensuring that the data supports what they are stating.
From reading the executive summary it seems that the sample size was considerable – 8,000 females and 8,000 males interviewed, and it appears that both male and female victims of harm were recorded.
Hi molly only just read your request. Here is a link, although I haven’t read this actual bit of the study. If you type into google google scholar , click the type in the Dunedin longitudinal study’ you will find a number of articles there
I’ve seen that link already, but it only shows a limited number of pages from the beginning of the book. I can come up with articles but not the study itself.
This article seems fairly comprehensive though. Thanks for suggesting Google Scholar, didn’t think to utilise that.
There are some issues I have with the article though –
1. The longitudinal study from Dunedin would be unlikely to have a demographic that matches New Zealand
2. The study – due to its nature – only interviewed 21 years olds, and described the interactions of that age cohort only – there will be different responses for others at different stages of their lives;
3. The use of the CTS tool for assessment of violence, there seems to be no reference to the degree of violence either from the aggressor or as experienced by the victim, (on page 3 of the report)
4. Although there is a reference to mutual violence, there is no information presented to whether violence occurred due to previous victimisation or violence received. I would consider this to be an important consideration when your count for violent acts includes:
“Given in to your partner but planned revenge,
Deliberately disposed of or hidden an important item of your partner’s,
Damaged a household item or some part of the home out of anger,
Made threats to leave,
Thrown, smashed, hit, or kicked something during a disagreement,
Ordered your partner around”
Although the article makes reference to the difference between male and female perpetrators of physical violence, despite having the information to hand they don’t appear to publish the different degrees of violence perpetrated. Instead they have lumped all incidents in as if they are of equal import.
I don’t think this particular study is as indicative of the pattern of violence in the wider New Zealand population as many who reference it seem to believe. There are limitations in the sample, both in size and demographics. Also, the use of CTS that doesn’t place any degree on harm on instances of violence so that an incident of “Given in to your partner but planned revenge” is given equal weight to “Used a knife or gun on your partner”.
There is also very little context given to violence perpetrated as a response to violence experienced: eg. Someone who locked a partner out of the house, is counted as equal to some one who has “Physically forced your partner to have sex”, because even if the locking occurred after the forced sex, it still counts as an act of violence.
The Dunedin Study is by it’s nature representative of Dunedin in 1972, but remarkably most of it’s findings have been confirmed by similar studies elsewhere in the world. It possibly turns out that when dealing with the sociological and psychological nature of children, families and how we navigate through life, “demographics” has less of an impact that we imagine.
The Dunedin Study is unique for both it’s reasonably large sample size (over a thousand), it’s longevity (now into it’s fifth decade) and outstanding retention rate (over 95%).
These make it unique and recognised the world over as a valuable resource; literally hundreds if not thousands of reviewed papers have been published using this Study as a primary source; many of them ground breaking and widely cited. There is a LOT more to this entire Study than one paper or book.
Abstract: The authors sought to answer the following question: Are more women than men physically assaulted by a partner? Do a disproportionate number of physical assaults against women involve a partner?Are women subjected to more physical assaults from partners than are men? Are physical assaults on women by partners more severe in terms of physical harm than physical assaults on men by partners? Using a semistructured face-to-face interview, information on assault was obtained from Study members when they turned 21 years of age. Our results showed that more women than men reported being assaulted by a partner, assaults by men represented a greater percentage of women�s assault experiences, the partner assault rate was higher for women, and the assaults against women tended to result in more serious injury.
When commenters here refer to the Dunedin study where women are shown to be violent more than men to their partner, I believe it needs to be taken in context if we are to successfully find effective solutions.
As I have not been able to access the study that is often referred to, I made a critique of an article about the study which – indeed – did seem to uphold that premise. However, the CTS tool is a wide-encompassing one – where “thinking about revenge” is counted as an act of violence. That is not necessarily a problem, if the difference in acts are identified in some way in the report. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
I can also only find the abstract to the above study, which specifically looks at physical violence – and in that context – would be more indicative of the physical harm that is inflicted as IPV.
On the psychological abuse scale both of these merit the same weighting: “Given in to your partner but planned revenge”
and “Threatened to hit or throw something at your partner in anger”
One is a thought process that doesn’t necessarily result in any further action, the second is a voiced threat that is used to manipulate another person to compliance.
Do you have any comments on the use of the CTS scale – and why you think it is appropriate?
Do you have any comments on the abstract shown that indicates that the presumption of women committing equal or more violence when put in context of physical abuse or harm is not upheld by the same group that was studied?
Do you think it would have been of greater use to indicate what level of abuse was perpetrated, and/or the degree of harm inflicted when reporting on IPV? (This may be available in the original paper but I haven’t yet found an accessible link)
Duplicating this study using the same CTS scale would in fact duplicate results.
I’d love to have the time and in-depth understanding to do this question justice. For the moment this is the best I can do:
Imagine I’m working on a ladder and I fall on top of you and break your arm. Painful, annoying and you might well be pissed at me for being so clumsy … but unlikely to be a traumatic episode.
Now imagine I pick up the same ladder and deliberately smashed your arm, inflicting the exactly same injury. Physically almost identical, except now my bad intentions and malice create an entirely different emotional response. Clearly I’ve set out to hurt you, clearly my bad intent matters quite a lot.
In general I’d argue that while the physical impact of violence is important, we really cannot discount the emotional aspect either. Intent matters. It can even be argued that repeated, sustained emotional attacks are more corrosive and damaging, especially on children, than physical ones.
Of course physical violence is relatively easy to observe and classify, while the scars left by bad intent are far less obvious and much harder to quantify. So much depends on context and personality as to how we respond to an emotional attack, and what long-term effects it has. Still any practicing clinical psychologist would tell us that their entire business model depends on to the extreme importance of the emotional response to violence in any form, rather than broken bones.
What’s more this is not the only study to show that both genders commit IPV at similar rates, although they don’t go about it in exactly the same way. A narrow definition focusing on physical violence will tilt the outcome towards highlighting male aggression, while a wider one that encompasses emotional aggression will tend to even out the result between the genders.
Therefore at first glance I generally support the idea of including emotional attacks into the category of ‘violence’ … but at the same time accept it’s a troublesome notion to get to grips with. I understand your reservations.
Thanks RedLogix. I appreciate you taking time to consider my points.
I also agree that psychological abuse needs to be assessed, but it seems such a flawed decision to not show distinctions in abuse when looking at how to assess the IPV issue, primarily because the tools for solutions will be better designed if they are specific. ie. The support required for psychological harm is appropriate for psychological abuse, but must also be joined with medical expertise and rehabilitation if dealing with severe physical harm.
It was also interesting that the second research paper on the 21 year olds regarding only physical IPV, had only 5 hits on Google Scholar. The other one, where I linked to the article – comes up with hundreds.
Part of this could be due to the surprising result of female violence being greater than mens in personal relationships. Click bait for the scientists and headline writers. But as I mentioned, I’m not sure if I am critiquing the paper correctly, but the use of CTS seems to redefine the term of violence into one that my children would be committing – especially the plotting revenge when they are coerced. This internal plotting is human nature, and would only not be present if a person is completely subdued.
RL at 7.36am The Dunedin Study is by it’s nature representative of Dunedin in 1972, but remarkably most of it’s findings have been confirmed by similar studies elsewhere in the world.
This sentence follows the format of many others i have read about sensitive social issues.
If it confirms similar studies elsewhere in the world. Maybe it is using the same methodology on the same cultural age group in other countries, so that would not be so remarkable, if they were from countries with similar cultures and language.
‘Elsewhere in the world’ is the sort of loose comment that we make in NZ which, to me, shows a cultural cringe. It could easily be narrowed down into ‘English speaking’ or expressed as ‘similar studies in the USA, UK and Scandinavia’. There is a laxity in identifying just where the source is by politicians and informed commenters. They might even be talking only about the USA and the ‘studies’ being from separate States there.
On Morning Report just now they said that Britain can just Cancel Brexit if the want to and that that would be legal. Not sure what would happen to May if that happened.
Y’know, every now and then I feel a bit sympathetic to May trying to do her best with Brexit when in fact she was a remain supporter before the referendum. Don’t worry, that moment doesn’t last long.
@ Andre, May is gone, either way. Not sure I agree that someone power hungry is a good thing when they are working against what they supposedly believed in to remain in power?
Everyone that is willing to do what it takes to win an elected position is power-hungry. Some are just better at hiding it than others. Sometimes we strongly disagree with what they want to do with that power, sometimes we even get lucky and elect someone that wants to use that power to achieve a few things we actually agree with.
In May’s case, power-hungry for sure, but also willing to take on a shit sandwich and try to make something vaguely palatable out of it. Surely that’s worth an occasional moment of grudging respect?
No Andre
No grudging respect for being such a dedicated patsy for her class and Party. If she is so desperate to get to the top and has the strength and will to carry through such bad policy because of a redundant desire for British greatness and hubris then she will be blamed, and deserve the obloquy that Margaret hatcher received.
(The mind is amazing – obloquy just popped up – didn’t know that I knew it.) If we keep on discussing important matters in a thoughtful way on TS we may be able to dredge up unimagined ideas for a better future – so let’s keep trying, and doing something as well as tapping and talking too.
Obloquy? Thatcher? Do keep in mind we live in a world where Thatcher is still the only Prime Minister in recent history to have an overall positive favourability rating.
@ ianmac, I think they should seriously consider cancelling Brexit. It is not an election, it is a decision and the people should have the right to vote whether as new information comes to light, they still want Brexit.
If you go into a business decision and then find out it is pretty unworkable, do you keep going with the ‘shit sandwich’ as Andre above describes it, like a fool, or do you bail out until you have something much better and reasonable and a risk adverse position to move to. They have nothing to move to that is reasonable therefore they should have another referendum and take stock on what the mood of the public is.
The AirNZ engineers threatened strike is apparently for three days – 21st 22nd 23rd
(three separate strike notices, one each day).
This will endear unions to the wide general public as it enhances Christmas festivities so much!!
This will enhance the Labour Party, long connected with workers and unions, and encourage the wide general public to think that Labour will deliver a better-run
society and is able to solve problems facing the country!!
This will impress people who regard the word ‘engineer’ with some wariness after the debacle over the presiding engineer and his offsider in designing the incredible collapsing CTV building!!
Et tu union organiser “We don’t take this position lightly…I appreciate this is hard for people….This is not holding people to ransom. We have drawn a line in the sand.”
Piffle. Liar. Self-justifying, it isn’t our fault, it was forced on us. This is the tone and is exactly the same as was taken by unions back in the 1980’s. I am not impressed. Deja vu all over again. Bastards.
NOTE; REGIONAL AIRLINES MAY NOT BE INVOLVED. LOOKING AT HINTS FROM THE SIDELINES, REDDIT ETC. BUT NOT SURE IF THIS HAS BEEN REVEALED OFFICIALLY. IF YOUR FLIGHT NO. HAS FOUR NUMBERS AND STARTS WITH 5 IT MAY BE OKAY.
Airlines only need a commercial team, flight operations, pilots and cabin crew (even they can be outsourced). All other functions can easily be outsourced.
The employers are holding their employees to ransom … and the country gets the benefit of that through lower airfares – although maybe not given the profit the company is making.
We are complicit with the company when we get a benefit when the company treats their workers shabbily. The obvious answer is to shop elsewhere for those of us who don’t like how the workers are treated.
If the company doesn’t use employees from NZ then why should we, as NZers, give it our loyalty? How can it be a NZ company when it outsources it’s work overseas?
“If the company doesn’t use employees from NZ then why should we, as NZers, give it our loyalty?”
Sure. On my future travels I’ll use an international airline that employs only NZ’ers, pays tax only in NZ, and is run and governed from NZ. Oh wait…
Perhaps it has to do with all those other aircraft coming in to land that need maintenance. Perhaps they realised that they’d lose more profit by cutting those services than they’d save.
You RWNJs really don’t know how to run a business.
The two unions representing engineering and logistics workers, AMEA and E tū, say two days of mediation have so far failed. Industrial action was initially estimated to affect nearly 42,000 people, but House of Travel commercial planning director Brent Thomas said three days of strike action would affect many more.
“If it proceeds, it will be a significant impact for a number of travellers – probably upwards of 100,000 potentially people who could be impacted by such a strike”, Mr Thomas said.
E tū union aviation organiser who goes by the name of Savage, said the members hadn’t taken their decision lightly.
“Air New Zealand is trying to portray this as a group of overpaid engineers when actually there are a lot of underpaid logistics and cleaning staff also included in the collective agreement,” he said.
“This is primarily about Air New Zealand making record profits and then attempting to cut the pay and conditions of their workers.”
Are we supposed to feel that Air NZ is making record profits and that going on strike over Christmas is justified to get them to pay more to cleaners, and give engineers more breaks? This is old-style chest-thumping worker versus rich greedy boss, and shoving union power in their face stuff. I thought we were more subtle than that now.
It appears that union leaders are always prepared to take us to the brink and push us over when they have had a dose too much of strengthening medicine, and are feeling all stroppy. Playing rugby involves tackling head on, but unions learn to play a smarter game. And Now! Just say that you don’t want to go to disappoint at Christmas. Please.
Grace Millane
Foreign visitors get more sympathy and attention when they are killed and injured than NZs do it seems. We don’t care about each other enough to deal with the awful conditions that so many have to put up with here, but when foreigners in their innocence come here believing our propaganda, we feel guilty.
And so we should. But more often, and as a whole country that cares, not just a few people who have to continually agitate in NZ to get any humanitarian reaction. Instead we tend to respond to instant emotionalism if there is enough hype, lighting candles and holding vigils for one person. It should be continual observance for those lost to our damaged society.
True savenz Let’s keep the emotion going and flowing now for the others to come, and a thought for the background of the shits that hurt them, because the background is what has produced the behaviour, which just tells the thinking person what a desert of anomy (anomie) the person was brought up in.
Let us in society and our government systems act with love to help the little person and their parents with their needs so as to grow, be strong in resolve and capable with good skills, and be integrated in a caring society that encourages personal responsibility but doesn’t ignore the requirement for a good society to nurture the young and be there for the parent/s.
Anomy | Define Anomy at Dictionary.com https://www.dictionary.com/browse/anomy
a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people.
“Abandon Empathy and Judgement All Ye Who Enter Here.”
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: You are a television news reader
“Hipkiss, when reading the news or introducing guests reads what other people write. Her job has no editorial component.”—-Sir Galahad Putake, 11 December 2018. /praying-for-grace/#comment-1561196
Your challenge is to sit behind a desk, look straight at an audience (must consist of at least three people) and read the following ten statements without snickering like Paul Henry, corpsing like Hilary Barry, raising an eyebrow like Peter Williams, pouting like Jack Tame, pausing meaningfully like Simon Dallow or in any other manner indicating dissent or disagreement with the words, however outrageous or offensive, that you are required to read out.
Okay, here we go….
1.) President Trump assured the crowd that he was not only a genius, but an especially “stable genius.”
2.) President Clinton admits that he did indeed smoke marijuana, however he was at pains to assure the American people that he “didn’t enjoy it” and he “didn’t inhale.”
4.) Repeatedly insisting that the victim had in fact chased himself down and then stabbed himself to death, the victim advocate Garth McVicar noted that the angry man wielding the knife had nothing to do with the killing.
5.) Judith Collins said she was most concerned about those close to Mr Ross. “I just feel SO SORRY for his wife and family. It’s so appalling.”
6.) “Israel is a law-abiding state,” said Mr Netanyahu.
7.) The blogger Cameron Slater issued the following statement: “I don’t break the law, and that’s the end of the story.”
8.) Assistant Commissioner Alan Boreham assured the media: “Look, integrity is absolutely critical to the New Zealand Police. It’s a core value.”
10.) President George W. Bush solemnly announced that the United States would “be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes for freedom and liberty are fulfilled.”
If you made it to the end of that with a straight face, congratulations. You are either braindead, or your name is Ingrid.
Former McGillicuddy Serious leader Graeme Cairns now divides his time between penny farthings, medical training and street theatre, and his latest endeavour “doing pennants” features a bicycle-powered sewing machine.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party was founded to contest the 1984 election with its campaign plank of the Great Leap Backwards.
It predicted upheaval, chaos and the breakdown of society as we know it and a plan to insulate New Zealand from the worst excesses of the future.
I knew a couple of those boys doing uni in Hamilton when I was a Hamiltonian. Loads of fun and very smart. Fridgehenge was my favorite. Lots of old fridges in a circle in a paddock, and lots of cider.
Auckland-based Catholic priest Fr Douglas Al-Bazi was tortured by terrorists in Iraq and sheltered thousands of people fleeing from Islamic State. He tells Alex Perrottet his harrowing story and says New Zealand should be taking more refugees suffering genocide in the Middle East
I haven’t listened to it yet but I guess I must. As I asked querously before ‘Do I have to worry about everything?’ and thought it seems that I do, I should put this on my list of important human things to be concerned about and act to assist.
They have a good case surely. Perhaps we should look each day, and refer and describe a group that should be in our minds for the fraction of time necessary to ensure they stay in society’s consciousness. So today Syria.
The monopoly of the press by National supporting billionaires erodes our democracy.
Breaking up that monopoly should be a priority of the coalition Government.
[lprent: Ed needs to get up later. This morning he gets the late morning award. ]
Power, building materials, fullers ferrys, supermarkets, fuel etc etc crikey don’t stop at the media as oligopoly/duopoly behaves as a combined monopoly.
Duh why should I do that. I have enough to worry about wondering if I should change my booking to get me and family to our Christmas family meeting.
Do i have to worry about everything in the world? Apparently I do.
Yes commenters need to understand the numbering system and how it works. I sometimes insert mine under someone’s who I concur with rather than trail under some who are WOS in my opinion.
And if not carefully placed, a reply gets so far away from the original
comment, it becomes irrelevant especially if there is no reference in it to hook it up by the number or name.
What happens when we get to 1017am in real time? Does Ed zoom out of his present spot and goes to the bottom, or do all those ahead of him disappear and he ends up back at the top again? 😛
Nothing happens to the comment or thread following. Ed just appears in the comments sidebar, making it briefly falsely appear like he’s going to participate in an actual discussion rather than doing his usual early morning spray and walk away.
Interesting and there was an entry in the sidebar at about 10.17am and his comment and the thread are now set at number 12 – and the next new ‘start’ comment at 10.40am came in under it at 13.
He’s boring greywarshark. It’s the same old same old day in day out. As someone tried to tell him recently… he’s preaching to the converted. We don’t need to be told a dozen times a day and then more…
I remember back in school the really bright, keen interested persons who were up with the lesson and always had their hand up with the answer for the teacher. Sometimes that was me. The other kids get p.o. It’s wise to let others go first Ed – I do notice that you tend to be up with the birds to get the first worms!
60% of sunscreens are misleading, not acceptable. What happens if they are misleading, surely they get a massive fine, not just a shrug or a slap on the hand? There seems to be a double standard when businesses rip people off and profit from it and when individuals rips people off and profit from it.
Consumer NZ report shows most sunscreens not living up to label claims
SPF50+ offers only marginally better protection from Ultra Violet (UV) radiation than SPF30+ filtering out 98% of UV radiation compared to 96.7% blocked by SPF30.
To cut themselves off from this is to be driven off the land. National, Fed Farmers are not your friends to this, are not on your side, are not on the same team. They butter you up with the high prices, the imported labour, you are better than your community & immune to the quietly rising bank rates and costs of living. But then the bubbles in your returns are removed more and more.
And the local market and culture is gone. Your biggest asset in stability. Your biggest card for brand identity and connection to external markets, where you don’t need the middle men of trade homogenization and are at the whims of fluctuating rates amidst all the other brands of X, Y & Z.
Because you have the advantage of your boutique local community chains and markets that no one else has.
Farmers stopped being the lifeblood of the community when they dropped below supporting 50% of the economy. IIRC, that was back in about 1920. Even if they still employ ~7% directly I would be surprised if the total employed due to farming gets above 10%.
Some more simple logic could be also that the ground floor stopped being important, when all the others were built on top of it; or the region’s resources lost their importance once the town grew up in the middle of it.
I didn’t say that they stopped being important. I said that the stopped being the lifeblood. The reason for that is because they no longer relate to everybody and the percentage is dropping.
If we got serious about climate change the number of farms and farmers would drop to ~1/3rd of what we have now.
It’s long gone that they did relate to everybody and it’s not coming back and they really should drop this leaning on past glories that they seem to think is still important and still valid.
I bet no one can guess what Battler Simon will ask in Q1 today at Question Time. You would think that by now he would know that he will make no headway against Jacinda.
Q1 Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?
And he didn’t. Bridges is still on about any representations by Ministers etc on the Sroubek case but he isn’t and is unlikely to make any progress on that. He really is walking on shaky grounds on that one IMO but cannot say why. Bridges really is not very clever. Mitchell has gone very very quiet recently. LOL
Today’s Questions to Ministers
Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?
KIRITAPU ALLAN to the Minister of Finance: What progress, if any, has been made on implementing the Government’s economic policies?
Hon AMY ADAMS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development: How many houses built, bought, or underwritten by the KiwiBuild programme are contracted and scheduled to be ready for owner occupation by 1 July 2019, and when will the first KiwiBuild houses in Te Kauwhata be completed?
MARK PATTERSON to the Minister of Conservation: What alternatives to 1080, if any, is the Department of Conservation involved in using or researching for pest control?
Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Transport: Does he think that the purpose of transport policy is to make it easier for New Zealanders to get around quickly, efficiently, and safely?
Hon SCOTT SIMPSON to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How many workers have gone on strike so far in 2018, and does he believe it is reasonable for union workers at Air New Zealand to threaten strike action on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of December?
JAN TINETTI to the Minister of Education: What proposals has he seen on the future of schooling in New Zealand?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Immigration: Other than Karel Sroubek’s lawyer and family members, who made representations on his behalf in respect of the deportation liability that was the subject of the Minister’s decision on 19 September 2018?
Hon NIKKI KAYE to the Minister of Education: What advice, if any, has he received on the potential estimated cost of implementing recommendations in the report by the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce?
TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What recent announcements has he made to protect consumers and businesses from unfair commercial practices?
JO HAYES to the Minister for Whānau Ora: Does he agree with the Prime Minister’s statement on Whānau Ora incentive payments that “the Minister has said he is looking at the way that some of those arrangements work with Whānau Ora”?
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Then the usual Wednesday, General Debate for an hour, followed by the last Members’ Day of the year. Regrettably the Members’ Bills to be considered are Nat ones, sponsored by Nick Smith and Jonathan Young in that order, ie:
The Tasman District Council (Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme) Bill – First Reading
The New Plymouth District Council (Waitara Lands) Bill – Second Reading
They may then move onto continuing the Committee stages of Simeon Brown’s Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill.
I loved the way he asked a supplementary question in such a way as to give the PM a free hit in reply, then repeated the question so she she could whomp him again. Simon’s a slow learner.
Years into the future I see Michael Woodhouse on his deathbed asking questions of the most significant event in the years of his time: “Who made representations about Karel Sroubek?”
Weird eh? Do they think that someone whose aunty is the second cousin of a Labour MP reckons that someone ought to speak up for Sroubek but in fact they thought they were backing a new brand of bacon. Sroubek Bacon.
Still you have to give Bridges and Woodhouse credit for the doggedness needed to uncover the said aunty’s name. And won’t the Opposition be thrilled with Aunty Jenny’s name. Wow!
Turns out that the name they have been desperately trying to be spoken in an answer is a one ‘Richie Hardcore’ seemingly a friend of Clarke Gayford and a kick boxing associate of Sroubeck . National desperate to make Jacinda look guilty by association . Question that should be asked of the opposition is how did they get a copy of the representations . Looks like National has left the Public Service stacked with informants . Interesting that the MSM didn’t cover this when the Penguin at Kiwiblog published this weeks ago and got no traction on it . In the end Woodlouse spat the name out himself . Shows the level of desperation in National to get a headline putting the PM in a bad light because her partner knows someone who knows someone .
And how many people is that? I’d like a dollar for every person who knows a person I know!
New Zealand is like that. One of the great things about meeting another Kiwi is the second question.
Q1. “So where are you from?
Q2. “Do you know so and so from there?”
I met a man in the street in Greece who had a Kiwi accent. He asked where are you from? I told him. “Oh,” he said. “I met a winemaker from your area in Gibraltar on a yacht. Can’t remember his name.”
I could, though.
So, if National is trying to link our PM into the Sroubek affair because someone she knows knows someone, then that is patently ludicrous.
It’s ‘guilt by association”, very tenuous and would be laughed out of court, and out of any reasonable debate. Pfffffft!
Yeh. Actually I know a chap who played chess with a woman who once took a selfie with John Key. Luckily the then Opposition didn’t find out about my association with Key or all Hell would break out. Phew!
Really taxicab? Do you mean to say that the Opposition wasted dozens of questions to get that??? What a strategy. No wonder the Opposition looks so flat.
Ah so. Richie Hardcore did know Jacinda.
“”The Prime Minister received a text message from Richie Hardcore following media coverage of the first decision about Karel Sroubek that acknowledged the decision. She did not respond to the text.”
But thats it??? All that for so little? https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12175727
Considering the dangers of beach-front houses – they were warned. As a child it may seem nice to have a house on the beach. An adult should know better.
Fantastic, I presume that as this government are going to compensate land owners for climate change impacts, that I should expect a subsidy should my farm suffer any loss of productivity or value from climate.
It’s hard to imagine the Captains of Insurance resigned to “Oh well, my bad luck, there goes 8 million” as their Takapuna boxes of architect spunk go under.
Hyper capitalist….sheesh. We’ve got it pretty sweet bro. 12 year old girl got her legs blown off in Homs today, what happened in your suburb?
You will die waiting for the revolution you dream of Draco. Waiting on a bus that is never coming is a crap way to rip up 70 years. Buy a Subway franchise man!
Trying to save the world from the greedy schmucks is worthwhile even if I don’t manage it. The people left over after the ecological collapse brought about by those same greedy schmucks will have something to work with.
I’m sorry Draco, you’re not a gluttonous pig. You’re passionate about your view of the world and a desire to share that view is mere testament to that passion. We need more people that care as much as you do.
How would you feel about being crowd funded into your own Subway franchise?
David Mac – don’t overrate yourself, and don’t judge others by your own miserably low standards. Greed is your own quality. Love it if you must, but don’t try to impose it on us all like a religion. Your hot air is unimpressive. Go somewhere else.
In Vino
I usually like your take on things. David Mac tends much to the RW
and the pragmatic.approach which ought to be considered when thinking about anything, but not automatically adopted.
Kia ora The Am Show
Japan best symbol of the year is correct disaster the world is heading towards a massive disaster .
Cohen 3 year’s jail does not look good for someone.
Yes people have to respect Tangaroa and its beautiful creatures if one does not it could end badly .
Its cool that Air NZ & there workers have come to a agreement to sort out there differences in a office and not striking .
Mark I seen that Dennis Conner is back to challenge for the Americas Cup .
Chris what happened to the hot dry year that was forecast just a few months ago what about climate change ??????????.
Genetic therapy engineering is not acceptable at all but selecting embryos is ok that is not quite trying to be god and when one try’s to do that it ends up being a big mess.
Kia ora to Andrew good skills to get in 2018 your sustainability qualification .
Ka kite ano P.S I like Noam Chomsky view on things
I say equality is needed to correct this big mess that men are making of Our world .
Susan Atkins: ‘We must take the threat to women in public life seriously’
Catherine Baksi
On the republication of 1984’s Woman and the Law, the co-author says the legal system remains ‘male-centric’
Susan Atkins is co-author of the pioneering book Women and the Law, which examines the way the law has treated women at work, in the family, in matters of sexuality, fertility and violence, and in public life. It is a study of the law’s attitude to women and how it reflects the influence of economic, social and political forces, revealing a deep-rooted, male-centric gender inequality. “Only when women are aware of the extent of the discrimination against them, of how it operates and of how to use the law and to influence law reform to their own ends will further progress be made,” it says.
The book was first published in 1984, when society and law were going through a period of transition. In 1973 married mothers gained a status equal to that of married fathers. Equal pay and sex discrimination legislation was changing the workplace. The Abortion Act 1967 expanded the grounds upon which abortion was legal in Britain. The introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1974 gave women greater control over their fertility, and the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 strengthened the civil remedies available to victims of abuse.
We need to use laws to correct this in our society as some men will fight Equality with all the power they have and because of this it will take centuries to correct this imbalance of power that is leading us down the road of disaster . Ka kite ano links below
This is a scramble to keep burning carbon in Australia after there next election as it looks like the morrison moron COAL coalition government will be rolled trump will be lonely when the may government gets rolled out of government to then most will be flipping him the bird
The morrison government has sent a clear signal that it is prepared to provide taxpayer support for both new and existing coal plants, opening registrations of interest in its controversial new power generation underwriting program.
Labor and the Greens are opposed to any taxpayer support for coal projects, and will continue efforts once parliament resumes next year to try and frustrate the Coalition’s program, potentially by attempting to amend the government’s “big stick” divestiture bill, which stalled in the final sitting week, to include a prohibition on power companies receiving commonwealth support Ka kite ano
We did not see this story in OUR Worlds media Ka pai they have voted to pull the war machine out of Yemen I hope aid will be sent in to the poor children
The Senate is due to vote on Wednesday on whether to cut US military support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, amid deepening scepticism over the Trump administration’s alliance with Riyadh.
The independent senator Bernie Sanders succeeded in forcing a vote on the resolution after a Republican revolt on 28 November – driven in part by outrage over the Saudi murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – defeated the Trump administration’s efforts to stop it going to a vote.
‘Yemenis are left so poor they kill themselves before the hunger does’
Read more
Wednesday’s vote marks the first time a measure invoking the 1973 War Powers Resolution, asserting congressional supremacy in matters of war and peace, has progressed so far in the Senate. The vote comes across the backdrop of peace talks in Stockholm in a UN-brokered effort to halt a war that is thought to have already killed many tens of thousands of civilians, mostly from coalition bombing and starvation, largely as a results of the coalition’s strategy of economic strangulation.
Links below
Well I did find the story but not in the big web sights of Aotearoa
In a rare break with President Donald Trump, the US Senate has voted to move ahead with a resolution to end military support for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in the war in Yemen and lawmakers vowed to push for sanctions against the kingdom in the new year Ka kite ano links below
Kia ora Scotty from Te karere
I did back vaping but only as a tool to give up smoking I now have some concerns about the oil as we don’t no what is in it but ka pai to the kuia for using it to give up smoking I am still using mine
Our maori Rugby players had a good season this year
Yes its better to treat the addiction than lock em up like some fools back Pee and dariydack are killing our tangata
Ka kite ano PS I started watching a bit late ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub
Well that’s a logical move as there is a need to target the importers of hard drugs as these kill people weed well no reports of people dying from a over dose from consuming weed .
I did a post on how the world treats our Wahine the leaders of our country need to set a good example to our youth that Wahine are not just here for men’s use and need to be respected .
The way I see it Lloyd is they did not want a coo just before Christmas may and brexit
or boris in power.
Yes we have to plan for climate change to minimize loses of life and money thanks to shonky and bridges we have no real plan to mitigate the phenomenon bridges togs are getting messy .
What that tx tells me is that bridges is grabbing at straws and looks like a kid who is not happy .
Congratulations to Jemma and Richie on the new baby
Simon I see that Te papa displaying some of the great Chinese Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang that is awesome .
Alex hope we have some good weather but it does not look like it with that weather map
Ka kite ano P.S for got to edit last nite
Kia ora James & Mulls
The Allblacks awards Sam Brodies try was up there with was it Joes try the chicken.
You guys look so young in the back yard cricket last night
Ka pai to Honey Hireme and Jarred Waerea Hargreaves for there Rugby league awards
yes James one need’s boots to play league lol
That a good challenge from the Basket ball team the young fella did quite good
O so there was Steven Adams and Temura Morrison acting with Jason Momoa in Aquaman I will be going to see that movie. I have just watched Frontier another of Jasons movies . P.S the Pacific Stars are shining ka pai
Our wahine sports star are shining bright to
Ka kite ano
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...
by John Edmundson The International Socialist Organisation (ISO) have recently reposted a February article, by Romany Tasker-Poland, explaining ISO’s position in the “trans rights” debate. It is available on their website and on their Facebook Page. The article sets out to explain why “socialists support trans rights”. It reads more ...
"Auckland City Mission: 10% of Kiwis experiencing food insecurity", RNZ, 16 October 2019:About half a million people are experiencing food insecurity, according to new research from the Auckland City Mission. Food insecurity, or food poverty, is defined as not having enough appropriate food. The City Mission said over the last ...
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...
Would You Buy A Used Propaganda Video From This Man? Bridges and the National Party’s strategists have discovered that the ideas and attitudes considered acceptable by today’s editors and journalists are no longer enforceable. The rise and rise of the Internet and the social media platforms it spawned means that ...
There is plenty of evidence of the way the business mentality has permeated every level of society since the recrudescence of market liberalism 35 years ago. You only need to think of how citizens in need of help from their government, their state, their country, are now routinely described as ...
John MacCormickOver the last 40 years, New Zealanders – and people in other countries – have experienced big changes in the jobs they do and where they live and work. These changes include: a decline in manufacturing jobs an increase in jobs in ‘information-intensive’ industries (which are better paid ...
Nick Wilson, Leah Grout, Mereana Wilson, Anja Mizdrak, Phil Shoemack, Michael BakerProtecting waterways has the benefits of: (1) protecting water from hazardous microbes; (2) minimising cancer risk and other problems from nitrates in water; (3) avoiding algal blooms that are hazardous to health; (4) protecting mahinga kai uses (cultural ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women In a press release today Massey University announced it has decided to rebrand and reorientate after struggling to be a University for grown-ups. For some time the University has wanted to be a safe play space for wee-woke-misogynists who have been really badly triggered ...
After a brief dalliance with 'hard Revoke' it looks like the Lib Dems are changing ground on on Brexit, with leader Jo Swinson reverting to calling for a second referendum on Johnson's deal.The party has tabled an amendment to the Queen’s speech requesting that any deal brought back from Brussels ...
The government has decided that someone has done Something Bad. But despite their belief, there seems to be no evidence that they have actually broken the law. So the government's solution is to pass a retrospective law allowing them to be punished anyway, on a lower standard of proof. If ...
So, Judith Collins has done a Facebook rant about climate change, peddling the same shit National has been shovelling for the past twenty years: the impacts are overstated, there's no need to do anything about it, and its too hard anyway (oh, and its so unfair that people who peddle ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThere is a lot of discussion on the benefits of ...
I came across this song quite by accident. If it isn't one of Greta Thunberg's favourites - it should be.Video courtesy of YouTube.This post is exclusive to Bowalley Road. ...
Last month, NZDF's shoddy coverup of what it knew about civilian casualties in Operation Burnham began to fall apart, with the revelation that a report on the matter, which NZDF claimed not to have, had been sitting in an NZDF safe for the past nine years. Yesterday, the man responsible ...
While many imagine that countries like the USA and Europe dominate space activities, in fact India is now a major player on this stage. It launches satellites for its own purposes and also commercially, and has constellations orbiting our planet and returning data of vital importance to that nation in ...
Thanks to a report from the Acting Inspector General of Intelligence and Security following a complaint by Nicky Hager, we have come to find out that the SIS illegally spied on Mr. Hager on behalf of the NZDF after publication of Hager’s 2011 book, Other People’s Wars. The NZDF justified ...
COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING MYTH 1: Global temperatures are rising at a rapid, unprecedented rate. FACT: The HadCRUT3 surface temperature index, produced by the Hadley Centre of the UK Met Office and the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia, shows warming to 1878, cooling to 1911, ...
For the past week, Extinction Rebellion has been peacefully protesting in London to demand action on climate change. The British government's response? Ban their protests:Police have banned Extinction Rebellion protests from continuing anywhere in London, as they moved in almost without warning to clear protesters who remained at the movement’s ...
An essay by Judith Collins MP reported on Carbon News yesterday seems to show an alarming shift in attitude within the National Party. Collins argues against the Zero Carbon Bill, the Paris Agreement, and downplays the magnitude of climate impacts. The Paris Agreement was adopted in December 2015 and ratified ...
When they were running for election, Labour promised to overhaul the Employment Relations Act and introduce fair pay agreements to set basic pay and conditions on an industry level, preventing bad employers from undercutting good ones. They followed this up by establishing a working group, which reported back in January ...
A list of indicators of bad science – many of these are found in articles promoted by anti-fluoride activists. Anti-fluoride activists have been pouring money into a scaremongering campaign warning pregnant women not to drink fluoridated water. They claim fluoride will lower the IQ of their future child. Fluoride ...
Nothing Left To Say: Labour's pollster, Stephen Mills, remains swaddled-up in the comforting myths of the 1980s. As if the experience of Roger Douglas’s genuinely radical post-Muldoon policy agenda was literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing – as much as the party could possibly absorb for at least the next 50 years.MEMO ...
The Royal Commission on abuse in care is very significant for the disability community. For many decades last century, thousands of disabled children, and adults who managed to survive, were locked away from families and communities. This was not for anything they had done, but for the perceived threat their ...
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
Local body election results were released over the weekend, to joy or despair depending on where you live. In Auckland, Phil Goff trounced John Tamihere, who is muttering darkly about running for Parliament again (but which party would want him?) Wellington is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Weta Workshop, except ...
How could government evolve over the next decades? Reports of democracy’s imminent demise are greatly exaggerated. However, satisfaction with political systems in many countries is low, so there is much to do for governments of all political stripes to improve relevance and trust. Digital technologies are seen as one ...
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
“There can be no such thing as kaupapa Māori political parties or politics in Aotearoa” (Willie Jackson, Labour Party (2017). Māori TV, General/List Election Special) I begin with that claim because at the time, I was confounded at first that it fell out of Willie Jackson’s mouth, and then ...
New Zealand has prided itself for decades with regard to its lack of pollution, and all will be aware that the ‘100% Pure New Zealand‘ meme is under threat through land, water and air pollution of various causes. There is another type of contamination that the country also faces: light ...
New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy do people still think climate change isn’t real?David ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
Another year, and the government has announced another enormous government "surplus". And just like last year, its nothing of the sort. When we have people homeless and sick and hungry, when we have schools and hospitals still falling down, when we have underpaid public servants and infrastucture unmaintained or unbuilt, ...
James Forsyth at The Spectator (I know, I know) has tapped one of his contacts inside Number Ten for an insight into the Johnson administration's thinking and strategy.It is fascinating, unsettling and quite, quite mad. Some key points:Negotiations have stalled and the Johnson administration are keen to blame the EU: ...
Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
What is language? We generally assume that it a facility unique to humans, allowing us to share what’s in and on our minds. We can tell of our plans, our past exploits, our knowledge. It also allows us to lie. And yet there are vast numbers of people we can’t ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
I make no claims to having much legal knowledge, so I defer to those trained in this area.I am very much enjoying this twitter stream from m'learned friend in Edinburgh, deciphering the legal arguments around the Scottish court challenge to Boris Johnson, based on the charmingly obscure principle of Nobile ...
Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is predicting a hard Brexit for the United Kingdom, as he believes British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be able to negotiate terms before the October 30 deadline. The Minister, who was one of the first to publicly come out and predict British voters would leave ...
Speaking at the Council of Trade Unions' (CTU) biennial conference, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters told unionists that any future attacks on the Government won't work. "Now, we are being attacked by the union movement in this country. You can have your views but I'm here to say standing ...
We want every New Zealander to be happy, safe, and healthy. To do this, we need to support strong, safe communities, and a robust and efficient health system. ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has used his powers to overrule a noise complaint ruling against Whenuapai airbase on the grounds of "national security". The Environment Court last month released a ruling in favour of a private developer, declaring the Auckland airbase had to comply with noise restrictions when it performs ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has opened fire against "unreconstructed morons" after NZ First MP Shane Jones was photographed on holiday holding an AR-15 rifle. Mr Peters is defending Mr Jones, telling Magic Talk host Peter Williams that his MP was just having fun "like most people do". "The ...
New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau was in attendance during the morning blessing of the Rotorua Lakefront development project. Around 60 people gathered on the shores of Lake Rotorua, including city mayor Steve Chadwick and deputy Dave Donaldson. The Lakefront development is a ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones is considering reining in on conversions of farmland to forestry, and also issued a warning to foreign-owned forestry companies that make up nearly 75 per cent of the industry. He said too many foreign companies had not provided enough access for domestic processors to get timber. ...
Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
The Minister of Fisheries is calling for entries for a new public award to celebrate innovation in our seafood sector. “I have established the Seafood Sustainability Awards to recognise and celebrate those throughout industry, tangata whenua and communities who demonstrate outstanding dedication and innovation towards the sustainability of New Zealand’s ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter welcomes leaders in the private sector taking action on closing their gender pay gaps to ensure a fairer workplace for all New Zealanders. Ms Genter today launched a new report, Addressing the gender pay gap and driving women’s representation in senior leadership, from the Champions for ...
Government Ministers today welcomed the release of a marine environment report highlighting the four key issues affecting our oceans, estuaries and coastlines. The release underlines the importance of government proposals to combat climate pollution, ensure clean freshwater, protect biodiversity, make land use more sustainable, and reduce waste and plastic. Environment ...
The Government has approved funding for a new acute mental health facility for Waikato which will provide better care and support to people with mental health and addiction issues. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Health Minister Dr David Clark announced the $100 million project to replace the aging Henry Rongomau ...
The Government is making progress on its goal to integrate te reo Māori into education by 2025, with over 500 teachers and support staff already graduating from Te Ahu o te Reo Māori, Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis made the announcement at an awards ceremony in Waikanae today, for ...
Statistics Minister James Shaw has welcomed the first release of 2018 Census data. The first release of data today, 23 September, includes key data on population, regional growth, the number of homes and the size of different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Data from the 2018 Census will support the ...
Minister for Statistics James Shaw today announced a public consultation on a proposed algorithm charter for government agencies. The charter has been developed by the Government Chief Data Steward in response to growing calls for more transparency in government use of data. Computer algorithms – procedures or formulas for solving ...
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor, Climate Change Minister James Shaw and visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte co-hosted a business roundtable in Auckland this morning focused on working together to address climate change. “The Netherlands is an important partner for New Zealand. We share a strong agricultural history. Sustainable agribusiness and ...
The Government is taking action to build an inclusive economy where more of us receive our fair share at work and businesses can compete on great products and services, not undercutting wages and conditions, Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. Two consultations launched today seek feedback ...
The future for New Zealand’s threatened indigenous freshwater fish looks brighter with the passing of the Conservation (Indigenous Freshwater Fish) Amendment Bill in Parliament today said Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “Until now, our freshwater fish legislation has been 20 years out of date. We have lacked effective tools to ...
At 1.30pm tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of Kiwis will join about 65 million people around the globe in ShakeOut, the world’s biggest earthquake drill. The annual drill is to remind people of the right action to take during an earthquake which is to Drop, Cover, Hold, and to practise their ...
Kiwis are benefiting from higher wage growth and low inflation under the Coalition Government. Stats NZ data out today shows the rise in the cost of living remains low, as annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation fell to 1.5% in September from 1.7% in June. “The low inflation comes as ...
New Zealand’s economic strength and resilience has been recognised in a major update on the state of the global economy. The IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook released overnight shows a reduced global growth forecast over the next two years as issues like the US-China trade war and Brexit take hold. ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little has today introduced a new Bill to prevent terrorism and support the de-radicalisation of New Zealanders returning from overseas. The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill gives the New Zealand Police the ability to apply to the High Court to impose control orders on New Zealanders who ...
A Bill that proposes targeted changes to simplify the processes for Māori land owners when engaging with the Māori Land Court has had its First Reading today. “The approach taken by the Government is to ensure that the protection of Māori land remains a priority as we seek to improve ...
Let me first thank all the new unionists and members in the room. There is nothing more important to improving people’s working lives than people making the decision to care, to get on board and help, to take up the reins and get involved. Congratulations to you. You bring the ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has signed a certificate exempting the activity of engine testing at Whenuapai Airbase from the Resource Management Act 1991. The Act gives the Minister of Defence the power to exempt activities for the purposes of national security. The certificate will mean the recent Environment Court ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced New Zealand will join the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action while attending APEC meetings in Chile. The objective of the 39 member Coalition is to share information and promote action to tackle climate change. It was formed in April this year, in ...
Ladies and gentlemen, NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff, members of respective unions – thank you for the invitation to speak to you today. This might be preaching to the choir, but the importance of trade unions in New Zealand’s historical arch is difficult to understate. And it is my belief that ...
"Let’s start by acknowledging that it has been a huge year. " Police Association Annual Conference James Cook Grand Chancellor Hotel Wellington Nau mai, haere mai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, ka nui te mihi, ki a koutou katoa. President of the Police Association, Chris Cahill; Members of the Association and ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters and Minister of Defence Ron Mark have announced the New Zealand Government’s decision to again deploy a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-3K2 (P-3) maritime patrol aircraft to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea. New ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand continues to have serious concerns for peace and stability in north-east Syria. “Recent reports that hundreds of ISIS-affiliated families have fled from a camp are deeply concerning from a humanitarian and security perspective”, Mr Peters says. “While we acknowledge Turkey’s domestic security ...
Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor is warning travelling Kiwis to be vigilant as the high-season for the crop-eating brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is under way. “We’re on high alert to stop BMSB arriving in NZ. The high season runs until April 30 and we’ve strengthened our measures to stop stink ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Where to from here? How NZ First will win in ...
Aotearoa Climate Emergency (ACE), a climate change network, will host a conference in Wellington on 11 November (Armistice Day) to promote holding a Citizens Assembly in 2020, as a way of breaking the current political deadlock on treating climate ...
MediaWorks’ owners have called time after years of losses from its TV division. Sources say the company will announce it is for sale – if no buyers emerge, it will close within months.Three is facing the biggest crisis in its three decade history today, as its ownership will soon announce ...
Sam Brooks reviews Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, an anthology series based on the New York Times column dedicated to ‘love in all its forms’. A first date that ends up in the emergency room. A flagging marriage that finds new energy through tennis. The founder of a dating app who doesn’t ...
If we want to grow support for New Zealand’s aid, we need to get better at partnering with the ‘unlike-minded’ as well as the ‘like-minded’, and much better at telling people what we do with the money they give, says Josie Pagani, Executive ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Orsola De Marco, Astrophysicist , Macquarie University If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.How are stars made? –Zali, age 8, Karkoo, South Australia. How are stars made? Well, stars are not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gita Mishra, Professor of Life Course Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland All women know to expect the time in life when their periods finish and they reach menopause. Many might even look forward to it. What many women don’t ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGreevy, Professor of Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, University of Sydney Since ancient times, horse behaviour, and the bond between horses and humans, has been a source of intrigue and fascination. The horse-lore that has accumulated over the centuries is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachael Wallis, Lecturer and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland A move to the country is often presented in popular culture as an idyllic life, a place where you can escape the pressures of the city. It’s in television shows such ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW The just-announced inquiry into Australia’s retirement income system ought to be anything but run-of-the-mill. Taking place 25 years after the introduction of compulsory superannuation, it provides an opportunity to either fix a broken system, or discard ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Allan McCay, Law Lecturer, University of Sydney The rise of artificial intelligence has led to widespread concern about the role of humans in the workplaces of the future. Indeed, Israeli historian, futurist and publishing sensation Yuval Noah Harari warns in his most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Saunders, Phd candidate, University of Wollongong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of deceased people. You leave Sydney and head for holidays on the South Coast. You plan to catch a quick surf, ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Clayton Mitchell denies accusations around a night out, food insecurity on the rise, and UK PM Boris Johnson secures deal with dubious prospects.NZ First MP Clayton Mitchell has got himself in a spot of late night bother in a Tauranga ...
As the rugby world wrestles with the new reality that players can, and will, be dismissed for accidental contact with an opponent’s head it's worth pondering the fate of three All Blacks not selected for the Ireland quarterfinal. ...
A new exhibition in Raetihi offers a rare opportunity to see early, colonialism-focused works by Wellington artist Barbara Strathdee, writes Pat Baskett. ...
Italy's Ambassador to New Zealand Fabrizio Marcelli responds to Newsroom stories - and The Detail podcasts - questioning the price of imported tinned tomatoes in light of reports of slave labour in the industry in his home country. ...
A measles outbreak in Samoa suspected to be responsible for the death of a one-year-old was “inevitable”, according to an expert who thinks NZ could have prevented it. ...
The big shock of the results in the weekend’s local elections was the unseating of Justin Lester as Wellington mayor. We invited him to pen a sort-of-valedictory.My three years as the mayor of Wellington ended on Sunday and I will forever remain grateful for the experience.I’m also acutely aware of ...
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Braae reviews a night spent on the Intercity overnight sleeper bus getting from Wellington to Auckland.The most important thing to understand about long haul bus travel is that it’s all about getting exactly ...
Britain and the EU have agreed new terms for divorce. But with the Conservatives’ Northern Irish support party unimpressed, can the British prime minister at last put an end to the interminable shitstorm?At last, a deal! A palpable deal! A path out of the endless brain-melt!“Where there is a will, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Government sources insist shock jock Alan Jones didn’t drive Thursday’s announcement of a cash payment to drought-striken farmers about to be turfed off their household support because they’d reached the four year time limit. They ...
The proposition that global warming driven by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a risk that needs to be dealt with has achieved a large measure of agreement among policymakers. The proposition that it has to be dealt with right now and at great cost has no such consensus.One point ...
A bill to improve the pastoral care of students living in halls of residence has flown through its first reading in Parliament, thanks to cross-party support. ...
In this week's MediaRoom column: could MediaWorks close its TV operations altogether? And the Herald restructures its newsroom to remove a layer of management and shake up its investigative team. ...
Twenty-five young people who represent the future of the Asia-New Zealand relationship have been acknowledged as ‘ones to watch’, by the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono. ...
The taboo that surrounds immigration and our refugee qouta, are two issues rising in New Zealand that need to start being given attention to challenge the fruit loops of the far left. ...
Winston Peters has been ordered to answer questions about whether he received a letter from MSD asking him to check details of his living arrangements, three years before discovering he'd been overpaid. ...
To celebrate 10 years since the start of New Zealand’s Next Top Model, our reality TV podcast The Real Pod is going to recap it week by week. Here are 10 of the most incredible revelations from the very first episode. 1) Colin Mathura-Jeffree was an emo kidThis was the moment ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Terrorism bill Lydia Lewis and Dan Satherley (Newshub): Security expert backs new terror law proposal ...
Occupiers of the disputed land at Ihumātao have been shut out of talks with the government about finding a resolution, saying they haven’t had any direct contact with ministers in more than a month, writes RNZ‘s Te Aniwa Hurihanganu and Meriana Johnsen.The Māori King announced in September mana whenua had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Fancourt, Adjunct Research Fellow, University of New England Feral cats are wreaking havoc on our native wildlife, eating more than a billion animals across Australia every year. But managing feral cats and reducing their impacts on our threatened species is challenging, ...
Later this month, the national commemoration of the New Zealand Wars, known as Te Pūtake o Te Riri, is to be held in Taranaki. Local community activist Vivian Hutchinson looks at how a history of conflict has shaped our sense of citizenship and describes how some people in Taranaki are ...
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell is demanding an apology from security guards who booted him out of a Tauranga bar on Saturday night, describing them as politically-motivated "buffoons". ...
New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell is demanding an apology from security guards who booted him out of a Tauranga bar on Saturday night, describing them as politically-motivated "buffoons". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jerry Zhou, Lecturer, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au.Does chewing gum stay inside you for years? – Olivia, aged 12, Australia. Great question, Olivia! ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Elphick, Adjunct Research Fellow, Law School, University of Western Australia In March last year, Frances McDormand won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In her acceptance speech, she drew attention to the female nominees in the room and left them with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peggy Kern, Associate professor, University of Melbourne The Portal follows six individuals who undergo a personal transformation from trauma and struggle to calmness, self-acceptance, and compassion towards others. These personal changes are intertwined with contemplations about the broader struggles facing humanity and ...
Many hill country farmers could be locked into low-return agriculture by government policy, with little chance of breaking the cycle, according to the main meat producers' lobby, Beef + Lamb New Zealand. ...
The Southern DHB has apologised and pledged to change practices after a report into a young woman’s complaint about treatment which included being stripped naked and left unattended in seclusion for 12 hours. Here she tells her story.I’d forgotten the Health and Disability Commission was about to publish its report. ...
In the Chief Ombudsman’s latest Annual Report, contacts for advice increased 29 percent, while more use was being made of guidance material, including the 23 new or updated guides that were published in the 2018/19 year. ...
Fletcher's new offsite home manufacturing facility could be producing two homes a day within a couple of years. But for the moment this high-tech factory is underwhelming. ...
National's leader Simon Bridges says his party will pull its support for the new anti-terrorism legislation if the minister doesn't meet with them next week and start negotiating in good faith. ...
For the latest episode of On the Rag, notorious prude Alex Casey enlisted the help of sex toy expert and pleasure therapist Teddy Curle. It sounds a bit like ingredients for an avant-garde stir-fry recipe. Cauliflower. Kūmara. A jar of Vegemite. But what it actually is, sex toy expert Teddy Curle ...
It is deeply concerning that the state of our marine environment has not improved in the last three years. Resilient coasts and oceans are essential to New Zealanders' health and wealth, so urgent action is needed to address the decline. ...
Something’s crowning this Christmas, and it isn’t King Richard of Aldovia in his favourite tiara. Tara Ward looks at what Netflix’s new movie A Christmas Prince: A Royal Baby could mean for us all. Yesterday Netflix announced they’re about to give birth to the third instalment in the legendary series A Christmas ...
In a new initiative, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence is celebrating and recognising the careers of three Māori leaders and visionaries, who have a long history of bringing about major social change ...
The Environmental Defence Society (EDS) has welcomed the publication by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ of Our Marine Environment 2019 , the latest in the reports on the state of our environment. The report is available here . ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Campbell Brown, CEO of PredictHQ.This week we talk to Campbell Brown, the CEO ...
The Government has today released its discussion paper ‘ Designing a Fair Pay Agreements System ’ providing detail of what proposed law for Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) could include. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Associate Professor in Sociology and Co-Director of The Policy Lab, University of Melbourne The polls were wrong in the last US and Australian federal elections. Hillary Clinton was favoured to win at a margin of 85% to Donald Trump’s 15%. ...
Today is World Ecolabel Day and to mark the occasion New Zealand’s premier ecolabel has released a study showing the powerful environmental effect of ecolabelled products. ...
Family First's continued fight against attempts by the government's Charities Registration Board to deregister them is set to continue in the Court of Appeal in Wellington next week (Tues & Wed 22-23 Oct). In a significant development, the Charity Law ...
The actions of New Zealanders on land are increasingly harming the ocean’s ability to sustain life. Alex Braae looks at a worrying new government paper on the marine environment.What’s all this then?A new report from the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ has sounded alarming warning about state of ...
Farmers for Positive Change (F4PC) congratulates environmental, recreation and public health groups for coming to a united position on the Government’s freshwater reform and finds significant areas of agreement with the Healthy Water, Healthy Future joint ...
In time for Auckland Artweek, Eloise Callister-Baker opens the door on a cluster of small Auckland art spaces, once off the beaten track and ephemeral, now finding cunning new ways to adapt and survive in the CBD property market. Auckland’s terrific documentor of art openings, Sait Akkirman of artdiary.co.nz, provides ...
Right to Life asks, why the Special Abortion Legislation Bill Committee is continuing to discriminate by refusing to hear the 2,740 submitters who have requested the right to make a ten minute oral submission on the highly contentious abortion Bill conceived ...
Winston Peters is calling on an old mate to give evidence in his landmark court case against government agencies over a leak of his personal superannuation details. ...
Government ministers are exulting over how the NZ economy is performing— and their own work in making it stronger. David Clark, standing in for Grant Robertson in Parliament on Tuesday, rejoiced at how solid the “underlying fundamentals of the NZ economy are”. He said the government accounts for the June ...
A campaign to ban the Forced Swim Test in New Zealand is in line with public opinion, according to a new survey commissioned by the New Zealand Anti-Vivisection Society (NZAVS) and SAFE. ...
Environment, health, recreation, and water infrastructure groups have come together to support four essential policies to save fresh water in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Public Health Association, Forest & Bird, Fish & Game New Zealand, Environmental ...
Open Mike 12/12/2018 
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve been busy preparing for our summer paper on Science Communication. Looking for something amusing about ‘risk’ in science, I came across this neat xkcd.com cartoon about why so many people come knocking on my door (or phoning me, or emailing me) desperately wanting ...2 hours ago
Jo Swinson is doing even worse at this Being Sensible lark that I'd thought. I've just become aware of the following utterance
Today's IPCA report of police criminality: a police officer unalwfully tasered a fleeing suspect who posed no threat to anyone:The police watchdog has found an officer unlawfully tasered an Auckland man who broke his ankle jumping off a balcony to escape arrest. [...] To avoid arrest, the man jumped over ...20 hours ago
Media Statement for Immediate Release 16th October 2019 “Fake News” from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers Despite comments from Auckland City Council CCOs Board Chairs re pay and performance bonuses for top managers—Herald Newspaper Tuesday Oct 15th–there is very little evidence ...21 hours ago
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Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.
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Scrutinizing Jane Clifton’s claims as an exemplar of the current Media Orthodoxy
In which i take serious issue with key claims made by Jane Clifton (Politics column in the latest edition of the Listener ‘For Whom the Polls Tell’ December 15 2018) and, by extension, with an entirely fallacious Media consensus on National’s supposedly “remarkable” Poll ratings this year:
I do wish senior journalists would cease:
(a) mindlessly regurgitating young David Farrar
(b) cheerfully & unashamedly interviewing their own typewriters
I always enjoy your poll post swordfish.
Missed last nights one so thanks for the link.
+1 Thanks Swordfish you do incredible work re the polls and stat’s etc etc. Very much appreciated by many.
Me too thanks swordfish. Actually I think that your research is far more deserving of words like “amazing, phenomenal, herculean, …”
Specially note that the Right is National without other Right partners except Seymour.
Jane Clifton? Vacuousness personified.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/there-isnt-much-profundity-coming-from.html
[OK, Morrissey. Enough pointless and unwarranted attacks on women in the media. Take a week off and have a good think about how to critique media without resorting to misogyny. Back next Thursday. TRP]
It’s a hard row sometimes when trying to fight curmudgeonhood @ Morry eh?
In case you hadn’t noticed – it is a new era
And especially when confronted by complete fucking muppetry by those anxious to maintain their veneer and what they perceive is their social status , and more especially when they’re operating within a bubble (just as you are – and me for that matter).
Try and catch my idol (Kim) this Saturday coming, while you’re having a lay down – she might even read out some Moz feedback.
In the meantime, watch a fashion show like parliament (you’ll need to watch rather than just listen) and learn to laugh – there’s enough gNat/Act material in there for a comedy TV series if you could get NuZull on Ear funding
Luv it.
I am the samish age as David Farrar and it’s nice to be thought of as young.
Farrar is just a child to me and still full of wilful childish habits. One day…
Everybody said this would happen. Yet Jacinda said she hoped it wouldn’t.
Seems everyone except Jacinda was right.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/exclusive-letting-fee-ban-could-make-renting-more-expensive.html
It was so bloody obvious.
Jacinda – making it harder and more expensive for renters.
At least renters don’t have to find a big lump sum up front .
So more expensive na it’s not.
It’s piss poor financial understanding like yours that people get into financial trouble with “no payment deals” and the like.
Let me try and help you,,,,
You don’t have to pay up front (you are right there).
But you pay it off over a year with higher rents.
But at the end of the year the rents don’t go down. So you keep paying more.
Stay 18 months and you have paid 50% extra.
Stay 2 years and you have paid double.
That’s not a good deal despite not paying up front.
It’s was obvious – but seems it fools some people
Yes, I agree. It is a tenant’s letting fee repayment plan with no end date.
Property Managers will retain the first week’s rent and after the add-on to the rent has covered the proxy letting fee the benefit will revert to the owner.
Property managers are going to have to present an accompanying benefit to owners when they advise them: “We’re keeping the first week’s rent.”
What’s your solution James to the excessive rents people are paying? Or do you think that is ok?
“Excessive rents” are merely a reflection of what a house is worth.
Just say I owned a house worth 600k, 500k of that was the mortgage.
I’d have to charge at least $480 dollars a week to just cover the interest payments on the mortgage
Add on to of that rates, insurance, maintenance, letting fees, a bit of profit etc and you can see why rent is so high.
For rents to come down the price of housing needs to fall, unfortunately, Kiwi Buy has stopped that, because Tywford is now underwriting property developers by buying their developments he’s created an artificial price point in the market.
That’s it, while Kiwi buy exists in its current form, this is as cheap as it gets
The solution is to lower the cost of land, the cost of materials, the cost of labour and the cost of compliance.
It’s your choice to own a rental with just 17% equity.
Ok, using the current LVR of 35% you’d still need of a 400k loan to buy a 600,000k home.
Still around $420 a week just for interest.
For Auckland and Queenstown those prices are cheap but as you point out if a new landlord is in property for profit it only makes sense if there is a decent capital gain existing landlords will be questioning the returns on capital especially if prices start falling. That’s why most landlords like National doing nothing or very little to solve housing shortage. It creates a speculative bubble.
It is a landlords choice Muttonbird to own a rental, and my guess is that less and less people will want to own one (in the 1990’s it was encouraged by government because they told everybody that NZ could not afford pensions in the future and so they should start saving now and that encouraged the drive of ‘mums and dads’ owning rentals and the surplus of them which led to a decent supply and lower rents).
Now the message from government is not to own a rental, and everyone should be an owner occupier, so a certain percentage of landlords will sell up and the government is not exactly adding shit loads of state houses or new rentals but going for the sales models…. this is because they believe in trickle down, aka if they increase supply then this will trickle down into lower rents… but again increasing supply is a waste of time if your demand is also increasing through immigration or gold bricks investors who don’t necessarily have to rent the property.
To stem the gold bricks they will have to bring in more laws about empty houses and then start to police the rentals if they are empty or not, so it’s getting more and more complicated for everyone, when government could do some quick easy fixes, see 2.2.2.2.1.2 at little cost which would do a lot more to help straight away as well as build houses just for state house renting while allowing the market to do the more middle class to luxury side which they are already preferring to do anyway.
I also thing that anybody owning over 5 houses/land or having shares in a company with houses/land over 5 titles should be taxed a bit more, aka 1/2 percent of their worth, etc. This will encourage people not to ‘hog’ houses and those that do are rightly identified as a land business and should pay a tax on it to stem housing shortages or land banking.
Likewise a stamp duty on houses, assets and land over 5 million dollars.
This is much fairer and more profitable than capital gains and will do the same thing but on steroids while not effecting the middle class at all. In fact will lower prices as people don’t hog assets.
Again if NZ and the world bought in laws to challenge the super rich and not the middle to upper class that people aspire to, then governments would be much more popular and inequality would diminish as the super rich were taxed more on land/asset banking assets.
@BM, If we look at what you want historically when have we ever had over decades the cost of land going down? (pretty much never unless something is wrong with it) the cost of materials going down (hardly ever and generally for the same reason aka some is wrong with it (asbestos) or it is advanced by something newer and better, the cost of labour traditionally also does not fall (although historically in line with expenses it has) and the cost of compliance, (judging by Auckland council increasing their consent costs and investing ratepayers money into America’s cup and stadiums etc, not likely to come down, new scam is to make the consumers pay for it over decades).
So my take home of that is, new tech might help[ make buildings cheaper, labour has already fallen in real terms but due to the amount of subcontractors we are actually paying a fortune over multiple companies for poor skills and the middle men are making a significant profit, so that needs to change back to the old model of one contractor one building, and until the councils are forced to go back to their knitting and spend the rates on running council services and not being amateur investors and charities for their pet projects, and also get much better skilled and highly trained building inspectors and planners, then compliance costs will not go down.
What they can change, is incomes going up. Which is why we have a huge problem at present aka the cost of living is out of kilter with many people’s incomes.
P>S> When the Natz forced through the zoning changes to allow much greater density, guess what, land prices went through the roof. So whatever great ideas these politicians are having. please take a seat and don’t fiddle.
The best thing for government to do, is to build shit loads of small but well built state houses themselves with no middlemen and then rent them out with reduced rents which over time will be cash positive. Leave the private sector alone. Any help has so far done the opposite of it’s supposed intentions.
They could over night solve a lot of the affordable housing crisis, by allowing people to convert existing multiple level houses into a flat by allowing a kitchen to make a granny flat. Then it only costs someone about $10k to create another unit, and they are then happy with a small rent of a few hundred dollars which is what many people can only afford these days and is now in Auckland the cost of a single room.
If more people were renting state houses, there are no letting fees.
James, one can’t solely blame the PM for the greed of some landlords and letting agencies.
We had an agency look after the property in Welly, that didn’t last long, they were USELESS especially considering what they charged us.
That was Quinovic, back in 2002.
Did you read the link ?
We can blame Jacinda for ignoring all the advise and common sense and progressing on “hope” despite everyone saying she was wrong.
And wouldn’t you know it – looks like she was wrong and renters are worse off for it.
Sure did read it.
Newshub has obtained a letter from a rental agency urging landlords to raise rents by $10 a week to cover the cost
Did you that….Some rental agencies exploit both tenants and landlords.
Anyways I see that judith is coming out against this move by the government. So naturally you will be on her side no matter what. Your loyalty is endearing.
It’s going to take many years to turn around the housing crisis that got sooo much worse under national who did nothing to try and address it
I find it weird that letting agencies have escaped with no regulation on them like every other body has in this country. Maybe part of our renting woes, also stems from the idea that any one seems to be able to set up shop as a letting agent, and when things go wrong the landlord is the one in the firing line who probably had no clue what was going on? Real Estate agents have a body you can complain to, whereas nothing for letting agents if they are in breach of their duty or acting illegally very hard to quickly hold them to account and they are in a position of power and holding keys to people’s houses…
Letting agents also have substantial amounts of money going through their books and often the landlords are quite elderly and have no clue what is going on. If there are discrepancies then it goes to highly expensive court proceedings… the meth tests are a case where hundreds of thousands of dollars were at the mercy of letting agents views on meth contamination or not and had the power to call in on any ‘private’ companies. But even day to day, the amount of rents going through their books is high and the agents are not exactly trained or vetted very well. All that money is a temptation.
These are a lot of frauds being prosecuted from real estate, so highly likely that similar fraud is going on for letting agents but they are just not being caught or it is too much money and effort to prosecute the letting fraudsters because there is not clear pathway to do it.
I can’t see that this will make a big difference. There will be no cost to recoup until a new tenant is needed but it is commonplace to review the rent anyway when re-renting a property, and most landlords will already set this at what they think the market can deliver.
Are you suggesting that property managers are currently failing to look after their clients’ interests by collaborating in setting rents at lower than what the market will bear?
Damn. That’s $80 earned by James from 8 replies.
It’s worth it for the opportunity to show up those that usually claim *the market sets the price* as just shilling for rich people when they claim landlords will put up rents because one of their costs has just gone up.
@ Andre, it is pretty much a given that certain unscrupulous agents were under renting properties to get the tenants in and get their letting fee, then increasing the rents within 6 months of the tenants paying the letting fees…
@ Andre, 2.4, Yes some agents defiantly are because say you have a $500 p/w house to rent. The rental agent only gets about 7% of that aka $35 p/w so the big money of $500 + GST is nice to get as an xtra bonus. Even better if there is a dispute at the tenancy tribunal then the landlord pays the letting agent to attend. A percentage is added to repairs also. So when places are relet or there are problems the letting agents get extra fees.
The fact is, James, letting fees were just too much of a burden for poor people to pay. Especially when it is the policy of WINZ not to pay letting fees.
Initially, yes but WINZ have advanced complete move-in monies including letting fees for some years. Average Joe tax payer getting it in the neck again. No assistance for his letting fee and his taxes pay the letting fees for those that qualify for Govt assistance.
I think you’ll find those advances have to be paid back, David. They are loans, not grants.
This from the Awhina site:
Bond Grant
WINZ can make a non-recoverable (you don’t have to pay it back) contribution to your bond or rent in advance. They’ll look at how much your bond or rent in advance is and you’ll need to show you can afford the rent payments in the future. There are income or cash asset limits placed on who can qualify for bond grants.
Letting fees assistance
Sometimes rental agencies will charge a ‘letting fee’ for securing a place to live. If you are having trouble paying this letting fee you can apply to Work and Income for assistance. You don’t need to be receiving a benefit or pension to apply for financial assistance up to the cost of one week’s rent, plus GST. You can only use letting fees assistance once a year, but it doesn’t need to be paid back. There are income or cash asset limits on who can qualify for letting fees assistance.
Rent in Advance
Rent in Advance is a non-recoverable (you don’t have to pay it back) payment towards your rent if your needs qualify you. There are income or cash asset limits on who can qualify for Rent in Advance.
http://www.awhina.net.nz/steps-to-housing/what-work-and-income-offer/
Bwahahaha
rental agency urges landlords to raise rents above market rates in order to keep income stream.
The landlords who do not follow this “urge” will find their places easier to rent.
I thought you liked market forces?
The article you link to has “could” in the title and it contains “maybe”‘s and “seemingly” etc . There is no proof that rents have gone up.
“Everyone” includes me. I didn’t say rents would go up.
Rents may go up for many reasons. They may come down! I bet you won’t give praise to Jacinda if that happens. You’ll say it was due to other factors. It will be hard to tell if this change gets passed on to renters or not. Letting hopefully doesn’t happen once a year as is implied by $10 per week suggested.
I’m guessing some regions rents won’t go up. So increases (if any happen) will be due to other factors…
It is so Gross – beyond Measure
There in the Jail House this morning is the Kiwi Murderer of a young Woman waiting for his breakfast – as if he deserved it. He will await for three comfortable meals each day.
While his snappy Lawyer will be wiggling and manipulating reasons and excuses to smother the crime, and explain the Dreadful Tragedy away. For the Lawyer and the Murderer will blame anything and anybody but themselves in the so called “fair trial”.
It is said that most women in NZ do not report the Grim Rape they suffer, because the lugubrious Barrister and his companions will destroy what is left of her self esteem. Rape is rampant here. Absolutely Rampant.
The Lawyer Brutes will pat themselves on the back for having persuaded Judge and Jury that the raped woman “had it coming to her”. There will be celebrations in Chambers later, over their legal brilliance – and discussions about how pretty the young woman was.
You don’t believe me ? Ask the women in Chambers – throughout New Zealand !. Sex is the PAVLOVA of NZ Lawyers. We do not realise that the real Whores are numerous predator kiwi men – in all sectors. We never face up to it.
We must not allow the snappy smart Lawyer to divert and tarnish the Course of Justice this time. They have done that far too often – over so many days and years and decades
Grace – in her lasting silence – will draw the true graphic of every cowardly evil kiwi male, for now and for decades, and centuries to come. She has done so much for Kiwi Women. So so much. Grace has displayed our Male Evil.
I am horrified and disgusted that Epilepsy New Zealand has asked Bill English (yes, that one) to become their patron, and that he accepted. Apparently they feel his “mana” will help in raising their profile.
Many people with epilepsy by necessity are on benefits. English’s views on this subject are a matter of record as are what the Nats did to us for 9 years, and the deliberate suffering his Government inflicted on people with disabilities, alongside the cuts to health services funding; this guy is directly complicit in doing a great deal of harm to disabled people in NZ. There is no reason to believe that, just because he is no longer an MP his ideology has changed one iota.
So the national organisation who as part of their brief are suppose to advocate for people with epilepsy approach an ex-PM with a track record of openly despising the disabled as non-productive economic units (aka lowest form of life and drain on the hard working tax payer) and offer him the patronage. Brilliant.
Don’t forget English’s hand in the slashing of reigonal health services in the 1990’s.
English makes caring noises. Like the bird call on Radionz. He also makes a big deal of how Catholic he is, and might be expected to have some moral concern for needy people. Epilepsy NZ are desperate for some action and gone to the heart of the National Party. I hope they have found one there that is not diseased beyond recovery.
@grey, I’m wondering if someone high up was star struck by the ‘Knight of the Realm’ bit? Or this being NZ, more than likely knows him personally hence the approach.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the roles of ex-MPs/PMs on boards etc. Boards are one thing- often the business/charity corresponds quite well with the idelogical leanings of the ex-politician. We’re not surprised seeing Key on the ANZ board, I’d have no problem with ex-Green MPs on conservation-related charity boards.
But in a situation like this political neutrality is called for, and necessary. And the Patron’s past actions have to be scrutinised for suitablity. A few years back the ENZ patron was the sitting Governor General, which was perfectly reasonable. Our version of Royal patronage, but whatever your views there, politically neutral.
@greywarshark, these days the Natz are more interested in receiving donations than making them so not sure Bill will generate much charity.
I suspect he’s a ‘the poor will always be with us’ catholic.
I’m sure that now he’s no longer relevant he will be tireless in improving the lives of people with disabilities and chronic conditions. 🙄
And marching in anti-abortion protests.
@ Kay, the start to his Knighthood maybe, since I’m not sure he has ever done anything charitable before, maybe he needs to have something charitable on his CV to justify the “honour”?
English has appeared to be on the charitable line to RWs with his talk of social investment and a new way of doing welfare. He and his wife seem hard-line Catholic and I think against abortion which goes with that. It suits such people to be engaged with charities that are not connected with behaviour not validated by their value models, drugs, sex, weaknesses of the human condition as they see them. So epilepsy, the blind are likely outlets for any kind concerns they have.
probably right, greywarshark, God made them an epileptic or blind so they are ok and not sinners like others needing charity. sarcasm.
“…an ex-PM with a track record of openly despising the disabled as non-productive economic units (aka lowest form of life and drain on the hard working tax payer) and offer him the patronage.”
“As examples he cites work being done at Housing New Zealand and specifically at the Ministry of Social Development by the welfare working advisory group looking at the big driver of future costs: long-term invalids and sickness beneficiaries, a group he describes as “this big hard lump of long-term waste of human potential”.
English says the MSD is not set up to deal with them.
Rather, it is set up to deal with “the easy stuff” – the unemployment and the domestic purposes benefits.
“They do the easy stuff and they do it very well, but they don’t worry about these guys. If they were ACC customers, we would be spending a lot of money on trying to move them. ”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10644993
ACC ‘moved’ hundreds, perhaps thousands of clients from its books and dumped them onto Social Development and Health.
And then what happens to those who can’t be ‘cured’, ‘fixed’, ‘rehabilitated’????
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/fact/the_holocaust_and_disabled_people_faq_frequently_asked_questions.shtml
“How did the Nazis see disabled people?
The Nazis took Darwin’s ideas of natural selection, in particular the idea of survival of the fittest in the animal kingdom, and applied them to the human world and society (Darwin’s Origin of the Species had been published in 1859). It was argued that allowing disabled people to live and have children, led to the “unfit” reproducing more quickly than “the fit”. It was said that this weakened society’s ability to function efficiently, placing an unnecessary toll on non-disabled people.
The Nazis claimed that the social and economic problems that Germany experienced in the 1920s and early 1930s were due in part to the weakening of the population created by an unfair burden.”
I rest my case Rosemary.
I’m seriously considering taking this to the media to try and get this made more known (I don’t do social media). I have a reporter I’m thinking of as somewhere to start, if you have any suggestions please let me know?
I get totally why you have an issue with Bill ‘the lizard’ English being a Patron of a charity advocating for those with a health condition/disability. While he may not actually be in charge of the hen house , having him sitting atop the structure as some kind of figurehead is plain wrong. And it’s hard to put into words why.
Epilepsy New Zealand must think Bill as pulling power (oh what an image that conjures!) and have chosen him pragmatically…it gives them some credibility, authority?
In my mind there are a number of organisations and individuals who have been active in the health and disability ‘sector’ over the past 10-20 years (snouts firmly in the trough of neoliberal policy generated government funding) who should, were we actually committed to shucking off the nefarious policies and practices of the past 20 years, be consigned to the dustbin where all the enablers belong.
Happy they have been to take the government coin and pretend advocacy, while those in need of that advocacy drift further into the margins. These charities will claim that it is better to be sitting at the table with the policy makers…that compromise is required to facilitate change.
I cry bullshit to that. And you know all too well Kay that there has been no meaningful improvement for those with long term health and disability needs.
And we see no hope of any meaningful improvement in the near future as those enablers of the past decade or so still claim exclusive rights to the ears of the politicians and policy makers. (I am indulging in a little transference here as this is what seems to be happening right this minute with the review of the family care policy.)
There are some good journalists out there doing sterling work, and the likes of me who scour the net for such articles will read them. As for the wider ‘community’? I don’t know…I’m feeling a bit like a stranger in a strange land at the moment. https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2018/11/17/feeling-like-a-stranger-in-a-familiar-land/
“Remember when Jacinda said she was a pragmatic idealist? In Sam’s letter to Eugenie, he has an answer for that. He quotes, ‘when the law is subject to pragmatism then the firm foundations on which we set our society turn to sand’ and that ‘pragmatism and compromise are corrosive elements that most threaten the architecture of democracy’. Elsewhere online, pragmatism, it is said, ‘reflects with almost disarming candour, the spirit of the prevailing business culture’, (Max Horkheimer); ‘Pragmatism contains nothing but sophistry and illusion’, (David Hume); ‘It is the attitude of looking away from first things, principles, ‘categories’, supposed necessities, and of looking toward last things, fruits, consequences and facts’ (William James). Idealism and pragmatism are almost incompatible.”
Kirsty Johnson NZ Herald
kirsty.johnston@nzherald.co.nz
@kirsty_johnston (Twitter account)
Impressive investigative work in a number of areas including health – eg Ashley Peacock.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/author/kirsty-johnston/
Mind you Rosemary may have other views as she has had personal experience of Kirsty. Articles on Rosemary and Peter are amongst those in the above link.
Yes, Kirsty does good work and has been a constant friend on disability issues.
If I look like a reluctant participant in that piece it was because I was a reluctant participant. Not because of Kirsty, but because I felt it was more important for Peter to have his say and have centre stage, as often the voice of the person with the disability is lost. (I was also being peripherally distracted by a mate and her mate who were having problems, as homeless people, with the local council.)
It will be interesting to see if Kirsty does a follow up article if this government fails to honour its promise to repeal the Part 4 amendment to the Public Health and Disability Act and dispose of the iniquitous Funded Family Care.
Thanks for that Rosemary. And fully understand what you said re Peter needing to be centre stage. Wanted to defer to your personal experience, but I have considerable respect for Kirsty, despite her young age! (From an oldie, LOL)
Jess McAllen is also superb in the mental health area, particular for young people. But don’t think disability is her focus.
VV, thanks for the suggestion. I’ve always liked Kirsty’s work.
I haven’t been this furious about something for a very long time (which is saying a lot given how much there is to be angry about, I just don’t tend to have the energy anymore!) so am trying the outsourcing approach 🙂 Unfortunately for very good reasons I still can’t use my real name in connection to this topic publicly- active discrimination is alive and kicking in NZ and there would be serious consequences for me- so I can but try to get to get this information out by other means.
Rosemary
It sounds as if English would like to take the disabled people and churn them from one welfare management group to another so they can’t take the easy way out ‘playing the victim’. I would think that is at the base of his thinking though he would not explicitly say that. Though I think he has come close if he has actually been documented as saying things referred to in your comment.
It’s using capitalist, neo lib thinking, and the fact that he claims religion and Catholicism doesn’t make any difference because religions have been been friends with capitalism for ever. If Maori can hold on to their belief *’He Tangata, He Tangata, – the people are the core of everything – we may be able to save the nation’s soul. Otherwise it’s hard work making headway and its getting wrinkled like a raisin. But then even small and wrinkled raisins can be sweet, so we must just try and stop these moves to monetise everything. Nazis get mentioned because the Holocaust was so scary, now organ taking from unaethetised persons in China. It’s hard to cope. Hold onto that soul, it’s the meaning of life.
*This is an expression taken from a Maori proverb that ponders. He aha te mea nui o te ao, he tangata he tangata he tangata. The meaning roughly translates as What is the most important thing in the world, it is the people, the people, the people.
https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/5200
Some of the more recent comments on TS refer to the Dunedin Longitudinal Study on domestic violence, which I have unsuccessfully been trying to access online.
I have looked to the search page on the Otago University website, and the closest I can come to what seems to be an indication of higher female violence is perhaps the 1998 study – “Physical assault in New Zealand: the experience of 21 year old men and women in a community sample”.
The other studies seem to indicate otherwise: “Physical assault among 21-year-olds by partners”
Do any of the commentators who reference that study, know the name and/or have a link to an accessible copy online?
Unfortunately, in our village, the guy who didn’t ‘tune up’ his wife was considered unusual. I was a big fan of Mrs K*****, her husband came home after drinking, tried to hit her, got a black eye and a night out cold on the porch for his trouble.
The ladies used to comment how distinguished and handsome Mr K***** was. But not after that night. He was a bitch slapped schmuck.
She was my secret hero.
Bit off topic. From where/when I grew up, the real figures for domestic abuse possibly > 90%. The official figures were probably much less. Everyone was scared, nobody talked about it. The men laughed at their antics over beer.
Thanks, WeTheBleeple.
If you don’t mind, did that experience while you were young emerge at any time when you began to form relationships with partners? That is, did you have moments where you deliberately chose another way, or were you lucky enough to escape unscathed emotionally?
I’m interested in having a look at the study because it is referenced very often on discussions on gender in NZ. From the looks of it is relates to a group of 21 year olds in Dunedin all part of a longitudinal study, and would be unlikely to have a lot of the later pressures of supporting children, and accompanying money issues. Also, don’t know whether the demographic would reflect the NZ demographic in terms of income, education and ethnicity.
There have also been indications that the study referred to used the CTS (Conflict Tactics Scales). The Wikipedia page states that:
Use of CTS would count your Mrs K’s violence as equal to Mr K, without acknowledging that it was a response to previous and intended violence against her.
I would think that would be an important consideration to include when looking at patterns of violence in an effort to reduce it – valuable for both men and women looking to change societal behaviour.
I hit my first partner at age 16. I was horrified at myself. It has not repeated I sought help anger management and counsel around drinking too much. She threw the first punch, but no excuse. There is a woman down the road from me gives her man a hiding when they drink. He finally left after many years of it.
I resolved issues with men with fist fights. I learned black and white thinking so compromise was unheard of. That behavior stayed till almost my 30’s. University education was the biggest turnover in my life I reckon. It helped me to think critically, to listen, to be wrong… and the counselors there, taught me its ok to be wrong. I used to get 99% in school and get a hiding for not trying hard enough…
Very hard to talk of, it’s putting yourself up for more abuse by people who don’t understand what it’s like being trapped in a cycle of crazy. I’m aspergers, PTSD, a general clusterf*** of disastrous childhood happenings… But I pulled myself up (with help).
The victim shit stops here. I’m responsible today. I can snap at people online but that’s as violent as it gets.
My sisters all chose abusive partners. Then a string of them. We were all damaged, us, the strangers we met…
The fact women return many times to abusive partners shows just how psychologically damaging it is. To go back to that your self worth is just gone.
Terrible state of affairs deeply afflicting our nation.
It must be nigh on impossible for many men to do what I just did. Now let’s see how people react.
Any response seems inadequate to your comment, WeTheBleeple, but I do value your honesty in sharing, and think it is of immense value to have these discussions in the open. Thanks seem so trite in this case, but I’ll offer it in absence of anything better to mind, Thank you.
I have a very dear friend that was brought up in a chaotic household and community who found an alternative choice through dedicated nursing practice and service in the armed forces, but this came at a cost of relationship disconnect with family members and others in her community. Although her family members had chaotic lives and made destructive choices, they were still her family – and loved – and because of her choices she was effectively “out of the loop” and ridiculed. That is, until situations occurred that required self-sacrifice and sustained effort solutions – when she was hooked back into the fold to sort the problems out.
What I admired – and still admire – about her, was her ability to continue to love without judgement and take opportunities when offered to improve the lives of her family members. Such a deft and sincere human response, when dealing with other people.
“I used to get 99% in school and get a hiding for not trying hard enough…” The effect of this was probably amplified by the self-critical trait of those with ASD, who are often perfectionists. I’m on the spectrum myself, and healthy self-examination has been a big help. Not only to me, but those in my life.
Perhaps your contribution is important because it shows that both environmental and individual choices can be considered in regards to solutions, it is not an either/or scenario.
And it is important to have these conversations in context, and to discuss violence without seeking simple solutions – when perhaps complex ones are required and will be more effective.
Apart from the counselling and support services, did you find any particular studies at university level helped?
Emotional illiteracy is part of the problem I’m sure. We express ourselves with fists unable to display passion in a more appropriate manner.
Check this comics opening minute. On point.
“Look what you made me do!
One of those phrases that I found myself saying in my early parenting years almost automatically. Thankfully managed to have some form of self-awareness there and stopped, now only have to work on the many other unworthy techniques – hopefully before they all move out.
WtB
That is an amazing performance. Haven’t finished watching it though. I have to go and look for my secret stash axshually.
Spot on.
Also:
” ..a night owl .. which, by the way, is just an owl..”
I missed that last question: Apart from the counselling and support services, did you find any particular studies at university level helped?
Te Ao Maori was amazing. Gave me white guilt for a bit but it also gave me some history and understanding of NZ, and what I perceived as casual racism everywhere – it’s called institutionalized racism so I learned. I also immediately identified with Kaitiakitanga.
The Tertiary Foundations Certificate was quite brilliant. I’d dropped out by form 3 so needed catch-up. But it was the other adult students in that program gave me some peers to walk the journey with. Some of them had it pretty rough too. Having support is so important. Also, having someone to support. I guess I learned community.
We were there to give ourselves another chance. We lost a few on the way, one went back to stripping, another to the dole… but most of us graduated.
I wasn’t in engineering but biology, so my peers were for the most part non racist, non sexist, highly intelligent, and from all over the world. I was in heaven.
Thanks, WTB.
“Having support is so important. Also, having someone to support. I guess I learned community.”
I honestly believe that if a stated outcome and effective implentation of creating healthy communities was a priority with government, many solutions would be found for the problems we face on an individual, family, community and national level.
I got nothing to add but I appreciate the honesty of what you’ve written
I am not sure Grace death is domestic (family) violence, because they had just met on a dating app, aka they only met each other a few hours before her death by the sounds of it? It is a separate crime to family violence.
Hi SaveNZ, I wasn’t referring to the Grace Millane case.
Just have had some discussions lately with people referring to this study, and wanted to find an online accessible one to see what the study actually was about.
@ Molly, sorry wasn’t sure, but the MSM are now full of family violence and anti shit men, due to the Grace case. While there is validity of being angry, blaming all men probably isn’t the right solution. They needed to clean up family violence decades ago, instead they just do little to nothing and I am not sure that keeping men in prison on remand or the new strangulation law is justice is the right place to start. Prevention is always the best way and NZ is catapulting into a very punitive and US style society rather than early prevention, aka the boys at school and teaching them better ways to think about women when they are forming their views on gender.
Also boys that grow up feeling disempowered deal with the in a variety of often very anti social ways.
Men top the suicide rates and many statistics. Men commit harm to themselves, men commit harm to others.
Either way, if there are ways to prevent it, and society should be concerned about it, and not just trying to profit from it, have talkfests about it, bury statistics or not take detailed ones from people who are experts in it, or react too late to tragedy.
Many feminists recognise the harm that society places on men.
But there have been many comments on TS lately, that seem to jump to great generalisations and have intimated that female perpetrated violence is ignored by all feminists, court decisions, and society. They often refer to the Dunedin study, which is why I wanted to have a look.
Your first response is a case in point. I have asked for a link and you have responded with two comments that are not in line with that request, the latter being a list of statements (that I do not disagree with) but with the focus only on the harm to men.
As someone who has always appreciated the value of male companionship in her life, who values the male partner in her life, and the mother of three sons, I am aware of the pressures on males in our society which are not conducive to healthy mental health, valuable and varied inter-relationship skills and a stable sense of self-worth. So I am always interested in hearing about solutions to these issues.
There seems to be a trigger reaction amongst more than few, that are trying to ensure that discussions on violence are always concerned with the harm done to men. When really it should be about the harm done to society – women and children included.
Links to Dunedin Study at 5.3. Cheers.
It’s hard for men to talk openly about this stuff. This is the age of outrage, of finger pointing and blame. I’m talking under an alias. Some here might know who I am. Nobody wants to own being human or having history in case they are crucified. Picture perfect, that’s what’s expected.
Me too was/is brilliant in bringing predatory behavior to light, but men are scared to be flawed at all in today’s environment. Take Louis CK. He immediately owned his behavior and went into soul searching mode not realising that, though he asked permission, his was a position of power. He’d done the same thing with Sarah Silverman when they were relative unknowns he’s a freak. Predator? He almost lost it all. Others deserve to lose it all e.g. Weinstein.
Now, the outrage over predatory men in general is absolutely vindicated. Many men will be soul searching but they don’t want to put their heads up.
Too scary.
This makes the conversations required very difficult to have.
Sexual violence is off topic of domestic violence, but part of the same as well.
There is a component of public shaming for past behaviours that seems to be automatic, and misses the opportunities many have taken to improve behaviour and have sincerely changed their views and actions.
From a personal point of view, I think of some of my past actions, and consider it a form of grace to my sanity that I don’t have the public persona that would preserve and record all meltdowns and mistakes, and would undergo such relentless scrutiny that others are exposed to.
It also doesn’t help when recognisably public relations statements are issued that ring with insincerity when past behaviour is called into question.
But if we are discussing solutions and improvements in violent behaviour, we do have to give space for people to change and encourage and celebrate genuine change when it does occur.
Yes savenz NZ is punitive about bad behaviour. WTF it’s too late then, and doesn’t stop it just imposes harsh circumstances on someone who has already gone troppo. It’s just military, get back into line, stand straight do the right thing.
But we are living life not army soldiers, and it’s the learning how to get started and getting the hang of it that needs attention, not punishing people for being such bad-arse proponents of life. The time when to do the good thing, is to care about the young. But this culture of neo lib actually doesn’t care about people from cradle to grave, we are just things to be manipulated.
We need to get rid of the shapeshifters, with new aliens popping out of their minds, and find enough like-minded real people to get back to a caring society that values people for themselves, and how they want to both give and receive, and not how much money they have, styley house, clothes, holidays…blah to that.
If they bothered to keep better statistics rather than going on some political gut feelings (aka the vulnerable). For example it has come out that the Grace alleged killer was from divorced parents… these days people meet one day, have kids the next, then divorce soon after or just live together and split up… it would be good to have NON political or identity politics input on this, but just gather the hard cold statistics. Makes sense to me, that kids from broken homes might suffer emotional trauma for example, and maybe we need to think about their rights more and from a prevention point of view, rather than being this tolerant liberal society to a certain set of whims and then the collateral damage is swept under the table. Suicide and depression also on the increase.
How is reporting Grace came from divorced parents “identity or political input”?
‘Divorced parents’ provides no conclusive or suggestive data – just information.
I don’t think we keep proper statistics on this type of thing and it’s manipulated completely the small amounts we do. Divorce is not an identity indicator, aka race, gender, sexuality, age etc
Divorce/relationship break up with children involved, is an event.
OK, I now see what you are getting at.
But I still don’t see how to relates to reporting of an individual instance, and why you are framing it as an identity issue.
I’m trying to say, to get equality and or a better society we need to widen the factors to be studied about modern life, not just focus on factors like identity such as race, gender, sexuality, age or socio economic group and think that will solely make the change alone.
Aka the Natz thinking that targeting a few factors in kids would do anything. Life is complicated now, and maybe like areas like smoking, something which people thought was harmless a few decades later, might not be with further study. Same might help for how people live now, and common things that are occurring to kids throughout their lives.
Modern economics (aka neoliberalism) could be having negative effects on society that are not measured and I think that looking wider at modern life and the statistics of that and people who might be succeeding or not succeeding might help look at what might be causing things like high levels of violence, suicide, mental illness, depression etc and what factors might help a child/person have much better outcomes…
I agree on limiting perspectives, but I think with some issues – such as violence – there are many successful approaches that are specific to specific outcomes for identified demographics. Rather than eliminating success stories, we should be adding to them so that violent offending is reduced or eliminated, and all victims of violence are helped in the way that best suits them.
It seems you are asking for a one-stop shop in terms of framing the situation and providing solutions for it by requiring all relevant considerations to be stripped out. This will result in a flawed framework of discussion, and less than efficient outcomes.
I see value in specific programmes addressing both bullies and victims at different ages, and in different environments. There is also value in specialised support a child victim of violence receives, as well as specific approaches for both female and male victims.
Gender based solutions – when they provide best outcomes – are surely dependent on gathering that data and info during research.
I think more correctly it is a ‘labelling’ issue, so that people are stigmatised and pigeonholed with extreme prejudice.
There is a list put together for counselling, assessing trauma etc that prioritises life shocks that impact on peoples’ wellbeing.
Just moving house, school is one. Being divorced, with other shocks added to it may be a large trauma to a child. The trouble is that staying with a violent or erratic parent where the child cannot have a stable relationship may be worse than divorce.
Helping parents with their needs so they can manage their lives and cope, making the best they can with them would diminish trauma to manageable. But instead we have pious preachy punishing politicians and leaders who have their lives sorted out satisfactorily to them, probably sending their kids to boarding school, and they love to feel superior to others struggling to cope, automatically they feel they are inadequate and unintelligent.
It may not be as different as you think. There are men who seem to think they are undermined if, as a woman, you don’t do as you are told, and the response can be violent. It is almost irrelevant what the status of the relationship is.
Most of us harbour a fear of men, though many of us are so used to it that we hide it even from ourselves.
Molly, re your request for links etc to the “Dunedin Longitudinal Study”, I did a Google search for that exact phrase and came up with long list which seems to have links to the Study itself. I don’t have time right now to check them out, but hope this helps.
I have also wanted to see the actual study and results etc so have added this link to my Summer Recess Watch and Read list for checking out further.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Dunedin+Longitudinal+Study&rlz=1C1LDJZ_enNZ499&oq=Dunedin+Longitudinal+Study&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Cheers.
I now see there is a Christchurch Longitudinal Study as well.
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1LDJZ_enNZ499&q=christchurch+longitudinal+study&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib59zH45jfAhWLV30KHf7lDjYQ1QIoB3oECAwQCA
Thanks vv.
I did scout around a bit before asking, but couldn’t find access to the whole paper, and though your search threw up a couple extra, am limited to the abstract or the intro of a book.
If you do find links to the studies, would appreciate if you could post here on TS, will watch out for your comments.
There were just a couple of commenters on TS that referred to the studies more than once, I was hoping one of them could provide a link 🙂
As I said I have put it on my list of Reads etc for the Summer break, so will see what I can find. Will also ask a couple of people I know who may be able to help. Will post here mentioning you to alert you if I get any closer to the elusive study. But as a Longitudinal Study I would expect that it is many reports rather than one single one ….
All good. Really would like those who refer to it often to provide the link, to show that they have put some effort into reading the source, rather than relying on third-party interpretations, and ensuring that the data supports what they are stating.
While searching did find a link to an American research study:
Full Report of the Prevalence, Incidence, and Consequences of Violence Against Women that despite the title, interviewed equal numbers of men and women for the report.
From reading the executive summary it seems that the sample size was considerable – 8,000 females and 8,000 males interviewed, and it appears that both male and female victims of harm were recorded.
Another one for the summer reading list?
https://books.google.com/books/about/Sex_Differences_in_Antisocial_Behaviour.html?id=kPdUHpwtCjYC
Hi molly only just read your request. Here is a link, although I haven’t read this actual bit of the study. If you type into google google scholar , click the type in the Dunedin longitudinal study’ you will find a number of articles there
Hi Ankerrawshark,
I’ve seen that link already, but it only shows a limited number of pages from the beginning of the book. I can come up with articles but not the study itself.
This article seems fairly comprehensive though. Thanks for suggesting Google Scholar, didn’t think to utilise that.
There are some issues I have with the article though –
1. The longitudinal study from Dunedin would be unlikely to have a demographic that matches New Zealand
2. The study – due to its nature – only interviewed 21 years olds, and described the interactions of that age cohort only – there will be different responses for others at different stages of their lives;
3. The use of the CTS tool for assessment of violence, there seems to be no reference to the degree of violence either from the aggressor or as experienced by the victim, (on page 3 of the report)
4. Although there is a reference to mutual violence, there is no information presented to whether violence occurred due to previous victimisation or violence received. I would consider this to be an important consideration when your count for violent acts includes:
Although the article makes reference to the difference between male and female perpetrators of physical violence, despite having the information to hand they don’t appear to publish the different degrees of violence perpetrated. Instead they have lumped all incidents in as if they are of equal import.
I don’t think this particular study is as indicative of the pattern of violence in the wider New Zealand population as many who reference it seem to believe. There are limitations in the sample, both in size and demographics. Also, the use of CTS that doesn’t place any degree on harm on instances of violence so that an incident of “Given in to your partner but planned revenge” is given equal weight to “Used a knife or gun on your partner”.
There is also very little context given to violence perpetrated as a response to violence experienced: eg. Someone who locked a partner out of the house, is counted as equal to some one who has “Physically forced your partner to have sex”, because even if the locking occurred after the forced sex, it still counts as an act of violence.
The Dunedin Study is by it’s nature representative of Dunedin in 1972, but remarkably most of it’s findings have been confirmed by similar studies elsewhere in the world. It possibly turns out that when dealing with the sociological and psychological nature of children, families and how we navigate through life, “demographics” has less of an impact that we imagine.
The Dunedin Study is unique for both it’s reasonably large sample size (over a thousand), it’s longevity (now into it’s fifth decade) and outstanding retention rate (over 95%).
These make it unique and recognised the world over as a valuable resource; literally hundreds if not thousands of reviewed papers have been published using this Study as a primary source; many of them ground breaking and widely cited. There is a LOT more to this entire Study than one paper or book.
This aligns with the idea I’ve been expressing elsewhere around violence: The Importance of Self Control.
I’m not disagreeing with your statements, but do you have any comments about the way that this particular study collated the data on violence?
Another research project on exactly the same sample group, specifically looked at “Physical assault by 21 year olds against partners”, and once again can only get the abstract which reads as follows:
When commenters here refer to the Dunedin study where women are shown to be violent more than men to their partner, I believe it needs to be taken in context if we are to successfully find effective solutions.
As I have not been able to access the study that is often referred to, I made a critique of an article about the study which – indeed – did seem to uphold that premise. However, the CTS tool is a wide-encompassing one – where “thinking about revenge” is counted as an act of violence. That is not necessarily a problem, if the difference in acts are identified in some way in the report. That doesn’t seem to be the case.
I can also only find the abstract to the above study, which specifically looks at physical violence – and in that context – would be more indicative of the physical harm that is inflicted as IPV.
On the psychological abuse scale both of these merit the same weighting:
“Given in to your partner but planned revenge”
and
“Threatened to hit or throw something at your partner in anger”
One is a thought process that doesn’t necessarily result in any further action, the second is a voiced threat that is used to manipulate another person to compliance.
Do you have any comments on the use of the CTS scale – and why you think it is appropriate?
Do you have any comments on the abstract shown that indicates that the presumption of women committing equal or more violence when put in context of physical abuse or harm is not upheld by the same group that was studied?
Do you think it would have been of greater use to indicate what level of abuse was perpetrated, and/or the degree of harm inflicted when reporting on IPV? (This may be available in the original paper but I haven’t yet found an accessible link)
Duplicating this study using the same CTS scale would in fact duplicate results.
I’d love to have the time and in-depth understanding to do this question justice. For the moment this is the best I can do:
Imagine I’m working on a ladder and I fall on top of you and break your arm. Painful, annoying and you might well be pissed at me for being so clumsy … but unlikely to be a traumatic episode.
Now imagine I pick up the same ladder and deliberately smashed your arm, inflicting the exactly same injury. Physically almost identical, except now my bad intentions and malice create an entirely different emotional response. Clearly I’ve set out to hurt you, clearly my bad intent matters quite a lot.
In general I’d argue that while the physical impact of violence is important, we really cannot discount the emotional aspect either. Intent matters. It can even be argued that repeated, sustained emotional attacks are more corrosive and damaging, especially on children, than physical ones.
Of course physical violence is relatively easy to observe and classify, while the scars left by bad intent are far less obvious and much harder to quantify. So much depends on context and personality as to how we respond to an emotional attack, and what long-term effects it has. Still any practicing clinical psychologist would tell us that their entire business model depends on to the extreme importance of the emotional response to violence in any form, rather than broken bones.
What’s more this is not the only study to show that both genders commit IPV at similar rates, although they don’t go about it in exactly the same way. A narrow definition focusing on physical violence will tilt the outcome towards highlighting male aggression, while a wider one that encompasses emotional aggression will tend to even out the result between the genders.
Therefore at first glance I generally support the idea of including emotional attacks into the category of ‘violence’ … but at the same time accept it’s a troublesome notion to get to grips with. I understand your reservations.
Thanks RedLogix. I appreciate you taking time to consider my points.
I also agree that psychological abuse needs to be assessed, but it seems such a flawed decision to not show distinctions in abuse when looking at how to assess the IPV issue, primarily because the tools for solutions will be better designed if they are specific. ie. The support required for psychological harm is appropriate for psychological abuse, but must also be joined with medical expertise and rehabilitation if dealing with severe physical harm.
It was also interesting that the second research paper on the 21 year olds regarding only physical IPV, had only 5 hits on Google Scholar. The other one, where I linked to the article – comes up with hundreds.
Part of this could be due to the surprising result of female violence being greater than mens in personal relationships. Click bait for the scientists and headline writers. But as I mentioned, I’m not sure if I am critiquing the paper correctly, but the use of CTS seems to redefine the term of violence into one that my children would be committing – especially the plotting revenge when they are coerced. This internal plotting is human nature, and would only not be present if a person is completely subdued.
RL at 7.36am
The Dunedin Study is by it’s nature representative of Dunedin in 1972, but remarkably most of it’s findings have been confirmed by similar studies elsewhere in the world.
This sentence follows the format of many others i have read about sensitive social issues.
If it confirms similar studies elsewhere in the world. Maybe it is using the same methodology on the same cultural age group in other countries, so that would not be so remarkable, if they were from countries with similar cultures and language.
‘Elsewhere in the world’ is the sort of loose comment that we make in NZ which, to me, shows a cultural cringe. It could easily be narrowed down into ‘English speaking’ or expressed as ‘similar studies in the USA, UK and Scandinavia’. There is a laxity in identifying just where the source is by politicians and informed commenters. They might even be talking only about the USA and the ‘studies’ being from separate States there.
On Morning Report just now they said that Britain can just Cancel Brexit if the want to and that that would be legal. Not sure what would happen to May if that happened.
Y’know, every now and then I feel a bit sympathetic to May trying to do her best with Brexit when in fact she was a remain supporter before the referendum. Don’t worry, that moment doesn’t last long.
“The European Court of Justice has ruled that Britain can cancel Brexit without the consent of the other EU member states.”
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018675224
@ Andre, May is gone, either way. Not sure I agree that someone power hungry is a good thing when they are working against what they supposedly believed in to remain in power?
Everyone that is willing to do what it takes to win an elected position is power-hungry. Some are just better at hiding it than others. Sometimes we strongly disagree with what they want to do with that power, sometimes we even get lucky and elect someone that wants to use that power to achieve a few things we actually agree with.
In May’s case, power-hungry for sure, but also willing to take on a shit sandwich and try to make something vaguely palatable out of it. Surely that’s worth an occasional moment of grudging respect?
@Andre, May might be willing to take on the shit sandwich, but is she able?
I hope Corbyn is up to the task – nothing like reality to dampen ideological fervour – hope he’s been watching yes minister repeatedly.
No Andre
No grudging respect for being such a dedicated patsy for her class and Party. If she is so desperate to get to the top and has the strength and will to carry through such bad policy because of a redundant desire for British greatness and hubris then she will be blamed, and deserve the obloquy that Margaret hatcher received.
(The mind is amazing – obloquy just popped up – didn’t know that I knew it.) If we keep on discussing important matters in a thoughtful way on TS we may be able to dredge up unimagined ideas for a better future – so let’s keep trying, and doing something as well as tapping and talking too.
Obloquy? Thatcher? Do keep in mind we live in a world where Thatcher is still the only Prime Minister in recent history to have an overall positive favourability rating.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/08/10/cameron-best-prime-minister-since-thatcher
And then I think, why, she did make love to this employment.
@ ianmac, I think they should seriously consider cancelling Brexit. It is not an election, it is a decision and the people should have the right to vote whether as new information comes to light, they still want Brexit.
The referendum was not binding so they could bail out.
If you go into a business decision and then find out it is pretty unworkable, do you keep going with the ‘shit sandwich’ as Andre above describes it, like a fool, or do you bail out until you have something much better and reasonable and a risk adverse position to move to. They have nothing to move to that is reasonable therefore they should have another referendum and take stock on what the mood of the public is.
Promotion to Saint May. It would be a miracle.
The AirNZ engineers threatened strike is apparently for three days – 21st 22nd 23rd
(three separate strike notices, one each day).
This will endear unions to the wide general public as it enhances Christmas festivities so much!!
This will enhance the Labour Party, long connected with workers and unions, and encourage the wide general public to think that Labour will deliver a better-run
society and is able to solve problems facing the country!!
This will impress people who regard the word ‘engineer’ with some wariness after the debacle over the presiding engineer and his offsider in designing the incredible collapsing CTV building!!
Et tu union organiser “We don’t take this position lightly…I appreciate this is hard for people….This is not holding people to ransom. We have drawn a line in the sand.”
Piffle. Liar. Self-justifying, it isn’t our fault, it was forced on us. This is the tone and is exactly the same as was taken by unions back in the 1980’s. I am not impressed. Deja vu all over again. Bastards.
NOTE; REGIONAL AIRLINES MAY NOT BE INVOLVED. LOOKING AT HINTS FROM THE SIDELINES, REDDIT ETC. BUT NOT SURE IF THIS HAS BEEN REVEALED OFFICIALLY. IF YOUR FLIGHT NO. HAS FOUR NUMBERS AND STARTS WITH 5 IT MAY BE OKAY.
If the Air NZ CEO has the same balls as the Qantas CEO, he’ll ground the fleet now before anymore damage is done.
Long-term what will happen is aircraft maintenance will be done offshore and these engineers will lose their jobs.
And the NZ public will cheer and say it serves you right.
Airlines only need a commercial team, flight operations, pilots and cabin crew (even they can be outsourced). All other functions can easily be outsourced.
Yeah, they’re really cutting their own throats.
You can’t have a group of employees hold a company and country to ransom.
Steps will have to be taken to remove this threat, outsourcing maintenance is the logical solution.
Cheaper is better afterall, but it’s not really is it?
Soooooo……
Air New Zealand’s plan was to demand cutbacks in conditions to deliberately trigger strike action to more easily export NZ jobs overseas.
Jeez that ponytailpuller really has both the cunning and morals of a shithouse rat.
The employers are holding their employees to ransom … and the country gets the benefit of that through lower airfares – although maybe not given the profit the company is making.
We are complicit with the company when we get a benefit when the company treats their workers shabbily. The obvious answer is to shop elsewhere for those of us who don’t like how the workers are treated.
If the company doesn’t use employees from NZ then why should we, as NZers, give it our loyalty? How can it be a NZ company when it outsources it’s work overseas?
“If the company doesn’t use employees from NZ then why should we, as NZers, give it our loyalty?”
Sure. On my future travels I’ll use an international airline that employs only NZ’ers, pays tax only in NZ, and is run and governed from NZ. Oh wait…
You do know that they’ve tried that before right?
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU0602/S00260.htm
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/9078930/Air-New-Zealand-to-axe-180-jobs
Doesn’t seem to be going too well for them.
Perhaps it has to do with all those other aircraft coming in to land that need maintenance. Perhaps they realised that they’d lose more profit by cutting those services than they’d save.
You RWNJs really don’t know how to run a business.
Air NZ disruption over Christmas – Union comment
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018675228/air-nz-engineers-strike-not-about-holding-people-to-ramsom-e-tu-union
Aviation unions revealed yesterday the strike notice they had issued last week was for three days – 21, 22 and 23 December.
Urgent talks between unions and the airline to try to avert industrial action over pay and conditions have entered their third day.
The two unions representing engineering and logistics workers, AMEA and E tū, say two days of mediation have so far failed. Industrial action was initially estimated to affect nearly 42,000 people, but House of Travel commercial planning director Brent Thomas said three days of strike action would affect many more.
“If it proceeds, it will be a significant impact for a number of travellers – probably upwards of 100,000 potentially people who could be impacted by such a strike”, Mr Thomas said.
E tū union aviation organiser who goes by the name of Savage, said the members hadn’t taken their decision lightly.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377896/air-nz-unions-begin-urgent-talks-as-strike-looms
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378077/air-nz-engineers-strike-could-affect-100-000-people-travel-agent
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377958/air-nz-strike-would-be-almost-unprecedented-travel-agent
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/377776/air-nz-strike-could-affect-thousands
7 Dec
However, the unions involved are not liking Air New Zealand’s tone.
E Tū union’s head of aviation, Savage, said the airline was trying to mislead the public.
“Air New Zealand is trying to portray this as a group of overpaid engineers when actually there are a lot of underpaid logistics and cleaning staff also included in the collective agreement,” he said.
“This is primarily about Air New Zealand making record profits and then attempting to cut the pay and conditions of their workers.”
Are we supposed to feel that Air NZ is making record profits and that going on strike over Christmas is justified to get them to pay more to cleaners, and give engineers more breaks? This is old-style chest-thumping worker versus rich greedy boss, and shoving union power in their face stuff. I thought we were more subtle than that now.
It appears that union leaders are always prepared to take us to the brink and push us over when they have had a dose too much of strengthening medicine, and are feeling all stroppy. Playing rugby involves tackling head on, but unions learn to play a smarter game. And Now! Just say that you don’t want to go to disappoint at Christmas. Please.
It appears the company are quite happy to go to the brink as well.
If Air NZ, as a service industry, really care about servicing their customers they should have sorted it out well before this stage.
Their raison d’être is to provide a service – it seems they have forgotten that.
Grace Millane
Foreign visitors get more sympathy and attention when they are killed and injured than NZs do it seems. We don’t care about each other enough to deal with the awful conditions that so many have to put up with here, but when foreigners in their innocence come here believing our propaganda, we feel guilty.
And so we should. But more often, and as a whole country that cares, not just a few people who have to continually agitate in NZ to get any humanitarian reaction. Instead we tend to respond to instant emotionalism if there is enough hype, lighting candles and holding vigils for one person. It should be continual observance for those lost to our damaged society.
@greywarshark, I agree, Grace Millane has captured people’s hearts for the tragedy, but there are approx 50 murders in NZ per year.
Saying that, I think Grace is very special because she connected to a lot of people who never knew her in life, and now emotional about her death.
True savenz Let’s keep the emotion going and flowing now for the others to come, and a thought for the background of the shits that hurt them, because the background is what has produced the behaviour, which just tells the thinking person what a desert of anomy (anomie) the person was brought up in.
Let us in society and our government systems act with love to help the little person and their parents with their needs so as to grow, be strong in resolve and capable with good skills, and be integrated in a caring society that encourages personal responsibility but doesn’t ignore the requirement for a good society to nurture the young and be there for the parent/s.
Anomy | Define Anomy at Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/anomy
a state or condition of individuals or society characterized by a breakdown or absence of social norms and values, as in the case of uprooted people.
“Abandon Empathy and Judgement All Ye Who Enter Here.”
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT: You are a television news reader
“Hipkiss, when reading the news or introducing guests reads what other people write. Her job has no editorial component.”—-Sir Galahad Putake, 11 December 2018.
/praying-for-grace/#comment-1561196
Your challenge is to sit behind a desk, look straight at an audience (must consist of at least three people) and read the following ten statements without snickering like Paul Henry, corpsing like Hilary Barry, raising an eyebrow like Peter Williams, pouting like Jack Tame, pausing meaningfully like Simon Dallow or in any other manner indicating dissent or disagreement with the words, however outrageous or offensive, that you are required to read out.
Okay, here we go….
If you made it to the end of that with a straight face, congratulations. You are either braindead, or your name is Ingrid.
My goodness, has somebody been caught not preaching from the Texts Approved By Mozzer? Shame on them, fie and fiddlesticks.
LOL – but he can’t reply for a week!
I think Ed’s on a ban at the moment, too. I’m running out of people to scroll past.
edit: apparently not. Oh well.
Nah, lprent didn’t ban him. Just bumped him down the page a bit, I guess so that the start of Open Mike today isn’t just a mirror of Ed’s news feed.
Only for a few days last week – was back on Saturday. But see 12 below. I could suggest some more scroll pasts for you but better not. LOL
Brilliantly, Morrisey
How to repeat a lie with a straight face. Thanks Morrissey.
We need pageantry and rituals and fun and laughter and light-hearted poking at serious topics, now and then. People like this are national treasures.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018674742/graeme-cairns-laird-of-hamilton
Former McGillicuddy Serious leader Graeme Cairns now divides his time between penny farthings, medical training and street theatre, and his latest endeavour “doing pennants” features a bicycle-powered sewing machine.
The McGillicuddy Serious Party was founded to contest the 1984 election with its campaign plank of the Great Leap Backwards.
It predicted upheaval, chaos and the breakdown of society as we know it and a plan to insulate New Zealand from the worst excesses of the future.
I knew a couple of those boys doing uni in Hamilton when I was a Hamiltonian. Loads of fun and very smart. Fridgehenge was my favorite. Lots of old fridges in a circle in a paddock, and lots of cider.
Fridgehenge! Please stick around WtB won’t you. You are a fount of creative thinking with laughs as well; great mix.
Cairns has no desire to revive his great political movement, despite McGillicuddy Serious once being the fifth-biggest party in the country.
Shame. I want to vote for them.
Iraq, it got hit badly. It gets pushed to the side by the latest outrage but here is a plea to think again of us.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018674479/iraqi-priest-in-nz-please-save-our-people
life and society refugees and migrants
6 Dec 2018
Iraqi priest in NZ: ‘Please save our people’
From Checkpoint, 6:13 pm on 6 December 2018
Listen duration 13′ :42″
Auckland-based Catholic priest Fr Douglas Al-Bazi was tortured by terrorists in Iraq and sheltered thousands of people fleeing from Islamic State. He tells Alex Perrottet his harrowing story and says New Zealand should be taking more refugees suffering genocide in the Middle East
I haven’t listened to it yet but I guess I must. As I asked querously before ‘Do I have to worry about everything?’ and thought it seems that I do, I should put this on my list of important human things to be concerned about and act to assist.
They have a good case surely. Perhaps we should look each day, and refer and describe a group that should be in our minds for the fraction of time necessary to ensure they stay in society’s consciousness. So today Syria.
The monopoly of the press by National supporting billionaires erodes our democracy.
Breaking up that monopoly should be a priority of the coalition Government.
[lprent: Ed needs to get up later. This morning he gets the late morning award. ]
Power, building materials, fullers ferrys, supermarkets, fuel etc etc crikey don’t stop at the media as oligopoly/duopoly behaves as a combined monopoly.
You’ll be pleased to know Mark Richardson came out in support of the air nz strikers this am then .
Do you know what a monopoly is?
What exactly are you trying to break up ?
How come on the 12 December I am looking at Ed’s comment at 8.42am while the comment’s time is 10.17 am. Is Ed in another country, are you in Oz Ed?
Have a think about who might have the ability to change the timestamp on a comment and why that choice might be made.
Duh why should I do that. I have enough to worry about wondering if I should change my booking to get me and family to our Christmas family meeting.
Do i have to worry about everything in the world? Apparently I do.
grey – lprent has left a comment on Ed’s that indicates he has changed Ed’s timestamp so that it will not be at the top of Open Mike.
That’s elegant, lprent.
I am assuming that lprent uses this same ability on an automatic basis to move another poster’s comments to the end of the previous day’s OM.
It is quite fascinating watching this whole thread move slowly down the numbering system as new comments appear here on OM.
Yes commenters need to understand the numbering system and how it works. I sometimes insert mine under someone’s who I concur with rather than trail under some who are WOS in my opinion.
And if not carefully placed, a reply gets so far away from the original
comment, it becomes irrelevant especially if there is no reference in it to hook it up by the number or name.
What happens when we get to 1017am in real time? Does Ed zoom out of his present spot and goes to the bottom, or do all those ahead of him disappear and he ends up back at the top again? 😛
Nothing happens to the comment or thread following. Ed just appears in the comments sidebar, making it briefly falsely appear like he’s going to participate in an actual discussion rather than doing his usual early morning spray and walk away.
Interesting and there was an entry in the sidebar at about 10.17am and his comment and the thread are now set at number 12 – and the next new ‘start’ comment at 10.40am came in under it at 13.
Clever!
I was being facetious as Ed’s expense. 😎
He does seem to care about issues, perhaps more than you Andre from whom I get a whiff of cynicism and possibly even sneering from time to time.
He’s boring greywarshark. It’s the same old same old day in day out. As someone tried to tell him recently… he’s preaching to the converted. We don’t need to be told a dozen times a day and then more…
Just his three issues. Otherwise quite heartless.
Well solkta that summary applies to quite a number here.
True, but you are not trying to polish them.
Thanks Molly.
I remember back in school the really bright, keen interested persons who were up with the lesson and always had their hand up with the answer for the teacher. Sometimes that was me. The other kids get p.o. It’s wise to let others go first Ed – I do notice that you tend to be up with the birds to get the first worms!
60% of sunscreens are misleading, not acceptable. What happens if they are misleading, surely they get a massive fine, not just a shrug or a slap on the hand? There seems to be a double standard when businesses rip people off and profit from it and when individuals rips people off and profit from it.
Consumer NZ report shows most sunscreens not living up to label claims
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12175415
SPF50+ offers only marginally better protection from Ultra Violet (UV) radiation than SPF30+ filtering out 98% of UV radiation compared to 96.7% blocked by SPF30.
https://www.cancerwa.asn.au/articles/news-2018/whats-the-difference-between-spf-30-and-spf-50/
Leakers again!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/109283154/budget-2019-priorities-leaked-to-national-include-focus-on-mental-wellbeing-and-call-to-find-lowest-1-of-spending
A.
Farmers,, to protect yourselves they need to be the liveblood of their communities and the local communities the identities of the farmers.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/109276319/fonterras-advance-payments-cuts-dampen-christmas-cheer
To cut themselves off from this is to be driven off the land. National, Fed Farmers are not your friends to this, are not on your side, are not on the same team. They butter you up with the high prices, the imported labour, you are better than your community & immune to the quietly rising bank rates and costs of living. But then the bubbles in your returns are removed more and more.
And the local market and culture is gone. Your biggest asset in stability. Your biggest card for brand identity and connection to external markets, where you don’t need the middle men of trade homogenization and are at the whims of fluctuating rates amidst all the other brands of X, Y & Z.
Because you have the advantage of your boutique local community chains and markets that no one else has.
NZ1st!
Farmers stopped being the lifeblood of the community when they dropped below supporting 50% of the economy. IIRC, that was back in about 1920. Even if they still employ ~7% directly I would be surprised if the total employed due to farming gets above 10%.
Simple maths really.
That is simple maths.
Some more simple logic could be also that the ground floor stopped being important, when all the others were built on top of it; or the region’s resources lost their importance once the town grew up in the middle of it.
I didn’t say that they stopped being important. I said that the stopped being the lifeblood. The reason for that is because they no longer relate to everybody and the percentage is dropping.
If we got serious about climate change the number of farms and farmers would drop to ~1/3rd of what we have now.
It’s long gone that they did relate to everybody and it’s not coming back and they really should drop this leaning on past glories that they seem to think is still important and still valid.
I bet no one can guess what Battler Simon will ask in Q1 today at Question Time. You would think that by now he would know that he will make no headway against Jacinda.
Q1 Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?
And he didn’t. Bridges is still on about any representations by Ministers etc on the Sroubek case but he isn’t and is unlikely to make any progress on that. He really is walking on shaky grounds on that one IMO but cannot say why. Bridges really is not very clever. Mitchell has gone very very quiet recently. LOL
Today’s Questions to Ministers
Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s statements and actions?
KIRITAPU ALLAN to the Minister of Finance: What progress, if any, has been made on implementing the Government’s economic policies?
Hon AMY ADAMS to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions?
Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development: How many houses built, bought, or underwritten by the KiwiBuild programme are contracted and scheduled to be ready for owner occupation by 1 July 2019, and when will the first KiwiBuild houses in Te Kauwhata be completed?
MARK PATTERSON to the Minister of Conservation: What alternatives to 1080, if any, is the Department of Conservation involved in using or researching for pest control?
Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Transport: Does he think that the purpose of transport policy is to make it easier for New Zealanders to get around quickly, efficiently, and safely?
Hon SCOTT SIMPSON to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: How many workers have gone on strike so far in 2018, and does he believe it is reasonable for union workers at Air New Zealand to threaten strike action on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of December?
JAN TINETTI to the Minister of Education: What proposals has he seen on the future of schooling in New Zealand?
Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Immigration: Other than Karel Sroubek’s lawyer and family members, who made representations on his behalf in respect of the deportation liability that was the subject of the Minister’s decision on 19 September 2018?
Hon NIKKI KAYE to the Minister of Education: What advice, if any, has he received on the potential estimated cost of implementing recommendations in the report by the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce?
TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What recent announcements has he made to protect consumers and businesses from unfair commercial practices?
JO HAYES to the Minister for Whānau Ora: Does he agree with the Prime Minister’s statement on Whānau Ora incentive payments that “the Minister has said he is looking at the way that some of those arrangements work with Whānau Ora”?
————————–
Then the usual Wednesday, General Debate for an hour, followed by the last Members’ Day of the year. Regrettably the Members’ Bills to be considered are Nat ones, sponsored by Nick Smith and Jonathan Young in that order, ie:
The Tasman District Council (Waimea Water Augmentation Scheme) Bill – First Reading
The New Plymouth District Council (Waitara Lands) Bill – Second Reading
They may then move onto continuing the Committee stages of Simeon Brown’s Psychoactive Substances (Increasing Penalty for Supply and Distribution) Amendment Bill.
I loved the way he asked a supplementary question in such a way as to give the PM a free hit in reply, then repeated the question so she she could whomp him again. Simon’s a slow learner.
Sign if you want to
Give the Māori seats the same level of protection as every other seat in Parliament.
https://our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/secure-the-maori-seats?utm_source=actionstation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast2018-12-12
Years into the future I see Michael Woodhouse on his deathbed asking questions of the most significant event in the years of his time: “Who made representations about Karel Sroubek?”
Weird eh? Do they think that someone whose aunty is the second cousin of a Labour MP reckons that someone ought to speak up for Sroubek but in fact they thought they were backing a new brand of bacon. Sroubek Bacon.
Still you have to give Bridges and Woodhouse credit for the doggedness needed to uncover the said aunty’s name. And won’t the Opposition be thrilled with Aunty Jenny’s name. Wow!
Turns out that the name they have been desperately trying to be spoken in an answer is a one ‘Richie Hardcore’ seemingly a friend of Clarke Gayford and a kick boxing associate of Sroubeck . National desperate to make Jacinda look guilty by association . Question that should be asked of the opposition is how did they get a copy of the representations . Looks like National has left the Public Service stacked with informants . Interesting that the MSM didn’t cover this when the Penguin at Kiwiblog published this weeks ago and got no traction on it . In the end Woodlouse spat the name out himself . Shows the level of desperation in National to get a headline putting the PM in a bad light because her partner knows someone who knows someone .
And how many people is that? I’d like a dollar for every person who knows a person I know!
New Zealand is like that. One of the great things about meeting another Kiwi is the second question.
Q1. “So where are you from?
Q2. “Do you know so and so from there?”
I met a man in the street in Greece who had a Kiwi accent. He asked where are you from? I told him. “Oh,” he said. “I met a winemaker from your area in Gibraltar on a yacht. Can’t remember his name.”
I could, though.
So, if National is trying to link our PM into the Sroubek affair because someone she knows knows someone, then that is patently ludicrous.
It’s ‘guilt by association”, very tenuous and would be laughed out of court, and out of any reasonable debate. Pfffffft!
Yeh. Actually I know a chap who played chess with a woman who once took a selfie with John Key. Luckily the then Opposition didn’t find out about my association with Key or all Hell would break out. Phew!
Really taxicab? Do you mean to say that the Opposition wasted dozens of questions to get that??? What a strategy. No wonder the Opposition looks so flat.
Ah so. Richie Hardcore did know Jacinda.
“”The Prime Minister received a text message from Richie Hardcore following media coverage of the first decision about Karel Sroubek that acknowledged the decision. She did not respond to the text.”
But thats it??? All that for so little?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12175727
Followed up by an annoying prick who sometimes appears here .
https://yournz.org/2018/12/12/sroubek-hardcore-ardern-pressure-builds-for-full-disclosure/
You mean like this:
This is especially for lprent because I know how much it means to him. Its his kinda music.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/109295415/does-the-taxpayer-fund-climate-compensation-for-beachfront-homeowners
If you brought coastal property in the last 10 years tuff luck no compo you were warned about sea level rise.
Before that maybe there is a case.
But surely RICH people will be compensated?
Considering the dangers of beach-front houses – they were warned. As a child it may seem nice to have a house on the beach. An adult should know better.
Fantastic, I presume that as this government are going to compensate land owners for climate change impacts, that I should expect a subsidy should my farm suffer any loss of productivity or value from climate.
Has haa haven’t you noticed it’s all our fault apparently .
Well be the main payers
It’s hard to imagine the Captains of Insurance resigned to “Oh well, my bad luck, there goes 8 million” as their Takapuna boxes of architect spunk go under.
In this hyper-capitalist, individualistic society – its not our problem.
If they’re that concerned about it they should probably be contacting their insurance agents and making sure that they’re still insured.
Hyper capitalist….sheesh. We’ve got it pretty sweet bro. 12 year old girl got her legs blown off in Homs today, what happened in your suburb?
You will die waiting for the revolution you dream of Draco. Waiting on a bus that is never coming is a crap way to rip up 70 years. Buy a Subway franchise man!
Trying to save the world from the greedy schmucks is worthwhile even if I don’t manage it. The people left over after the ecological collapse brought about by those same greedy schmucks will have something to work with.
There’s a vein of envy that runs through your comments Draco.
We are all greedy. You are a ‘The Standard’ bandwidth gluttonous pig.
As sins go, we all fall victim to the temptation of greed.
Some people don’t know when to stop stacking money and others don’t know when to get out of the fridge.
I’m sorry Draco, you’re not a gluttonous pig. You’re passionate about your view of the world and a desire to share that view is mere testament to that passion. We need more people that care as much as you do.
How would you feel about being crowd funded into your own Subway franchise?
David Mac – don’t overrate yourself, and don’t judge others by your own miserably low standards. Greed is your own quality. Love it if you must, but don’t try to impose it on us all like a religion. Your hot air is unimpressive. Go somewhere else.
In Vino
I usually like your take on things. David Mac tends much to the RW
and the pragmatic.approach which ought to be considered when thinking about anything, but not automatically adopted.
Right-wing and pragmatic would be an oxymoron.
Such ideas should be considered and then, more often than not, thrown out as they’re simply not connected to reality in any way, shape or form.
Kia ora The Am Show
Japan best symbol of the year is correct disaster the world is heading towards a massive disaster .
Cohen 3 year’s jail does not look good for someone.
Yes people have to respect Tangaroa and its beautiful creatures if one does not it could end badly .
Its cool that Air NZ & there workers have come to a agreement to sort out there differences in a office and not striking .
Mark I seen that Dennis Conner is back to challenge for the Americas Cup .
Chris what happened to the hot dry year that was forecast just a few months ago what about climate change ??????????.
Genetic therapy engineering is not acceptable at all but selecting embryos is ok that is not quite trying to be god and when one try’s to do that it ends up being a big mess.
Kia ora to Andrew good skills to get in 2018 your sustainability qualification .
Ka kite ano P.S I like Noam Chomsky view on things
I say equality is needed to correct this big mess that men are making of Our world .
Susan Atkins: ‘We must take the threat to women in public life seriously’
Catherine Baksi
On the republication of 1984’s Woman and the Law, the co-author says the legal system remains ‘male-centric’
Susan Atkins is co-author of the pioneering book Women and the Law, which examines the way the law has treated women at work, in the family, in matters of sexuality, fertility and violence, and in public life. It is a study of the law’s attitude to women and how it reflects the influence of economic, social and political forces, revealing a deep-rooted, male-centric gender inequality. “Only when women are aware of the extent of the discrimination against them, of how it operates and of how to use the law and to influence law reform to their own ends will further progress be made,” it says.
The book was first published in 1984, when society and law were going through a period of transition. In 1973 married mothers gained a status equal to that of married fathers. Equal pay and sex discrimination legislation was changing the workplace. The Abortion Act 1967 expanded the grounds upon which abortion was legal in Britain. The introduction of the contraceptive pill in 1974 gave women greater control over their fertility, and the Domestic Violence and Matrimonial Proceedings Act 1976 strengthened the civil remedies available to victims of abuse.
We need to use laws to correct this in our society as some men will fight Equality with all the power they have and because of this it will take centuries to correct this imbalance of power that is leading us down the road of disaster . Ka kite ano links below
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2018/dec/12/susan-atkins-we-have-got-to-take-seriously-the-threat-to-women-in-public-life
This is a scramble to keep burning carbon in Australia after there next election as it looks like the morrison moron COAL coalition government will be rolled trump will be lonely when the may government gets rolled out of government to then most will be flipping him the bird
The morrison government has sent a clear signal that it is prepared to provide taxpayer support for both new and existing coal plants, opening registrations of interest in its controversial new power generation underwriting program.
Labor and the Greens are opposed to any taxpayer support for coal projects, and will continue efforts once parliament resumes next year to try and frustrate the Coalition’s program, potentially by attempting to amend the government’s “big stick” divestiture bill, which stalled in the final sitting week, to include a prohibition on power companies receiving commonwealth support Ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/13/coalition-signals-it-will-provide-taxpayer-support-for-new-and-existing-coal-plants
Eco Maori say bring back Bernie Sanders he will clean up trump and the mess he is making of OUR world ka kite ano P.S I seen the show with Michelle
We did not see this story in OUR Worlds media Ka pai they have voted to pull the war machine out of Yemen I hope aid will be sent in to the poor children
The Senate is due to vote on Wednesday on whether to cut US military support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, amid deepening scepticism over the Trump administration’s alliance with Riyadh.
The independent senator Bernie Sanders succeeded in forcing a vote on the resolution after a Republican revolt on 28 November – driven in part by outrage over the Saudi murder of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – defeated the Trump administration’s efforts to stop it going to a vote.
‘Yemenis are left so poor they kill themselves before the hunger does’
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Wednesday’s vote marks the first time a measure invoking the 1973 War Powers Resolution, asserting congressional supremacy in matters of war and peace, has progressed so far in the Senate. The vote comes across the backdrop of peace talks in Stockholm in a UN-brokered effort to halt a war that is thought to have already killed many tens of thousands of civilians, mostly from coalition bombing and starvation, largely as a results of the coalition’s strategy of economic strangulation.
Links below
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/bernie-sanders
Fast facts on Bernie Sanders ka kite ano
https://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/27/us/bernie-sanders-fast-facts/index.html
Here my video on Bernie Sanders take 2 ka kite ano P.S someone is stuffing with my computer
Well I did find the story but not in the big web sights of Aotearoa
In a rare break with President Donald Trump, the US Senate has voted to move ahead with a resolution to end military support for the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in the war in Yemen and lawmakers vowed to push for sanctions against the kingdom in the new year Ka kite ano links below
.https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/378186/us-senate-defies-trump-votes-to-stop-support-for-yemen-war
Kia ora Scotty from Te karere
I did back vaping but only as a tool to give up smoking I now have some concerns about the oil as we don’t no what is in it but ka pai to the kuia for using it to give up smoking I am still using mine
Our maori Rugby players had a good season this year
Yes its better to treat the addiction than lock em up like some fools back Pee and dariydack are killing our tangata
Ka kite ano PS I started watching a bit late ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub
Well that’s a logical move as there is a need to target the importers of hard drugs as these kill people weed well no reports of people dying from a over dose from consuming weed .
I did a post on how the world treats our Wahine the leaders of our country need to set a good example to our youth that Wahine are not just here for men’s use and need to be respected .
The way I see it Lloyd is they did not want a coo just before Christmas may and brexit
or boris in power.
Yes we have to plan for climate change to minimize loses of life and money thanks to shonky and bridges we have no real plan to mitigate the phenomenon bridges togs are getting messy .
What that tx tells me is that bridges is grabbing at straws and looks like a kid who is not happy .
Congratulations to Jemma and Richie on the new baby
Simon I see that Te papa displaying some of the great Chinese Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang that is awesome .
Alex hope we have some good weather but it does not look like it with that weather map
Ka kite ano P.S for got to edit last nite
Kia ora James & Mulls
The Allblacks awards Sam Brodies try was up there with was it Joes try the chicken.
You guys look so young in the back yard cricket last night
Ka pai to Honey Hireme and Jarred Waerea Hargreaves for there Rugby league awards
yes James one need’s boots to play league lol
That a good challenge from the Basket ball team the young fella did quite good
O so there was Steven Adams and Temura Morrison acting with Jason Momoa in Aquaman I will be going to see that movie. I have just watched Frontier another of Jasons movies . P.S the Pacific Stars are shining ka pai
Our wahine sports star are shining bright to
Ka kite ano
Jokes on Eco Maori Mulls I quite like humour but the jokes on you its on air that you stated that Ka kite ano P.S your m8 are abandoning ship lol
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute