When you read such ill informed and low level articles such as Kerre McIvor’s opinion piece in the Herald about junk food, you have to ask :
Is she really that ignorant or
Is she paid by the Junk food industry to write such rubbish’?
Can you provide more information about your viewpoint? Kerre doesn’t examine every angle, and her reasoning is her own style, but how or which part of her opinion makes her ignorant or a shill? Other than working for the Herald. Which should be enough on it’s own. Is it just the title of the article, the “lack of choice” contradicting the later claim that people have too many choices to choose from?
I’m a bit confused by Paul’s comment about shilling for junk food. The article is saying people need the support to eat well instead of eating junk food. I thought it was well written and struck a good balance between the politics of health and the politics of poverty/lack of education (except for the implication that dietary fat is unhealthy, but hey, how many journos get that right?).
I know my ideas, you know yours, but we don’t know Paul’s.
Maybe it was an implied argument, a-bob-each-way. No extra taxes for either party, but the low quality veges and meat at the fresh burger truck is cheaper in itself and therefore no tax required to induce people to eat it? Or as Marty Mars raises below: depending on the reasons behind their level of “less well off” there may be no one to go to learn anything about anything.
There’s a place near where I live (and my area is “lower socio-economic”) that is currently trying the healthier option, but price wise it doesn’t look practical – a hard sell. Sitting at a windswept freezing freaking bus station, and the woman comes over, she knows her potential customers and builds good rapport, but would you regularly choose a nice cold fruit smoothie for $7 when you can’t afford to even buy a hop card with what you have left (that lack of ability to accumulate funds that happens, that makes poorer people unavoidably spend more), or would you dive over to the pie shop and get something hot and comforting for $3.50? It was a hard sell, and at least one guy wandered over – it was end of shift for him and he obviously had disposible income – but some of him going was the cultural connection they shared because when she got to me, the story changed. haha. Christ it was funny, but nothing wrong with that. So many challenges to consider during the brainstorming stage of inducing people to eat healthy.
On the other hand, go to any nightmarket and check out the prices and options – healthy as, some of those things. Two dollar snacks, five dollar meals. But once again, have I seen any of the local homeless there? Nup. Some of those guys are BIG. Just like you don’t often see homeless in supermarkets before 9pm. The lower end of the range appears more frequently, but not the way down end. Some places, some times of day, the “invisible class” remain invisible. If you’re an alcoholic, you might not often feel like eating much “food” anyway. Cheap food or not.
Depends on the area. Some places round here are “owned” by a certain “street transient class”, others are “owned” by higher “stable” classes. The rules and reasons why things work/interface across classes and entry into each area change over a few hundred metres sometimes. Good intentions don’t translate at all, or easily.
edit: Well there you go, while I was writing this Paul replies.
” I wish we could set up food caravans close to fast food outlets and have cooks showing people how to make real burgers – nutritious, cheap – so they don’t have to spend their money on crap.”
Is that the ill informed bit Paul or maybe
“So I turned to my mum and other wise women I was lucky enough to know and learned how to stretch mince with leftover rice and rolled oats and finely chopped vegetables from the fridge that were one day away from the compost.
I learned how to make delicious soup from a pack of imperfect vegetables sold at cut price and I picked up bargains from the supermarket by browsing the aisles at night, choosing chicken and meat two days off their use-by dates and turning them into casseroles.”
Seems your privilege may have blinded you to what happens for those less well off.
Professor Jane Kelsey’s new book – which should REALLY ‘pack a wallop’ in the fightback against the FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) economy?
——————————————————————————-
Press Release: Bridget Williams Books (2 July 2015)
Time of reckoning for New Zealand imminent, says academic
The role of the public intellectual is to stimulate debate and raise unsettling questions.
With The FIRE Economy: New Zealand’s Reckoning, Jane Kelsey proves once again to be a formidable bearer of the mantle.
This long-awaited sequel to the author’s The New Zealand Experiment is a sharply attentive critique of the legacy of New Zealand’s neoliberal project at a time of international turmoil.
FIRE is shorthand for today’s economy where the main sources of wealth are Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.
This book details how ‘financialisation’ has progressively hollowed out the New Zealand economy since 1984 and burdened households and the country with massive unsustainable debt.
The housing bubble, finance company collapses and the insurance hangover from the Canterbury earthquakes are symptoms of a market fundamentalism that celebrates easy profits and risk, and treats the people and communities who lose as collateral damage.
Kelsey argues forcefully that New Zealand is in a ‘state of denial’, a term borrowed from International Monetary Fund researchers making similar calls of other affluent states in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.
A disturbing complacency – the return, in effect, to ‘business as usual’ – makes a reassessment of the FIRE economy, and the neoliberalism that sustains it, more urgent than ever.
The fates and responses of countries such as Greece, Ireland, Spain and Iceland stand as cautionary tales that deserve our attention.
Taking up that challenge, Kelsey explains why we must engage in a national discussion on the social, economic and political costs of continuing as we are.
In particular, she focuses on the dangers of privatising the state, and of embedding neoliberalism in our laws and institutions.
She considers what a post-neoliberal era might look like and what obstacles we must overcome to get there.
In criticising the neoliberal project and its social fallout – deepening levels of poverty and inequality, the abdication of the state’s responsibility to its citizens, the transfer of risk to the most vulnerable – Kelsey is far from a voice in the wilderness.
Her views are shared by a range of international commentators, whose reputation and authority New Zealand cannot afford to ignore.
• Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England:
Just as any revolution eats its children, unchecked market fundamentalism can devour the long term dynamism of capitalism itself.
• Joseph Stiglitz, chair of the UN Commission on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, reflecting on the causes of the Global Financial Crisis:
Underlying many of these mistakes were the economic philosophies that have prevailed for the past quarter-century (sometimes referred to as neoliberalism or market fundamentalism).
• Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF:
The true role of the financial sector is to serve, not to rule, the economy.
[We need to be] making income tax systems more progressive without being excessive; making greater use of property taxes; expanding access to education and health; and relying more on active labour market programs and in-work social benefits.
The FIRE Economy is a remarkable and important achievement, not least because, as Kelsey demonstrates in a revealing appendix, her original research was conducted in the face of increased structural barriers impeding free and transparent access to information about governments’ operations. This too, she argues, is a matter for concern and urgent debate.
For anyone interested in our recent past and – more critically – our precarious future, The FIRE Economy is a must-read.
twyford doubling down on the nation – fuck off you racist thick prick – “it doesn’t matter in one sense what their surname is” says dick ” but when you look at the names… it points in one direction”. “is it plausible?” – fuck me twyford has just fucked his party.
over reaction ,it is both plausible and logical and not surprisingly the conclusions mirror activity in other western cities.I have some data from The Week I will try to find that shows a remarkable similarity to Twyfords estimates and London R.E.Of course in London the oligarchs from Africa and Russia with ethnic sounding names are mostly from Africa and Russia!
It’s got nothing to do with race and everything to do with the discrepancy shown. It would be better if we had an actual register to work with rather than just the names of buyers but a) no government since the neo-liberal attack in the 1980s set up such a register and b) we have to work with what we’ve got.
“Twyford doubling down on the nation – fuck off you racist thick prick – “it doesn’t matter in one sense what their surname is” says dick ” but when you look at the names… it points in one direction”. “is it plausible?” – fuck me twyford has just fucked his party.”
Sorry can’t agree with you there pal, when the interviewer tried to nail him on that one, he replied, that they were looking to restrict ALL non resident foreign ownership.
Twity Twyford has played the blame game before – you remember the shop owner murder in Henderson? http://thestandard.org.nz/murders-out-west/ That time, he blamed the poor for the murder. People like him.
Twyford has a track record of being tacky, and full of middle class liberal angst. He knows perfectly well this is a racist comment, playing into a rump of racist New Zealand – who still believe in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Peril#New_Zealand
If you want to call me PC, for calling Twyford a racist twit. Then fine with that. I’d rather be called PC than have to listen to all you say your not being racist, when you are. Because frankly yesterday I felt I was in deep south , with a load of dribble came out of peoples mouth.
Pifft – a song to remind you all where the line is.
I think your mixing up my take here. It’s two. One, I agree we are fast becoming serfs in our own country, and quite frankly my Chinese neighbours are in the same boat as me – paying to much rent to a overseas landlord. Theirs is an Australian landlord, just like mine. So again, it’s back to class war. I’m all for class war because this fighting over skin colour, or culture is just another B.S way the elites stay in power.
And two, which runs on from one – most of the overseas landlords/investors are not Chinese, but Australian, English, Irish or Yanks. – and we’re not beating a drum over them. So to blame the last cab off the rank for the problem, just don’t sit to well with me.
So I’ll call Twyford a racist, because – when the cap fits…
It is racist to question non-dom ownership of housing in NZ when a specific ethnic group is singled out based on very limited and unsatisfactory data set using surnames as an indicator of ethnicity.
Then by your own standards it’ll be clearly racism if Labour has no follow up plan to conduct that “exploration of demographics” that you refer to. I am betting they do not.
Point being? Lets just regurgitate ideology, not question, and close down the conversation.
How would you like to measure it Marty? Against what? If it looks like, and walks like… do you not want to know the truth? Where do you start? Is the earth flat – looks like it to me out of the window.
exactly, so how can you say let’s use a method where the shortcomings outweigh any information gained imo – any way is not good enough and just muddies the waters making it harder to sort the real issues out.
We actually have that on the backend in the edit for the post. It is also what shows up on the front-end listing of the last 100? comments.
The big hassle is that to make it useable in a threaded environment you need some way to see the threaded context. That means stacking the thread context in with the comments (ie massively increasing the comments (and duplicating them) that way around) or increasing server and client CPU by doing it with javascript queries with json responses or having people writing replies without looking at the context or forcing replies to reload into a context – eg allowing a post filter on the rhs comment listing to show by comments, and a reply jumps into the usual comments stream – awkward.
I’ve thought some options on this. Pretty awkward…
Just saw snippets of that progamme called The Nation
Matthew Hooton along with that other female (didn’t get her name had more important things to do than listen to her) before you say it was Labour being racist consider this, They weren’t exactly Scotsman wearing kilts turning up in their droves to these property auctions were they. Also TV3 if you are going to interview holograph’s make sure they are wearing the H on their foreheads. It is not really needed as we don’t need the sign to see that he is not real.
notwithstanding all that – twyford ended up being made to look totally ‘out there’ by the gnat spinner and the hologram – that shows how dismal twyford was and is
it won’t be just yours, marty mars. my opinion too. and i say this as someone who actually wants to see Labour win and Twyford do well, or at least not make (to put it very politely) himself so very clumsy.
Relative to the comments about Phil Twyford and the property market and Chinese money etc.
I wonder how many of the rwnatwits have been to a property auction recently?
Now the publicity generated by Unite & Campbell Live about anti Zero Hours employment contracts has subsided, who is surprised by Michael Woodhouse’s flip flop on legislation to outlaw it altogether, instead watering it down to a bit of fiddling around the edges. Watching Q&A this morning where all 3 panelists agreed this was wrong of the Nats, not often Kelly and Barnett concur in agreement.
Zero hours – signed, sealed, delivered
Rather than outlaw exploitative zero-hour contracts the Government has done the exact opposite and entrenched them in law, Labour Leader Andrew Little says.
“National promised to get rid of zero hour contracts. It hasn’t. It has just made new rules for how to use them. They are confusing, muddled and will make no real difference to vulnerable workers.
“There are still no expectations on employers to actually provide work and there are no guarantees that so-called ‘compensation’ will be fair.
“Michael Woodhouse might have been trying to look like he was doing something, but he’s been found out; he’s been doing nothing at all.
“People instinctively know these contracts are unfair. A worker who ostensibly has a full time role can have their hours changing massively from week to week, or can find themselves with no hours at all for the week.
“Today’s announcement is yet another broken promise from the Government. It is a disaster.
“Once again National has shown it is on the side of exploitative employers, not employers who use good practice and certainly not on the side of vulnerable workers,” Andrew Little says.
ha. Who’dve seen it coming. When McDonalds goes along without kicking and screaming on a “yeah lets look at it again soon…” approach, you know the game is rigged. Unite will be pissed. Two months to find out they were “lied to in good faith”.
Researchers said that that the reduced network data demand would lead to lower infrastructure costs than a comparable network without Adblock Plus. The reduced network data demand could also lead to lower energy costs overall, said the paper, as a by-product of lower commodity network costs.
Think about that and think about how much more advertising is costing us both in direct costs from our ISPs and in indirect costs in infrastructure and the cost of power.
Really? How about this “demonstrable fact” – Blacks do worse than whites in intelligence tests. And that is very easily a racist statement in many contexts.
Conflating China with Chinese might be though. One’s a country with a new bourgeoisie who have money to burn, the other’s an ethnicity.
This statement expresses utterly no understanding about the Chinese community, Chinese culture or the Chinese identity. Perhaps its time that Labour bothers to get some Asians into its caucus and its senior party ranks so it has some idea.
And why call this post the “China Crisis”?: if Chinese money flooding into Auckland is a “crisis” then it has been going on for over a decade. And the situation has far more to do with the decisions made by the ruling elite of NZ, and very little to do with the decisions made by the ruling elite of China.
edit – I’ve posted this in OM because my comments are going into moderation in TRP’s post, and I want my views on this topic heard, NOW.
[Your comments aren’t going into moderation, CV. China Crisis was a new wave band. TRP]
Mate, have you even been reading my comments on The Standard for the last several years?
Blame Chinese all you want but you’re fucking dreaming if you think this cheap political stunt by the Labour Party is going to do a thing to bring average Auckland house prices back under $750K for “disenfranchised Kiwis”.
Weepus we could surmise that Mr Vipers house price may suffer. It’s hard when it could hit home that your sitting on a bubble.
If I’m wrong (which I may well be) – then it’s just plain irrational and ideological nonsense. But I’m all for one party death penalty totalitarian regimes that trample over the workers.
And ‘blacks’ have done worse than ‘whites’ in intelligence tests, a fact, from a test… 1) those retarded IQ tests are flawed, and 2) societies advantages aren’t evenly distributed. Rightly or wrongly it still started a discussion that moved toward a demonstrable facts – that probably links lower income with lower IQ.
How can New Zealanders have confidence that Trade Minister Tim Groser is acting in the ‘national interest’ – when the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is currently, of her own volition, conducting an investigation into the NZ GCSB being used to spy on Tim Groser’s rivals in his (unsuccessful) bid for WTO leadership?
How was THAT in the ‘national interest’ of New Zealand?
And who was the Minister responsible for the GCSB at that time?
NZ Prime Minister John Key (a shareholder in the Bank of America).
How can New Zealanders trust either our Minister of Trade, or Prime Minister to look after the ‘national interest’ of our country, our people or NZ businesses?
Helen Kelly…gee I love this woman,what she stands for and how she presents herself..P.M material…I hope she overcomes her health issues.NZ needs people like her badly.
She’s sharp as a tack alright, whenever I’ve seen her intereviewed she comes across as so knowledgeable about the issue involved. All the very best to her.
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Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
Until this month, Auckland swimmer Hazel Ouwehand had never met a qualifying time in an Olympic event for a New Zealand team, even as a junior. Now she’s very likely off to the Paris Olympics after swimming well under the qualifying standard in the 100m butterfly twice – both in ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
Australian and New Zealand volunteers fought together in the Waikato War, yet still its place in the Anzac tradition is unacknowledged by our defence forces or Returned Services Association.First published in 2018.When I was a boy cub I attended Anzac Day services in the South Auckland suburb of ...
A poem by Wellington writer Tayi Tibble.Hoki Mai She kisses him goodbye with her eyes still wet and alight from their last swim in the Awatere river. At the train station celebration, she leads the Kapa Haka but her voice keeps breaking under and over itself like waves. ...
A poem from Bill Manhire’s 2017 book of verse Some Things to Place in a Coffin.My World War I Poem Inside each trench, the sound of prayer. Inside each prayer, the sound of digging. Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum. ...
There are three books I have wolfed down in one sitting over the last two years. Colleen Maria Lenihan’s gorgeous and sad debut Kōhine, Noelle McCarthy’s memoir Grand about becoming her mother and then unbecoming her, and now Hine Toa, a staunch yet gentle self-portrait by living legend Ngāhuia te ...
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Asia Pacific Report Students and activist staff at Australia’s University of Sydney (USyd) have set up a Gaza solidarity encampment in support of Palestinians and similar student-led protests in the United States. The camp was pitched as mass graves, crippled hospitals, thousands of civilian deaths and the near-total destruction of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of Wollongong Australian teddy bear bees are cute and fluffy, but get a look at that massive (unbarbed) stinger! James Dorey Photography Most of us have been stung by a bee and we ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jen Roberts, Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong Aussie~mobs/FlickrVictor Farr, a private in the 1st Infantry Battalion, was among the first to land at Anzac Cove just before dawn on April 25 1915. Victor Farr ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Gregory Moore I had the good fortune to care for the sugar gum at The University of Melbourne’s Burnley Gardens in Victoria where I worked for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Ong ViforJ, ARC Future Fellow & Professor of Economics, Curtin University Just when we think the price of rentals could not get any worse, this week’s Rental Affordability Snapshot by Anglicare has revealed low-income Australians are facing a housing crisis like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tracey Holmes, Professorial Fellow in Sport, University of Canberra When the news broke last weekend that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive to a banned drug in early 2021 and were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games six months later ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cally Jetta, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead; College for First Nations, University of Southern Queensland Australian War MemorialAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people, as well as sensitive historical information ...
RNZ News Melissa Lee has been ousted from New Zealand’s coalition cabinet and stripped of the Media portfolio, and Penny Simmonds has lost the Disability Issues portfolio in a reshuffle. Climate Change and Revenue Minister Simon Watts will take Lee’s spot in cabinet. Simmonds was a minister outside of cabinet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Lindenmayer, Professor, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University laurello/Shutterstock Some reports and popular books, such as Bill Gammage’s Biggest Estate on Earth, have argued that extensive areas of Australia’s forests were kept open through frequent burning by ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon framing the demotion of two ministers as the portfolios getting "too complex" is a charitable way of saying they weren't up to the job. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With Jim Chalmers’s third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief – beyond the tax cuts – although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As ...
Analysis: Melissa Lee has lost the media portfolio and her spot in Cabinet after multiple failed attempts to find solutions for a media industry in crisis. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced Lee would be losing her spot in Cabinet along with her media and communications ministerial portfolio. The job ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Wilmot, Senior Lecturer, Film, Deakin University Among the many Australian who served during the second world war, there is a small group of people whose stories remain largely untold. These are the Muslim men and women who, while small in number, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kelly Saunders, PhD Candidate, University of Canberra There has been much analysis and praise of Justice Michael Lee’s recent judgement in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel Ten. Many people were openly relieved to read Lee’s “forensic” and “nuanced” application of law ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathy Gibbs, Program Director for the Bachelor of Education, Griffith University zEdward_Indy/Shutterstock Around one in 20 people has attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It’s one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood and often continues into adulthood. ADHD is diagnosed ...
The Fairer Future coalition of anti-poverty groups say Whaikaha must be properly funded going forward, and that to argue that poor financial management of the new Ministry is a red herring by the Prime Minister. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is today congratulating Hon. Paul Goldsmith on his appointment as Minister for Media and Communications and urges him to rule out state intervention in the private media sector. ...
Asia Pacific Report The West Papuan resistance OPM leader has condemned Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden, accusing their countries of “six decades of treachery” over Papuan independence. The open letter was released today by OPM chairman Jeffrey P Bomanak on the eve of ANZAC Day ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits and quirks of New Zealanders at large. This week: writer and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2024, Lauren Groff.The book I wish I’d writtenIf I wish I’d written a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Fechner, Research Fellow, Social Marketing, Griffith University mavo/Shutterstock Imagine having dinner at a restaurant. The menu offers plant-based meat alternatives made mostly from vegetables, mushrooms, legumes and wheat that mimic meat in taste, texture and smell. Despite being given that ...
“Three Strikes is a dead-end policy proposed by a dead-end government. The Three Strikes law ignores the causes of crime, instead just brutalising people already crushed by the cost of living.” ...
By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist An Australian-born judge in Kiribati could well face deportation later this week after a tribunal ruling that he should be removed from his post. The tribunal’s report has just been tabled in the Kiribati Parliament and is due to be debated by MPs ...
With its clear mandate for police use, political nuances, and nuanced public trust, Denmark's insights provide valuable considerations for Australia and New Zealand. ...
Books editor Claire Mabey reviews poet Louise Wallace’s debut novel. A famous poet once said to me that he’s always suspicious when a poet publishes a novel. I never really understood why but maybe it’s something to do with cheating on your first form. Louise Wallace is a poet. She’s ...
For a few months at the turn of the millennium, TrueBliss burned bright as the biggest pop stars in the country. Alex Casey chats to two superfans who still hold the flame. During a humble backyard wedding in Nelson, 1999, one of the cordially invited guests had to excuse themselves ...
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When you read such ill informed and low level articles such as Kerre McIvor’s opinion piece in the Herald about junk food, you have to ask :
Is she really that ignorant or
Is she paid by the Junk food industry to write such rubbish’?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11479433
Can you provide more information about your viewpoint? Kerre doesn’t examine every angle, and her reasoning is her own style, but how or which part of her opinion makes her ignorant or a shill? Other than working for the Herald. Which should be enough on it’s own. Is it just the title of the article, the “lack of choice” contradicting the later claim that people have too many choices to choose from?
I’m a bit confused by Paul’s comment about shilling for junk food. The article is saying people need the support to eat well instead of eating junk food. I thought it was well written and struck a good balance between the politics of health and the politics of poverty/lack of education (except for the implication that dietary fat is unhealthy, but hey, how many journos get that right?).
It’s simple weka.
Her argument is naive.
The only way to force the fast food industry to change is regulations.
Her article isn’t about the fast food industry though. It’s about some of the barriers to eating well and that junk food taxes don’t work.
I still don’t get how she could be seen as a shill for Maccas etc.
I know my ideas, you know yours, but we don’t know Paul’s.
Maybe it was an implied argument, a-bob-each-way. No extra taxes for either party, but the low quality veges and meat at the fresh burger truck is cheaper in itself and therefore no tax required to induce people to eat it? Or as Marty Mars raises below: depending on the reasons behind their level of “less well off” there may be no one to go to learn anything about anything.
There’s a place near where I live (and my area is “lower socio-economic”) that is currently trying the healthier option, but price wise it doesn’t look practical – a hard sell. Sitting at a windswept freezing freaking bus station, and the woman comes over, she knows her potential customers and builds good rapport, but would you regularly choose a nice cold fruit smoothie for $7 when you can’t afford to even buy a hop card with what you have left (that lack of ability to accumulate funds that happens, that makes poorer people unavoidably spend more), or would you dive over to the pie shop and get something hot and comforting for $3.50? It was a hard sell, and at least one guy wandered over – it was end of shift for him and he obviously had disposible income – but some of him going was the cultural connection they shared because when she got to me, the story changed. haha. Christ it was funny, but nothing wrong with that. So many challenges to consider during the brainstorming stage of inducing people to eat healthy.
On the other hand, go to any nightmarket and check out the prices and options – healthy as, some of those things. Two dollar snacks, five dollar meals. But once again, have I seen any of the local homeless there? Nup. Some of those guys are BIG. Just like you don’t often see homeless in supermarkets before 9pm. The lower end of the range appears more frequently, but not the way down end. Some places, some times of day, the “invisible class” remain invisible. If you’re an alcoholic, you might not often feel like eating much “food” anyway. Cheap food or not.
Depends on the area. Some places round here are “owned” by a certain “street transient class”, others are “owned” by higher “stable” classes. The rules and reasons why things work/interface across classes and entry into each area change over a few hundred metres sometimes. Good intentions don’t translate at all, or easily.
edit: Well there you go, while I was writing this Paul replies.
” I wish we could set up food caravans close to fast food outlets and have cooks showing people how to make real burgers – nutritious, cheap – so they don’t have to spend their money on crap.”
Is that the ill informed bit Paul or maybe
“So I turned to my mum and other wise women I was lucky enough to know and learned how to stretch mince with leftover rice and rolled oats and finely chopped vegetables from the fridge that were one day away from the compost.
I learned how to make delicious soup from a pack of imperfect vegetables sold at cut price and I picked up bargains from the supermarket by browsing the aisles at night, choosing chicken and meat two days off their use-by dates and turning them into casseroles.”
Seems your privilege may have blinded you to what happens for those less well off.
@ Paul (1)
Also being a mouthpiece on Newstalk ZB, playing the NatzKEY card, I’d say she’s probably a bit of both!
What is your point?
Great to see opposition fighting back against the lies and deceptions
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11478882
Know about this?
Professor Jane Kelsey’s new book – which should REALLY ‘pack a wallop’ in the fightback against the FIRE (Finance, Insurance and Real Estate) economy?
——————————————————————————-
Press Release: Bridget Williams Books (2 July 2015)
Time of reckoning for New Zealand imminent, says academic
The role of the public intellectual is to stimulate debate and raise unsettling questions.
With The FIRE Economy: New Zealand’s Reckoning, Jane Kelsey proves once again to be a formidable bearer of the mantle.
This long-awaited sequel to the author’s The New Zealand Experiment is a sharply attentive critique of the legacy of New Zealand’s neoliberal project at a time of international turmoil.
FIRE is shorthand for today’s economy where the main sources of wealth are Finance, Insurance and Real Estate.
This book details how ‘financialisation’ has progressively hollowed out the New Zealand economy since 1984 and burdened households and the country with massive unsustainable debt.
The housing bubble, finance company collapses and the insurance hangover from the Canterbury earthquakes are symptoms of a market fundamentalism that celebrates easy profits and risk, and treats the people and communities who lose as collateral damage.
Kelsey argues forcefully that New Zealand is in a ‘state of denial’, a term borrowed from International Monetary Fund researchers making similar calls of other affluent states in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis.
A disturbing complacency – the return, in effect, to ‘business as usual’ – makes a reassessment of the FIRE economy, and the neoliberalism that sustains it, more urgent than ever.
The fates and responses of countries such as Greece, Ireland, Spain and Iceland stand as cautionary tales that deserve our attention.
Taking up that challenge, Kelsey explains why we must engage in a national discussion on the social, economic and political costs of continuing as we are.
In particular, she focuses on the dangers of privatising the state, and of embedding neoliberalism in our laws and institutions.
She considers what a post-neoliberal era might look like and what obstacles we must overcome to get there.
In criticising the neoliberal project and its social fallout – deepening levels of poverty and inequality, the abdication of the state’s responsibility to its citizens, the transfer of risk to the most vulnerable – Kelsey is far from a voice in the wilderness.
Her views are shared by a range of international commentators, whose reputation and authority New Zealand cannot afford to ignore.
• Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England:
Just as any revolution eats its children, unchecked market fundamentalism can devour the long term dynamism of capitalism itself.
• Joseph Stiglitz, chair of the UN Commission on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, reflecting on the causes of the Global Financial Crisis:
Underlying many of these mistakes were the economic philosophies that have prevailed for the past quarter-century (sometimes referred to as neoliberalism or market fundamentalism).
• Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF:
The true role of the financial sector is to serve, not to rule, the economy.
[We need to be] making income tax systems more progressive without being excessive; making greater use of property taxes; expanding access to education and health; and relying more on active labour market programs and in-work social benefits.
The FIRE Economy is a remarkable and important achievement, not least because, as Kelsey demonstrates in a revealing appendix, her original research was conducted in the face of increased structural barriers impeding free and transparent access to information about governments’ operations. This too, she argues, is a matter for concern and urgent debate.
For anyone interested in our recent past and – more critically – our precarious future, The FIRE Economy is a must-read.
A big chunk on this on Insight this morning – Future Financial Stability. Jane had a part to play. Pretty ominous outlook but political parties too scared to tackle real reform:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/insight/audio/201761887/insight-for-12-july-2015-future-financial-stability
FYI
Book launch: Jane Kelsey,
The FIRE Economy,
WED 15 July 6pm,
Old Govt House Auck University.
Penny Bright
What happens at a book launch? How much is it to get in?
It’s free: http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2015/the-fire-economy-by-jane-kelsey-public-talk/auckland
It’s free.
http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2015/the-fire-economy-by-jane-kelsey-public-talk/auckland
twyford doubling down on the nation – fuck off you racist thick prick – “it doesn’t matter in one sense what their surname is” says dick ” but when you look at the names… it points in one direction”. “is it plausible?” – fuck me twyford has just fucked his party.
rimmer from act exposes twyford and hits the NZF line – wow labours dirty racebait exposed by rimmer what a shocker of an embarrassment – lol
over reaction ,it is both plausible and logical and not surprisingly the conclusions mirror activity in other western cities.I have some data from The Week I will try to find that shows a remarkable similarity to Twyfords estimates and London R.E.Of course in London the oligarchs from Africa and Russia with ethnic sounding names are mostly from Africa and Russia!
It’s got nothing to do with race and everything to do with the discrepancy shown. It would be better if we had an actual register to work with rather than just the names of buyers but a) no government since the neo-liberal attack in the 1980s set up such a register and b) we have to work with what we’ve got.
“It’s got nothing to do with race”
lol
This is the best response to that line. A++ marty.
“Twyford doubling down on the nation – fuck off you racist thick prick – “it doesn’t matter in one sense what their surname is” says dick ” but when you look at the names… it points in one direction”. “is it plausible?” – fuck me twyford has just fucked his party.”
Sorry can’t agree with you there pal, when the interviewer tried to nail him on that one, he replied, that they were looking to restrict ALL non resident foreign ownership.
Twity Twyford has played the blame game before – you remember the shop owner murder in Henderson? http://thestandard.org.nz/murders-out-west/ That time, he blamed the poor for the murder. People like him.
Twyford has a track record of being tacky, and full of middle class liberal angst. He knows perfectly well this is a racist comment, playing into a rump of racist New Zealand – who still believe in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Peril#New_Zealand
If you want to call me PC, for calling Twyford a racist twit. Then fine with that. I’d rather be called PC than have to listen to all you say your not being racist, when you are. Because frankly yesterday I felt I was in deep south , with a load of dribble came out of peoples mouth.
Pifft – a song to remind you all where the line is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scBif3NgbNE
+ 1
Nope. I’ll just you a fucken idiot.
We have a problem and you’re trying to ignore it by calling anyone who draws attention to it racist.
Grow up Draco T Bastard. You know what this is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movements
Get on the right side of History.
I know what that is I also know that it’s got nothing to do with the problem that we have of foreign ‘investors’ buying up all NZ property and land.
I think your mixing up my take here. It’s two. One, I agree we are fast becoming serfs in our own country, and quite frankly my Chinese neighbours are in the same boat as me – paying to much rent to a overseas landlord. Theirs is an Australian landlord, just like mine. So again, it’s back to class war. I’m all for class war because this fighting over skin colour, or culture is just another B.S way the elites stay in power.
And two, which runs on from one – most of the overseas landlords/investors are not Chinese, but Australian, English, Irish or Yanks. – and we’re not beating a drum over them. So to blame the last cab off the rank for the problem, just don’t sit to well with me.
So I’ll call Twyford a racist, because – when the cap fits…
Actually, we are. We’re saying that all foreign investment in housing is bad.
Except for the fact that it doesn’t and you’d know that if you’d listen.
I did listen, and that is exactly why I have no one qualms in calling him a twit.
I did listen too BEFORE commenting yesterday and adam is and has been 100% all this time.
And so is Lanthanide at 12:54pm today (http://thestandard.org.nz/international-investment-in-auckland-housing/#comment-1042056).
Language please mm
sorry
Your taking what Twyford said out of context Marty. Opposition MP’s are calling for a registrar of who are buying New Zealand property.
Your hardly one who should be throwing stones. Given your cheerleading of the r/ejected former MP Hone Hawaria, a man known for the odd racist gaff.
“Hone Hawaria” lol – who dat?
It is not racist to question non-dom ownership of housing in NZ
It is racist to question non-dom ownership of housing in NZ when a specific ethnic group is singled out based on very limited and unsatisfactory data set using surnames as an indicator of ethnicity.
No it’s not. It’s an exploration of demographics. Cry racism where it’s due, and it is, otherwise you demean the term.
Then by your own standards it’ll be clearly racism if Labour has no follow up plan to conduct that “exploration of demographics” that you refer to. I am betting they do not.
Lets not use any method to measure, even when stating the shortcomings. Racist, racist… rabble, rabble… yawn.
How long is the coastline of this country Thom?
Point being? Lets just regurgitate ideology, not question, and close down the conversation.
How would you like to measure it Marty? Against what? If it looks like, and walks like… do you not want to know the truth? Where do you start? Is the earth flat – looks like it to me out of the window.
exactly, so how can you say let’s use a method where the shortcomings outweigh any information gained imo – any way is not good enough and just muddies the waters making it harder to sort the real issues out.
Is there a way for me to stack the thread replies so that the newest ones are at the top of the list?
Nope. Interesting idea though – Lynn?
We actually have that on the backend in the edit for the post. It is also what shows up on the front-end listing of the last 100? comments.
The big hassle is that to make it useable in a threaded environment you need some way to see the threaded context. That means stacking the thread context in with the comments (ie massively increasing the comments (and duplicating them) that way around) or increasing server and client CPU by doing it with javascript queries with json responses or having people writing replies without looking at the context or forcing replies to reload into a context – eg allowing a post filter on the rhs comment listing to show by comments, and a reply jumps into the usual comments stream – awkward.
I’ve thought some options on this. Pretty awkward…
Just saw snippets of that progamme called The Nation
Matthew Hooton along with that other female (didn’t get her name had more important things to do than listen to her) before you say it was Labour being racist consider this, They weren’t exactly Scotsman wearing kilts turning up in their droves to these property auctions were they. Also TV3 if you are going to interview holograph’s make sure they are wearing the H on their foreheads. It is not really needed as we don’t need the sign to see that he is not real.
notwithstanding all that – twyford ended up being made to look totally ‘out there’ by the gnat spinner and the hologram – that shows how dismal twyford was and is
in your opinion mm
yep thanks for that John, “In my opinion, notwithstanding…and is.
it won’t be just yours, marty mars. my opinion too. and i say this as someone who actually wants to see Labour win and Twyford do well, or at least not make (to put it very politely) himself so very clumsy.
Relative to the comments about Phil Twyford and the property market and Chinese money etc.
I wonder how many of the rwnatwits have been to a property auction recently?
Now the publicity generated by Unite & Campbell Live about anti Zero Hours employment contracts has subsided, who is surprised by Michael Woodhouse’s flip flop on legislation to outlaw it altogether, instead watering it down to a bit of fiddling around the edges. Watching Q&A this morning where all 3 panelists agreed this was wrong of the Nats, not often Kelly and Barnett concur in agreement.
Zero hours – signed, sealed, delivered
Rather than outlaw exploitative zero-hour contracts the Government has done the exact opposite and entrenched them in law, Labour Leader Andrew Little says.
“National promised to get rid of zero hour contracts. It hasn’t. It has just made new rules for how to use them. They are confusing, muddled and will make no real difference to vulnerable workers.
“There are still no expectations on employers to actually provide work and there are no guarantees that so-called ‘compensation’ will be fair.
“Michael Woodhouse might have been trying to look like he was doing something, but he’s been found out; he’s been doing nothing at all.
“People instinctively know these contracts are unfair. A worker who ostensibly has a full time role can have their hours changing massively from week to week, or can find themselves with no hours at all for the week.
“Today’s announcement is yet another broken promise from the Government. It is a disaster.
“Once again National has shown it is on the side of exploitative employers, not employers who use good practice and certainly not on the side of vulnerable workers,” Andrew Little says.
ha. Who’dve seen it coming. When McDonalds goes along without kicking and screaming on a “yeah lets look at it again soon…” approach, you know the game is rigged. Unite will be pissed. Two months to find out they were “lied to in good faith”.
University Rolls Out Adblock Plus, Saves 40 Percent Network Bandwidth
Think about that and think about how much more advertising is costing us both in direct costs from our ISPs and in indirect costs in infrastructure and the cost of power.
Client pages spread up considerably when I dropped ads.
I’m hoping to get a reply from Fonterra tomorrow to my simple question:
Are Fonterra representatives able to see the TPPA text?
How else can they be sure that Minister of Trade Tim Groser is negotiating a good deal for the NZ dairy industry?
Penny Bright
Really? How about this “demonstrable fact” – Blacks do worse than whites in intelligence tests. And that is very easily a racist statement in many contexts.
This statement expresses utterly no understanding about the Chinese community, Chinese culture or the Chinese identity. Perhaps its time that Labour bothers to get some Asians into its caucus and its senior party ranks so it has some idea.
And why call this post the “China Crisis”?: if Chinese money flooding into Auckland is a “crisis” then it has been going on for over a decade. And the situation has far more to do with the decisions made by the ruling elite of NZ, and very little to do with the decisions made by the ruling elite of China.
edit – I’ve posted this in OM because my comments are going into moderation in TRP’s post, and I want my views on this topic heard, NOW.
[Your comments aren’t going into moderation, CV. China Crisis was a new wave band. TRP]
CV, if only you’d show as much passion for disenfranchised Kiwis as you do for what you see as your marginalised minority.
Mate, have you even been reading my comments on The Standard for the last several years?
Blame Chinese all you want but you’re fucking dreaming if you think this cheap political stunt by the Labour Party is going to do a thing to bring average Auckland house prices back under $750K for “disenfranchised Kiwis”.
Weepus we could surmise that Mr Vipers house price may suffer. It’s hard when it could hit home that your sitting on a bubble.
If I’m wrong (which I may well be) – then it’s just plain irrational and ideological nonsense. But I’m all for one party death penalty totalitarian regimes that trample over the workers.
And ‘blacks’ have done worse than ‘whites’ in intelligence tests, a fact, from a test… 1) those retarded IQ tests are flawed, and 2) societies advantages aren’t evenly distributed. Rightly or wrongly it still started a discussion that moved toward a demonstrable facts – that probably links lower income with lower IQ.
How can New Zealanders have confidence that Trade Minister Tim Groser is acting in the ‘national interest’ – when the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is currently, of her own volition, conducting an investigation into the NZ GCSB being used to spy on Tim Groser’s rivals in his (unsuccessful) bid for WTO leadership?
How was THAT in the ‘national interest’ of New Zealand?
And who was the Minister responsible for the GCSB at that time?
NZ Prime Minister John Key (a shareholder in the Bank of America).
How can New Zealanders trust either our Minister of Trade, or Prime Minister to look after the ‘national interest’ of our country, our people or NZ businesses?
Seriously?
Penny Bright
Helen Kelly…gee I love this woman,what she stands for and how she presents herself..P.M material…I hope she overcomes her health issues.NZ needs people like her badly.
Here’s the link to the video interview from TVNZ’s Sunday show for those who missed it, (12 mins long):
http://tvnz.co.nz/sunday-news/helen-kelly-has-spent-her-lifetime-fighting-others-now-she-own-life-video-6356713
She’s sharp as a tack alright, whenever I’ve seen her intereviewed she comes across as so knowledgeable about the issue involved. All the very best to her.
For people caught in the periodic outages and slowdowns today, they were caused by a backup process going bad.
Turned that process off. I’ll rely on the other less intrusive procedure for a few days while I tear the code apart.