I don’t understand this, perhaps someone can enlighten.
When a business makes a mistake and that costs it in terms of lost customers and reputation, that business and its owner understands that it must carry that self-imposed burden and deal with it alone with no expectation that the owners neighbour or anyone else should step in and pay to right the mistake. After all, the neighbour has not shared in any previous profits.
But Fonterra, a private company, after ballsing up its botulism scare left right and centre, is getting taxpayer funding to help correct their self-imposed disaster. A government fund of $2,000,000 has been set up, from which dairy businesses can do such things as get the taxpayer to pay their travel costs to those customers, among other things.
How does this fit? How does this work? Can any business apply for such assistance when they balls things up? Or is it only certain ones?
Sounds like more welfare to me. Bludging off the taxpayer. Just like the NZX which after several decades still stutters along wimpering for the taxpayer to support their privately owned business…
Perhaps Wayne, who comments on here from time to time and posters seem to know who is (is it publicly known, his identity?), would like to explain. Come in Wayne…
and then you know what….. I turns the next page of te morning paper and what is the headline? Fonterra expanding into China expecting to farm up to 15,000 cows….
For fucking fucks sake – what a pile cowshit this government is
God you guys a getting ripped off in NZ – I live in the Middle East & I pay the equivalent of NZ$3.20 for 2 litres of fresh milk – all imported. None of my Arab colleagues can understand why New Zealander’s pay international prices for a product they make domestically – we sure as hell don’t pay international prices for petroleum here (we pay about 30 cents a litre – and the locals think that is expensive!)
Earlier on in the week on the radio I heard that an 11 year old won a NZ science prize for proving that the triple layer plastic milk bottle does not keep milk as fresh as the regular plastic milk bottle. I will try and find a link.
Apparently one benefit of the triple layer plastic is that it prevents light from destroying the nutrient content. I would like to know by how much?
I suppose if you can afford the more expensive container, any waste is not an issue.
Part of the problem is that regulation is required as the supermarket mark up is a rip off. Watch the cost of anything else with dairy in it rise.
Setting up dairy, kiwifruit in other countries is seen as an export – exporting our expertise, our intellectual property, experience. Whether its exxing out some of our interests in the short or long term well I don’t know if that has been examined.
With the difficulty of keeping quality control over our own stuff, and the harm that we have caused to the respect for our standards, perhaps it would be a good idea to make money from helping countries get established in the market, and then sell out our interests there, and wait for them to screw up. In the meantime we concentrate on making quality stuff, and have policies of honesty and fast response to any problems and have unceasing controls and inspections enforced by the government, as business cannot be relied upon not to slide if its solely responsible for itself.
And that leads to a news item from this morning. The horrific fuel train explosion in Canada was caused by inadequate measures by the transport company, but the results were ramped up because it was carrying more flammable fuel than the oil it was allowed to transport.
And the likelihood of government controlling complacent, wealthy, cost-cutting, safety and regulation lax businesses – well the oil spill in the Northern Hemisphere, was it the Exonn or similar, came about after safety measures had not been followed, government controls and officials had been softened up after ‘capture’ by the business, and all along the safety evaluation of the oil gathering and transporting led to an expectation of some event in a 25 year time frame. This then was made more likely to occur by the lax safety standards adopted.
(Probably Fukushima was similar.)
Yes, Boadicea – wouldn’t you think the Labour caucus – especially the ABCs – have the message by now that Rogernomics didn’t work and new thinking on economic development is needed?
But No – they’re still tied to that old drum ….. Mr Rogernomics telling them “the two main contenders, Mr Cunliffe and Mr Robertson, have had been advancing policy “that would set New Zealand up to become another Spain or Greece.”
Ironical, eh ?. Following the Rogernomics track has set NZ up to become “another Spain or Greece”.
And it will be more than disappointing if the current Labour caucus cannot see that.
The trouble was a conventional socialist paniced and called for a cup of tea …. we will never know where Sir Roger was taking us … that is a hard pill for you folk to swallow I know.
Even the Herald now gives Cunliffe 12 first preference caucus votes (Audrey Young today). With 60% of both the unions and the members he will be the leader. Too easy!
So wrong in so many ways. What the fuck were they thinking?
There’s enormous scope for industrial espionage as the Israeli military/industrial complex commercialises its opportunities.
Here’s an example:
On the day Raphael Ouzan finished five years of service in an elite intelligence unit, he decided to start his own company. The night after his release from the IDF he met with a good friend, Yaron Samid, and together they resolved to build their own startup.
In the first days they had only five employees—two from the same intelligence unit as Ouzan. Last year their company—BillGuard—raised 3 million dollars in funding and won second place in the startup competition Techcrunch Disrupt.
BillGuard is, essentially, antivirus for your credit card. The software scans credit card transactions and finds technical errors or fraudulent deals. This is accomplished with a unique algorithm which scans forums, social networks and websites, and analyzes transactions for “suspicious” behavior.
What’s the link between credit card protection and the IDF? Raphael Ouzan, now BillGuard’s CTO explains:
“I learned a lot about this type of work from my military service . . .
Reframing the economy – The new economics foundation writes about the differences between the austerity framing and a new story the shows a difference side of the economic policies of austerity and the type of society that we want to progress.
when a frame is strongly held we tend to ignore facts that do not fit with it. The austerity story is a powerful narrative that is embedded in public consciousness. It cannot be challenged with facts. Only with new frames and a different story about the economy can it be dislodged…
To win, they will need to do more than find their frames, they will need to be more coordinated, responsive to public opinion and find more credible messengers.
Amirite NZ has built a boat industry up from $120 million a year to over $2billion a year.
On the back of our sucess in the Americas cup!
Leading edge world beating technology has been developed + the publicity NZ gets from the cup.
Even in the bottom of the south island many boat building companies have hugely benefited .Companies that were employing a couple of employees are now employing well paid engineers welders etc,
Formerly these companies were making cheap aluminiun tinnies runabouts and dingies they are now making large ocean going high end cruisers at $150,000+
Before $1200 dingies.
These are exactly the value added exports we need in this country.
If we don,t keep supporting and investing in this industry we will fall behind and china will take all these high paying jobs.
The cost at less than $8 million per year is a fraction of what farming and other industries receive from govt!
You can only invest in industry from your profits.NZ is always constrained by the value of its currency which is subject to the gamblers perception ie a higher official interest rate.
Wheelers statement had an immediate effect,reducing the profits for exporters in the upcoming export season.
Who gives a stuff about boat builders when we cannot even construct moderate price houses.
When we can house, feed, educate, and provide good health care for all New Zeal;anders then we can start worrying about building rich men’s toys
Ron We need skilled people making physical things for everybody – making things, yachts, boats, railway carriages, steel workers etc. Also needed is regular work for builders, not on-off cycles of boom and depressed demand, and real assistance to the building community from a real hard-working government agency.
It would have model plans that used good and modest priced materials with acceptable building methods. Some might use some steel and wood. They would inform on whether boron treated studs and joists would be better than untreated. It would be in plain language so that interested people could get leaflets and read reports on line. If we had had a working agency like this it would have put a stop to the building of housing that was proving to be unsatisfactory and even dangerous, overseas.
Most of our poor leaky housing would never have happened if BRANZ or whatever it was called was working well for our benefit. When we are decrying the housing deficit, don’t forget the setback the leaky, fungussy homes caused and the heartache and physical sickness as well as the mental stress for people involved in the losses.
I hope we will never get to the stage where we become so angry that violence and retaliation break out against the perpetrators of these predatory shonky financial and political schemes.
There is only so much that people can put up with – too much and the chickens will come home to roost.
(expressed in print as early as 1390, when Geoffrey Chaucer used it in The Parson’s Tale: And ofte tyme swich cursynge wrongfully retorneth agayn to hym that curseth, as a bryd that retorneth agayn to his owene nest.)
Ron This is a good way to take money back off rich people.
Oracle paid NZ boat builders to build their boats because we had the best technology and skill in the world.
we will never be a bulk mass producer like China Indonesia or any large industrialized country ever again we can only succeed in niche markets.
Its not just rich mans toys we make huge numbers of small boats as well.
This is one area in manufacturing where we are leading the world!
We can construct cheap housing its just that existing monopolies have the govt in their back pocket !
Education world leading software is being developed in NZ by Taylor made for television, apps for smart phones and then the on board software for Team New Zealand Aotearoa designed and developed in Good old NZ!
Larry Ellison (oracle yes Oracle) World leading software designer and supplier is getting beaten by some very smart high paid by NZ standards home grown Kiwi software designers that will make software designers sit up and take Notice the world over that has got to be good for NZ!
Reality check needed Ron in fact its been nearly seven years since the Labour Govt put up the $36 million for Team NZ thats less than $4 million a year.
How much did the country put up for the world cup for a negative return, nearly $1 billion dollars which local councils are still in debt up to their eyeballs from and have caused a lot of job losses because councils have had to sack staff to pay for under used stadiums while the Americas cup has turned a $120 million a year boat industry into a $2 billion a year boat industry employing 100,s if not thousands of full time workers!
If I had my way I would have put that rugby money into the boat industry at least we would have some return for our investment .Instead we have a bunch of empty stadiums and the loan shark big Aussie bankers Are smiling!
NZ Defence has been found to be just a tad careless in training its workers, apparently on the basis that because they are going into dangerous theatres of whatever, they need to be toughened and man-up to danger, before they are properly trained and instructed to deal with such dangers in a manful and knowledgable manner. Man what a bunch of clods and impractical managers in Defence. The authoritarian power with absolute power to ignore morality and fair behaviour and respect for the troops and their welfare is on the way to losing his, or her, humanity.
Not just training, but the basic activities of equipment and maintenance. I’m thinking of the poor guy who fucking drowned because his life vest wouldn’t inflate.
For a while back there the NZRAF had more “Wing Commanders” on the payroll than actual physical wings flyable in the fleet. Don’t know if it’s still the case.
Now I don’t have permission to edit with 5 minutes left to go. I was going to express my thinking better but you’ll just have to unscramble the code that attempts to convey the message! /sarc
Perhaps those wing commanders spent their spare time, instead of ensuring proper training and usage standards be met to prevent loss of human capacity and expensive capital equipment, developing the game Icarus. It sounds interesting and maybe challenging for a grounded sky pilot.
(Itching to dive-bomb a rival guild’s castle from dragon-back? It will be possible in the upcoming fantasy game Icarus Online.) http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Icarus-Online/
(Icarus, son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus had been imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of his …)
Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology
So what is the rate of accidental deaths for members of the NZDF v comparable civilian occupations? Do you know or is this just a rant based on ignorance and perception?
chris73
Do your own work if you are interested in gaining the information. But then if you were you would have some stored in your own mind and would have an idea of what I was referring to. Trouble with you RWNJs is that you are information beneficiaries too lazy to do your own amassing of stats and background.
Firemen, truckies, carpenters, mechanics, storemen, administraters, doctors, nurses, medics, teachers, pilots, cooks, stewards, plumbers, gym instructors, dentists, pet ops, move ops, divers, psychatrists, builders and of course after the winds the guys were out with chainsaws but thats not a core function…
Theres probably more but thats enough to go on for now…
Soldier first and trade second but that wasn’t the question was it, the question was: “what civilian occupations are comparable to NZDF functions?”
Now while I am pretty damn awesome I do have to admit that reading peoples minds isn’t one of my particular talents so if you want me to answer a question make sure you phrase the question properly
The forestry Industry makes the defense force look good who needs enemies when we are more dangerous with self inflicted losses even in Afghanistan Key Turned down amoured vehicles and refused to use light amoured vehicles because they were to expensive to take to that theater of war!
nationals cost cutting at work again down grading our armed services while Poncekey takes all the limelight for being the US,s lapdog is criminal negligence.
National can.t help themselves cutting forrestry inspection from 1,000 down to 220 a year has lead to a massive increase in deaths negligence the minister Joyce should be put on trial for manslaughter!
Two nations were influenced by our thinkers and example:
Finland and Chile. Finland learned its lessons from John Dewey. Its
schools are child-centered. It prizes the arts and physical
education. It has no standardized testing. Its schools are noted
for both excellence and equity. It is a top performer on
international tests. Chile learned its lessons from Milton
Friedman. It has vouchers and testing. Its schools are highly
segregated by social class. The quality of education is highly
dependent on family income. Students in Chile are rioting to demand
free public education. No one considers Chile a model. Which
direction are we going? Why? Whose ideas are dominant
today?
Yep. A side tangential issue to that touches on some comments on this site lately about the loyalty of the armed forces and who they actually belong to and act for.
As is shown by the Chile coup, the Fiji coups, and many other examples, armed forces do not belong to the people and neither are they loyal to the people, nor even the government. They act for and belong to others. They do what they are ordered to – such as bomb and kill civilians and others living in their own country (Egypt), murder politicians (Chile), act for the Crown (British Crown) to protect the Crown (reason for ignoring Lange in first Fiji coup)
Militaries are for these purposes, which are quite contrary to the popular understanding of the wider public who assume that they are on “our” side. Especially in NZ where, you know, nothing like that ever happens, couldn’t, nah, that happens overseas….
Some posters have highlighted these realities recently and it has left a chill in the air ……….
Here is an example of setting yourself up for problems. Relying too heavily on man-made things for your business when you operate in a non-man-made environment.
Rely on power for your dairy shed – what happens when the power goes out?
Rely on external water supply for your grass – what happens when the external water supply dries up?
Rely on mechanical means to feed the animals – what happens when nature tips it upside down?
Too much reliance on non-natural items. Too intensive. Too clever for our own good, methinks
One other too – Canterbury used to have large hedges planted all over to protect from the wind and stop the earth being blown away (this was learned from when the land was stripped and early weather blew the dirt away). When these hedges began being flattened about 15 years ago many old-timers said strongly that they would rue the day. The winds would return and wreak havoc they said. And looky at that – the winds came screaming down through the mountains and instead of screeching across at the height of 10m hedges it screeched across at the height of 1cm blades of grass.
I have too many digs at farmers and this is not intended as another. It is a dig at humanwomankind and its tendency to always forget the lessons of the past. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them. Voila.
The problem is that they listened to the anti global warming sorces and didn’t buy generators to run even just one machine to relieve the suffering of their animals. Personally I have changed to all electricity but I have not sold my gas .. that is in reserve for when the power fails …. if a townie with just himself to think about can do it why not the farmer with hundreds of stock their responsibility.
Yep – vto – we were sitting there watching the TV news about all the mangled irrigation pipes wondering why the heck they had’nt laid them down, dismantled them or done something else to protect them when they had plenty of warning those high winds were coming. And maybe those irrigation contraptions could be replaced with sprinkler pipes laid in the ground ?
And now you’re talking about the removal of the shelter hedges. Hadn’t realised that had happened. Why did the dairy farmers or whoever think they were there in the first place – as decoration ? Farmers don’t do decoration.
Amazing lack of thought on the part of whoever is in charge of the dairy farms in Canterbury.
One more time in the ghetto, yes, yet another comment on the question: Does raising the minimum wage lead to more unemployment, the answer so far from what i have posted has been a resounding and emphatic NO,
This link is pretty looo-ong and may have your eyeballs sliding out of their socket and off down your cheeks if you try and read it all at once, it does tho present the argument from both sides, a couple of salient points when we consider what is the American experience and how the template is more or less a mirror of our own,
Paul Krugman: ”The current level of the minimum wage is very low by any reasonable standard”.
In a New York Time op-ed piece Noble Prize winning economist Paul Krugman argued that raising the minimum wage was both good politics and sound policy. Moreover, He argued in favor of increasing the Federal baseline to keep up with inflation,
”For about four decades increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960’s, meanwhile, worker productivity has doubled”, (New York Times 2/17/13).
Starts to make the USA sound like a small country located in the South Pacific Ocean doesn’t it, and then there is this:
”If the minimum wage reflected worker productivity it would be nearly $22 per hour”.
Citing a study done by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Huffington Post explained that the current minimum wage lags far behind what it should after accounting for productivity increases,
”The minimum wage should have reached $21.72 an hour in 2012 if it kept up with increases in worker productivity according to a March study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research”,
”While advancements in technology have increased the amount of goods and services that can be produced in a set amount of time wages have remained relatively flat the study point out”, (the Huffington Post 2/13/13).
Not here in little old Noo Zealand tho right, the robber barons wouldn’t whip us into productivity increases while not passing on a fair share of such increases as wage rises, or would they???,
This would tend to suggest that the US experience of the Neoliberal experiment matches our own,
”Out-put growth in the measured sectors averaged 2.6% per annum from 1978 to 2007, the main driver of this out-put growth was labour productivity of +2.0% per annum”.
The studies are nice but also irrelevant to our specific conditions, we can get the economic and social outcomes we want in NZ via innovative fiscal means.
The Greens are questioning some of the NACTs innovative means of pulling money Out of the economy with a little pokie game, a devilish device. Have a go at their fruit loop machine and try for a thinking MP to cross the House. https://www.greens.org.nz/skycity#1
The most interesting and thoughtful article by Krugman was quite recentl;y where he wrote about the wonk factor and related it to the Republicans which I don’t particularly dis-agree with … they are a festering sore on American politics …. HOWEVER when I come to The Standard I see evidence of a similar problem.
Wonk Factor = a habit of only reading sources that you agree with.
I wonder if I suffer from it too since I only read Krugman becuase I agree with him and cannot be bothered with the RW crap.
PS. I never considered Sir Roger RW, that was the journalists and Alliance idiots bellyacheing.
jcuknz
Are you into studying the cosmos. Because you don’t seem to know much about what is going on down and around here on little ole NZ. Sir Roger not RW? That joke won’t fly.
Here’s a jolly little poem by AA Milne just right for Sir Roger…It may seem silly, but not very. Bad Sir Brian Botany
Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on;
He went among the villagers and blipped them on the head.
On Wednesday and on Saturday, but mostly on the latter day,
He called at all the cottages, and this what he said:
I am Sir Brian, as bold as a lion –
Take that! – and that! – and that!
Sir Brian woke one morning, and he couldn’t find his battleaxe:
He walked into the village in his second pair of boots.
He had gone a hundred paces, when the street was full of faces,
And the villagers were round him with ironical salutes…
Sir Brian went a journey, and he found a lot of duck-weed:
They pulled him out and dried him, and they blipped him on the head.
They took him by the breeches, and they hurled him into ditches,
And they pushed him under waterfalls, and this is what they said:
You are Sir Brian, as bold as a lion –
Sir Brian, the lion, good-bye!
And now he goes about the village as B.Botany, Esquire.
I am Sir Brian? Oh no!
I am Sir Brian? Who’s he?
I haven’t got any title, I’m Botany –
Plain Mr Botany (B).
I considered him to be seriously unwise and in way too much of a hurry. The over-regulated state with a habit of hiding unemployment in the farming sector, forestry, the post office, railways, etc was never going to survive because it simply wasn’t economic. Nor was the tariff system that resulted in the first corporate I worked with having a larger lobby group in Wellington protecting the tariffs than their head office and sales force combined.
Problem was that it’d gotten to the point of collapse as the NZLP took power and literally found that they couldn’t pay for it any more. Inflation was already out of control so they couldn’t print their way out. That allowed border-line hysterics like Douglas, Prebble, Moore, etc way way too much power to make completely bad through to simply shoddy deals. Problem was that the Labour MPs including the backboners were so used to only have 3 years that they tried to do everything in 3 years – and it made the economic reforms completely desperate and dangerous. It takes time to change economic systems safely.
Nett result of doing sudden change like that was that we wound up with a rump of people with few skills in the wrong parts of the country who went on unemployment for far too long. Go to somewhere like Rotorua or the old tariff factories and you can see the generational damage that fell out of that. National unfortunately usually come around just often enough to kill those regional towns whenever they start getting better off.
It also made it freaking hard to get capital for anything productive in this country for decades after the ’87 crash when the ponzi cowboys tainted the finance markets and killed all of the pre-existing capital outlets.
Of course if Muldoon hadn’t been such a diehard conservative screwing the pooch in the decade before trying to prevent change, then it’d have been a whole lot easier.
That’s really good summary of post-Muldoon lprent.. It is understandable the way you explain it. Muldoon may have been the right man for the job for a while, but after two terms leaders need to be put out to grass, otherwise they get stuck in the dried cow pats and have to be prised up. I also think that the terms should be for four years. You refer to three and it does seem that it is just too hard to plan, implement and monitor results within that time. Hence the shonky legislation we get.
Muldoon right to the finish sang the song ”I did it my way’ and wanted to take It with him when he went. Lange said that before Muldoon officially handed over the keys to the hope-chest we had a capital flight so bad that Labour had to call up all the diplomats overseas and sequester their credit card balances.
What upset me was the flamboyant way Douglas et al closed down businesses which were really operating, even with some assistance, and then they replaced them with slogans which weren’t as useful at the supermarket. First pain, then gain for instance. Unions bad, business sanctified. Tariffs and subsidies gone altogether. Nudity was de rigueur to all trade talks so that it was plain to all that we didn’t carry any concealed weaponry, even dicks. New business was going to spring up, vigorous from all this fertiliser. But in fact, if it did it tended to be shopworn old business recycled, carrying out previous government activities.
And the new floating exchange rate and foreign ownership seem to have creamed off
financial successes with keen assistance from inflated financial speculators, inflated property speculators, inflated importers, and the naivety of us all. We have reacted similarly to the people of Albania when stripped of the restraints of communism and exposed to sharp teeth of capitalism. Where they were fleeced by ponzi schemes and fulsome promises from money sharks. Who was that sneaking round the corner – Mac the Knife! Our theme song.
The problem with increasing the minimum wage is that all wages would rise accordingly and this would promote inflation … which as a superanuient relying on an annual re-adjustment is likelly rather tough on me …. however Krugman also pointed out that inflation makes it easier for a country to retire its debt which is a good thing instead of the RW going on about living within your means like a household. But a country is not a household and if you stiffle the ecconomy with austerity measures it is going to take a hell of a long time to get out of the poo. In this respect I think the National Governmeent over the past five years has steered a good course between the camps … austerity v. stimulous.
So I think many writers here are living with ideological blinkers which say “left good – right bad” when it is not a clear cut black and white situation.
”All wages would rise accordingly”, not necessarily and really only at the behest of employers, and what you say would insinuate that there is plenty of fat on the employers bulk to be able to raise all wages…
jacknuts even treasury disagrees with you they said at the last election that raising the minimum wage would not lower employment or increase inflation in this economic climate!
In the 1930’s countries that increased their minimum wage came out of recession much faster than the countries which didn’t!
It would be an idea to do some research on the history of economics before you start your rant on chicago school propaganda.
Just repeat the mantra of chicago school of colonial extractive economics there is no other way there is no other way thats chicago school of cultonomics!
Mediocrity Watch: JORDAN WILLIAMS The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 12 September 2013
Jim Mora, Jordan Williams, Scott York
Following the absurdly substandard, dishonest performance by Professor Robert Patman on yesterday’s show, longtime sufferers no doubt thought it unlikely that The Panel could sink any lower. After all, who could possibly be more dishonest than Patman, or Garth “Gaga” George, or Nevil “Breivik” Gibson, or Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, or Dr Michael Bassett? Well, step forward Jordan Williams, right-wing agitator, lawyer and junior colleague of that preposterously pretentious Panel pontificator, Stephen Franks. Presumably the producers formulated a cunning plan that Williams would act as a counterweight to the sensible and well informed Scott York. Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. As listeners no doubt picked up, Jordan Williams knows fuck-all about anything, but doesn’t let that stop him from engaging in highly incendiary political rhetoric. It doesn’t however, make the show one whit more interesting….
JIM MORA:[brightly]Syria, gentlemen. What do you think? SCOTT YORK: Obama has got himself in a hole. He’s still using belligerent language, but that won’t achieve his goals. Bombing Syria would stir up a hornet’s nest. JORDAN WILLIAMS:[quietly and deliberately, to indicate thoughtfulness] The line should never have been drawn. The real problem is Iran. JIM MORA: Do you think it’s do-able, extracting the chemical weapons out of Syria?
Scott York says something vaguely sensible and non-controversial. Jordan Williams, on the other hand, sees this as a teaching moment; only problem is he doesn’t know enough about the middle east or about American history to teach anybody anything. Embarrassingly, he attempts to draw a parallel between Obama and earlier U.S. presidents. He blithers about how the Soviets “treated Roosevelt and Kennedy with contempt”, but not Eisenhower—“because they knew he wasn’t going to mess about.” This is a remarkably foolish, vague and uneducated statement, even by the dismal standards, or lack of standards, at Radio NZ National. Williams clearly knows nothing about Eisenhower, or the Cuban “missile crisis”, and has probably read not a single book about either. As usual, however, his blithely ignorant comments go unchallenged by either Mora or the ostensibly liberal York.
SOAPBOX
Scott York makes some interesting observations about the Labour leadership contest.
Jordan Williams has a spray at Grant Robertson—“my good friend”— for suggesting rent controls in Christchurch. “We have a far further left Labour Party than we realized,” he foams. “Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster.” This goads the abnormally mild and tolerant Scott York into actually saying something that might upset someone: he points out that the market has clearly failed. Mora, uncomfortable, agrees with York, and Williams starts to make a lame and incoherent rejoinder before being saved by the bell. It’s five o’clock, and the imperative of the News means that another right wing chatterbox gets away without having to defend his half-baked views.
Nice summary, Moz. I came in late and only heard the Chch discussion, but ‘saved by the bell’ indeed. 5 more minutes and Scott Yorke would have had the odious and dull witted Williams on the canvas. For the benefit of readers, Williams was saying the rent caps proposed by Grant Robertson would mean landlords would have less incentive to build properties. That might be true, but the answer is obvious; ignore the private sector and build communal housing in partnership with the Council. It is the People’s Republic of Chch after all.
Yes being able to rack-rent people for what are essentially wrecked houses will be sure to have the rack-renters falling all over each other to build 1000’s of rentals so that people will pay far less rent,
The Landlords are all laughing up their sleeves why would they introduce more rental stock when they are ‘creaming it’ renting out the wrecks,
i gave Grant Robertson a + for after having a good look at the situation down there saying Government edict should set the rents where double garages are now considered luxury accommodation…
The Green Party has decided to contest the Christchurch East by-election that will be held in November as a result of sitting MP Lianne Dalziel’s decision to run for Mayor in the Christchurch local body elections.
Nominations for the seat open today and close 5pm Tuesday 17 September. A candidate selection meeting will be held in the electorate on Saturday 28 September (time and venue to be confirmed). The results of the meeting will be publicly announced by the end of that weekend.
Prospective candidates must have their applications processed and accepted in accordance with the Party’s candidate selection rules to be eligible for nomination. Please contact george@greens.org.nz for more information.
Press Release doesn’t appear to be online yet.
Press Release: 12 September 2013
Green Party to contest Christchurch East by-election
The Green Party has confirmed it will contest the Christchurch East by-election and opened nominations today.
The by-election will be held in November following the expected resignation of sitting Labour MP Lianne Dalziel who intends to run for Christchurch Mayor.
“The Green Party is keenly aware of the issues that people in Christchurch East face and we relish an opportunity to put those concerns under the public spotlight,” Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.
“The people of Christchurch East deserve a strong Green candidate to connect with and speak out on education and housing and other key issues they face.”
Green Party Co-convener Georgina Morrison said nominations will close at 5pm next Tuesday. A candidate selection meeting will be held in the electorate on Saturday, September 28, with details to be confirmed. The results of the meeting will be publicly announced by the end of that weekend.
Prospective candidates must have their applications processed and accepted in accordance with the Party’s candidate selection rules to be eligible for nomination.
Why oh why cannot the left wing groups get their act together. Having two left of centre parties contesting the seat could let National take the seat. There is little point in both Labour and Greens both contesting except to make it easier for National to win
Totally – Labour should step aside and let the Greens run the only Left candidate – Mojo Mathers should stand again – she will be an excellent MP for Christchurch East.
Oh wait – perhaps that isn’t what you had in mind?
Perhaps National can put up a candidate of Aaron Gilmore’s quality again.
I would have no problem with a green candidate if that was what the two parties agreed. I just don’t want to see two similar parties dividing the left vote.
The only people that think it is ok to do that appear to be National
I can’t see a reason why the Greens shouldn’t put up a candidate – it is a fully-fledged independent party after all.
I think you have to trust people to vote strategically. They’ve managed it in previous elections and there’s no reason to expect them to split the vote this time.
Gower showing that he still doesn’t understand how preferential voting works:
After three weeks of street-fighting, Mr Jones is still likely to come third in this race. But he’s a likely kingmaker for the other two, and can expect a senior role.
– They felt that the election was a foregone conclusion, thanks to many polls pointing to a National win.
– They did not trust politicians.
– They had other commitments on the day.
Most people who decided not to vote, made that decision on the day.
My thoughts about an extra rise in inflation is that employers would raise prices to cover wage rises but I know from my personal experience over the years that the more dollars you have the greater is the persons discretion in what they spend on. My only reservation is the stubborn antipathy to organising a system of adjusting pensions more frequently than annually. Governments have mini budgets so likewise they could have six month budgets which would help somewhat instead of annual events.
My views come from my experience and I do not see any need to study the egg heads of whatever perswasion
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
I can see very wellThere's a boat on the reef with a broken backAnd I can see it very wellThere's a joke and I know it very wellIt's one of those that I told you long agoTake my word I'm a madman, don't you knowSongwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton JohnIt ...
.Acknowledgement: Tim PrebbleThanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work..With each passing day of bad headlines, squandering tax revenue to enrich the rich, deep cuts to our social services and a government struggling to keep the lipstick on its neo-liberal pig ...
This is from the 36th Parallel social media account (as brief food for thought). We know that Trump is ahistorical at best but he seems to think that he is Teddy Roosevelt and can use the threat of invoking the Monroe Doctrine and “Big Stick” gunboat diplomacy against Panama and ...
Don't you cry tonightI still love you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightDon't you cry tonightThere's a heaven above you, babyAnd don't you cry tonightSong: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so”, said possibly the greatest philosopher ever to walk this earth, Douglas Adams.We have entered the ...
Because you're magicYou're magic people to meSong: Dave Para/Molly Para.Morena all, I hope you had a good day yesterday, however you spent it. Today, a few words about our celebration and a look at the various messages from our politicians.A Rockel XmasChristmas morning was spent with the five of us ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). 2024 has been a series of bad news for climate change. From scorching global temperatures leading to devastating ...
Ríu Ríu ChíuRíu Ríu Chíu is a Spanish Christmas song from the 16th Century. The traditional carol would likely have passed unnoticed by the English-speaking world had the made-for-television American band The Monkees not performed the song as part of their special Christmas show back in 1967. The show's ...
Dunedin’s summer thus far has been warm and humid… and it looks like we’re in for a grey Christmas. But it is now officially Christmas Day in this time zone, so never mind. This year, I’ve stumbled across an Old English version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: It has a population of just under 3.5 million inhabitants, produces nearly 550,000 tons of beef per year, and boasts a glorious soccer reputation with two World ...
Morena all,In my paywalled newsletter yesterday, I signed off for Christmas and wished readers well, but I thought I’d send everyone a quick note this morning.This hasn’t been a good year for our small country. The divisions caused by the Treaty Principles Bill, the cuts to our public sector, increased ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30 am include:Kāinga Ora is quietly planning to sell over $1 billion worth of state-owned land under 300 state homes in Auckland’s wealthiest suburbs, including around Bastion Point, to give the Government more fiscal room to pay for tax cuts and reduce borrowing.A ...
Hi,It’s my birthday on Christmas Day, and I have a favour to ask.A birthday wish.I would love you to share one Webworm story you’ve liked this year.The simple fact is: apart from paying for a Webworm membership (thank you!), sharing and telling others about this place is the most important ...
The last few days have been a bit too much of a whirl for me to manage a fresh edition each day. It's been that kind of year. Hope you don't mind.I’ve been coming around to thinking that it doesn't really matter if you don't have something to say every ...
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
“As we head into one of the busiest times of the year for Police, and family violence and sexual violence response services, it’s a good time to remind everyone what to do if they experience violence or are worried about others,” Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
A former lawyer for President-elect Donald Trump was found to have violated a court agreement after he suggested on a podcast in November two election workers were quadruple counting ballots and using a computer hard drive to fix the machines. ...
Summer reissue: The comedian takes us through her life in television, including her favourite Kardashian tiff, Taskmaster task, and the best thing about being Tina from Turners. Sieni Tiana Leo’o Olo, aka Bubbah, is used to being approached by men in bars – but not for the reasons you might ...
Summer reissue: A special live edition of the Spinoff politics podcast, revisiting the turbulent Lange years with very special guest Kim Hill. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...
Summer reissue: On learning an underappreciated but vitally important skill. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It has been almost a decade since I ...
Summer reissue: Alex Casey spends the weekend in a new city without her trusty iPhone, and lives to tell the tale. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...
Summer reissue: It’s become an internet trope, but the art of girl rotting dates back at least to the 19th century. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be ...
COMMENTARY:By Anna Naupa Out of the rubble of last year’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake that hit Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila on December 17 and the snap election due next week on January 16, a new leadership is required to reset the country’s developmental trajectory. Persistent political turmoil has hampered the ...
Parkinson’s disease is the fastest-growing chronic neurological disorder in the world. Currently, 10 million people have Parkinson’s disease, and the number of people receiving diagnoses is increasing year on year. The proportion of early-onset Parkinson’s disease, where people get a diagnosis before age 50, is rising even faster. Some patients ...
2025 is the Year of the Snake, so it should be another productive year for the David Seymours of the world by which I mean of course people with an enigmatic and introspective nature. Those born in previous Snake years – 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001 – will flourish in 2025, ...
Chris Hipkins says Labour has got more cut-through in its first year of Opposition than he expected at the start and his own polling has held up better than he’d hoped.In an end-of-year interview, the Labour Party leader outlined what he views as a successful first third of the Parliamentary ...
The proposed plan, debated by around 200 Māori leaders on Friday, has been met with some scepticism but leaders said that is exactly why the debate was needed. ...
Hopes for a fast launch of a Māori deliberative body and unified voice with representatives from iwi, hapū and urban Māori have been dashed, with few iwi leaders showing up to a hui in Hawkes Bay on Friday.The hui, dubbed a Wānanga-ā-Motu by hosts Ngāti Kahungunu, was the latest in ...
Dear Mr Zuckerberg, Nine years ago, we wrote to you about the real-world harms caused by false information on Facebook. In response, Meta created a fact-checking programme that helped protect millions of users from hoaxes and conspiracy theories. This week, you announced you’re ending that programme in the United States ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Moulds, Associate Professor in Law, University of South Australia The United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled that Australia breached international human rights law by detaining a group of young asylum seekers in immigration detention in Nauru. The committee found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew King, Associate Professor in Climate Science, ARC Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, The University of Melbourne The year 2024 was the world’s warmest on record globally, and the first calendar year in which global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above its ...
The proposed RSB would make the ACT Party’s libertarian values central to our laws, give power to the Minister for Regulation, currently David Seymour, and a Regulatory Standards Board, while ignoring te Tiriti o Waitangi and broadly held values. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Margaret Murray, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Swinburne University of Technology Leah-Anne Thompson/Shutterstock This time of year, many of us love to get out and spend time in nature. This may include hiking through Australia’s many beautiful national parks. Walking in nature is ...
RNZ Pacific Solomon Islands has the highest-ranked passport of Pacific Island nations, at 37th equal globally. This is according to the Henley Passport Index. The index, organised by a consulting firm that describes itself as “the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment,” releases the list based on global ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tahlia Pollock, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Evans EvoMorph Laboratory, Monash University Fossil reconstruction of Smilodon, one of the largest sabre-toothed cats ever to have lived. Mardoz/Shutterstock Sabre teeth – the long, sharp, blade-like canines found in extinct predators such as Smilodon – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Melleuish, Professor of History and Politics, School of Humanities and Social Inquiry, University of Wollongong It is an interesting fact that no sitting Australian prime minister since John Howard has led his or her party to more than one election victory. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Este, Senior International Affairs Editor, Associate Editor There has been a great deal of heat – and not an overabundance of light – when it comes to the media’s reactions to Donald Trump’s renewed interest in acquiring Greenland from Denmark after ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Huish, Associate Professor in International Development Studies, Dalhousie University “We take nothing by conquest…Thank God,” wrote the National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser, an influential Washington newspaper, in February 1847. The United States had just purchased 55 per cent of Mexico ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Caballero, Senior Economist, IMD World Competitiveness Center, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) Within days of Donald Trump’s election win in November 2024, China’s president Xi Jinping was at a ceremony opening a deep-water port in Peru as part of a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham When Donald Trump first offered to buy Greenland in 2019, he was widely ridiculed and nothing much came of it, apart from a cancelled state visit to Denmark. Fast forward six years and ...
Driven by a minor party’s libertarian ideology, the Regulatory Standards Bill, alongside the Treaty Principles Bill, would have sweeping constitutional implications, if enacted. ...
The sun exploded on May 10th, 2024. It bathed the planet in radiation and flooded Instagram with photos of the resulting aurora. It was the largest solar storm in New Zealand’s modern history. To one expert, it was a wake-up call for the entire planet: “We need to get our shit ...
Opinion: The Department of Conservation is currently consulting on a proposal to significantly change how it plans for, and gives permissions for, activities on public conservation land – currently about a third of New Zealand. The proposals include simplifying and reducing the number of general policies, conservation management strategies and management plans, making ...
Comment: Nearly half of women around Aotearoa New Zealand who exercise recreationally experience health issues due to over-exercising and under-eating.But our new research shows educating them about their energy intake versus outtake is key to fixing the problem and could prevent the development of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (REDs).REDs ...
NewsroomBy Penny Matkin-Hussey and Katherine Black
[Bunji: We’ve been approving approving your comments, but I notice you’ve actually meant to be banned until 4 October]
I don’t understand this, perhaps someone can enlighten.
When a business makes a mistake and that costs it in terms of lost customers and reputation, that business and its owner understands that it must carry that self-imposed burden and deal with it alone with no expectation that the owners neighbour or anyone else should step in and pay to right the mistake. After all, the neighbour has not shared in any previous profits.
But Fonterra, a private company, after ballsing up its botulism scare left right and centre, is getting taxpayer funding to help correct their self-imposed disaster. A government fund of $2,000,000 has been set up, from which dairy businesses can do such things as get the taxpayer to pay their travel costs to those customers, among other things.
How does this fit? How does this work? Can any business apply for such assistance when they balls things up? Or is it only certain ones?
Sounds like more welfare to me. Bludging off the taxpayer. Just like the NZX which after several decades still stutters along wimpering for the taxpayer to support their privately owned business…
Perhaps Wayne, who comments on here from time to time and posters seem to know who is (is it publicly known, his identity?), would like to explain. Come in Wayne…
and then you know what….. I turns the next page of te morning paper and what is the headline? Fonterra expanding into China expecting to farm up to 15,000 cows….
For fucking fucks sake – what a pile cowshit this government is
And yesterday the cheapest 2 litre bottle of milk went up 30 cents to $3.30 in Glenview New World and 39 cents to $3.39 at Clarence St Pak n Save.
Well (ahem) you must understand there are a lot of (cough) extra costs in administrating all this free money…
God you guys a getting ripped off in NZ – I live in the Middle East & I pay the equivalent of NZ$3.20 for 2 litres of fresh milk – all imported. None of my Arab colleagues can understand why New Zealander’s pay international prices for a product they make domestically – we sure as hell don’t pay international prices for petroleum here (we pay about 30 cents a litre – and the locals think that is expensive!)
Earlier on in the week on the radio I heard that an 11 year old won a NZ science prize for proving that the triple layer plastic milk bottle does not keep milk as fresh as the regular plastic milk bottle. I will try and find a link.
Apparently one benefit of the triple layer plastic is that it prevents light from destroying the nutrient content. I would like to know by how much?
I suppose if you can afford the more expensive container, any waste is not an issue.
Part of the problem is that regulation is required as the supermarket mark up is a rip off. Watch the cost of anything else with dairy in it rise.
That’s only one 11 year old’s opinion. Key can find another 11 year old who will say the opposite.
I cannot find the link. I will keep looking.
Even at intermediate when marking a science project it has to have a proven hypothesis.
I couldn’t find the Herald link but this is the same story.
http://whoar.co.nz/2013/fonterra-bottles-fail-boys-acid-test/
Thankyou for supplying a link, it was appreciated.
Due to the variables e.g. possible contamination during testing, retesting is required. No doubt divided opinion at this stage.
“… during acid testing when the milk was left outside – milk in the triple layer bottle degraded faster.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11122005
Setting up dairy, kiwifruit in other countries is seen as an export – exporting our expertise, our intellectual property, experience. Whether its exxing out some of our interests in the short or long term well I don’t know if that has been examined.
With the difficulty of keeping quality control over our own stuff, and the harm that we have caused to the respect for our standards, perhaps it would be a good idea to make money from helping countries get established in the market, and then sell out our interests there, and wait for them to screw up. In the meantime we concentrate on making quality stuff, and have policies of honesty and fast response to any problems and have unceasing controls and inspections enforced by the government, as business cannot be relied upon not to slide if its solely responsible for itself.
And that leads to a news item from this morning. The horrific fuel train explosion in Canada was caused by inadequate measures by the transport company, but the results were ramped up because it was carrying more flammable fuel than the oil it was allowed to transport.
And the likelihood of government controlling complacent, wealthy, cost-cutting, safety and regulation lax businesses – well the oil spill in the Northern Hemisphere, was it the Exonn or similar, came about after safety measures had not been followed, government controls and officials had been softened up after ‘capture’ by the business, and all along the safety evaluation of the oil gathering and transporting led to an expectation of some event in a 25 year time frame. This then was made more likely to occur by the lax safety standards adopted.
(Probably Fukushima was similar.)
My comment has been waiting in moderation now for 40 mins. I think using the term exxing might have scrambled the screen’s dictionary.
[Bunji: no idea why it was in moderation, but guess no-one was looking at the queue. Approved now]
Thanks Bunji
Audrey Young quotes Roger Douglas’ view on the leadership….as if they are relevant!!
And she believes the Annette King’s return from holidays overseas will bolster Robertson’s chances. Yeah, Annette is the one to pick winning leaders!
Yes, Boadicea – wouldn’t you think the Labour caucus – especially the ABCs – have the message by now that Rogernomics didn’t work and new thinking on economic development is needed?
But No – they’re still tied to that old drum ….. Mr Rogernomics telling them “the two main contenders, Mr Cunliffe and Mr Robertson, have had been advancing policy “that would set New Zealand up to become another Spain or Greece.”
Ironical, eh ?. Following the Rogernomics track has set NZ up to become “another Spain or Greece”.
And it will be more than disappointing if the current Labour caucus cannot see that.
Roger Douglas? – he’s still around! The land of the living dead.
You call that living? Today, I dribbled this much
The trouble was a conventional socialist paniced and called for a cup of tea …. we will never know where Sir Roger was taking us … that is a hard pill for you folk to swallow I know.
Halfway to hell was far enough, thanks.
CV
+2
lol
I think we were heading towards “a secret enclave known as Galts Gulch”….
Even the Herald now gives Cunliffe 12 first preference caucus votes (Audrey Young today). With 60% of both the unions and the members he will be the leader. Too easy!
Mallard, on a junket in San Fran, promises further taxpayers’ funding for EMIRATES Team NZ if they win the America’s Cup.
Nothing’s changed.
Maybe if we are lucky he will see the writing on the wall and stay there.
don’t they need some more ballast for the boat..?
..for once..he could be a bit useful..
..which would make a change..eh..?..
..phillip ure..
I actually HOPE that Cunliffe sacks him ( Mallard)…… and the rest of the ABC group who want to stay to their neo liberal sellout path.
I’m heartily sick of hearing from worn out scabs and turncoats like Douglas and Prebble.
Typical of the proliteriate, nothing but oudated terms … pity Labour has nothing better
The latest Greenwald information shows that NSA is sending raw data to Israel. Read (c) of the memorandum for reference to NZ. Are we collecting any of this information at Waihopai? Do our MPs know?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/sep/11/nsa-israel-intelligence-memorandum-understanding-document
So wrong in so many ways. What the fuck were they thinking?
There’s enormous scope for industrial espionage as the Israeli military/industrial complex commercialises its opportunities.
Here’s an example:
On the day Raphael Ouzan finished five years of service in an elite intelligence unit, he decided to start his own company. The night after his release from the IDF he met with a good friend, Yaron Samid, and together they resolved to build their own startup.
In the first days they had only five employees—two from the same intelligence unit as Ouzan. Last year their company—BillGuard—raised 3 million dollars in funding and won second place in the startup competition Techcrunch Disrupt.
BillGuard is, essentially, antivirus for your credit card. The software scans credit card transactions and finds technical errors or fraudulent deals. This is accomplished with a unique algorithm which scans forums, social networks and websites, and analyzes transactions for “suspicious” behavior.
What’s the link between credit card protection and the IDF? Raphael Ouzan, now BillGuard’s CTO explains:
“I learned a lot about this type of work from my military service . . .
http://www.idfblog.com/2012/04/02/start-up-army-idf-israels-hi-tech-industry/
Reframing the economy – The new economics foundation writes about the differences between the austerity framing and a new story the shows a difference side of the economic policies of austerity and the type of society that we want to progress.
New iPhone 5S with fingerprint sensor is a neat way to add your fingerprint to the NSAs Databases.
Android based phones have been doing it for ages…
Interesting. I have a top of the line HTC and it doesn’t. I wasn’t aware that the Galaxy S III, IV did either.
hmm… neither does mine. Where did you get that news Roflcopter?
For sure this happens esp when you have a Govt who introduced YOUTH rates……
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9152629/Can-t-get-work-can-t-afford-to-retire
Amirite NZ has built a boat industry up from $120 million a year to over $2billion a year.
On the back of our sucess in the Americas cup!
Leading edge world beating technology has been developed + the publicity NZ gets from the cup.
Even in the bottom of the south island many boat building companies have hugely benefited .Companies that were employing a couple of employees are now employing well paid engineers welders etc,
Formerly these companies were making cheap aluminiun tinnies runabouts and dingies they are now making large ocean going high end cruisers at $150,000+
Before $1200 dingies.
These are exactly the value added exports we need in this country.
If we don,t keep supporting and investing in this industry we will fall behind and china will take all these high paying jobs.
The cost at less than $8 million per year is a fraction of what farming and other industries receive from govt!
You can only invest in industry from your profits.NZ is always constrained by the value of its currency which is subject to the gamblers perception ie a higher official interest rate.
Wheelers statement had an immediate effect,reducing the profits for exporters in the upcoming export season.
http://freeserv.dukascopy.com:8080/ChartServer/chart?stock_id=1034&interval=60&points_number=400&view_type=line&width=400&height=250&show_labels=true&osc_type=-1&rfi=false&osc_height=100&p1=2&p2=3&p3=7&c=4113324
So you agree that (generally) underpaid work forces should produce luxury goods for wealthy foreigners to consume?
How’s about value added ‘everyday’ products that workers (foreign or domestic) can afford?
Who gives a stuff about boat builders when we cannot even construct moderate price houses.
When we can house, feed, educate, and provide good health care for all New Zeal;anders then we can start worrying about building rich men’s toys
Ron We need skilled people making physical things for everybody – making things, yachts, boats, railway carriages, steel workers etc. Also needed is regular work for builders, not on-off cycles of boom and depressed demand, and real assistance to the building community from a real hard-working government agency.
It would have model plans that used good and modest priced materials with acceptable building methods. Some might use some steel and wood. They would inform on whether boron treated studs and joists would be better than untreated. It would be in plain language so that interested people could get leaflets and read reports on line. If we had had a working agency like this it would have put a stop to the building of housing that was proving to be unsatisfactory and even dangerous, overseas.
Most of our poor leaky housing would never have happened if BRANZ or whatever it was called was working well for our benefit. When we are decrying the housing deficit, don’t forget the setback the leaky, fungussy homes caused and the heartache and physical sickness as well as the mental stress for people involved in the losses.
I hope we will never get to the stage where we become so angry that violence and retaliation break out against the perpetrators of these predatory shonky financial and political schemes.
There is only so much that people can put up with – too much and the chickens will come home to roost.
(expressed in print as early as 1390, when Geoffrey Chaucer used it in The Parson’s Tale:
And ofte tyme swich cursynge wrongfully retorneth agayn to hym that curseth, as a bryd that retorneth agayn to his owene nest.)
Ron This is a good way to take money back off rich people.
Oracle paid NZ boat builders to build their boats because we had the best technology and skill in the world.
we will never be a bulk mass producer like China Indonesia or any large industrialized country ever again we can only succeed in niche markets.
Its not just rich mans toys we make huge numbers of small boats as well.
This is one area in manufacturing where we are leading the world!
We can construct cheap housing its just that existing monopolies have the govt in their back pocket !
Education world leading software is being developed in NZ by Taylor made for television, apps for smart phones and then the on board software for Team New Zealand Aotearoa designed and developed in Good old NZ!
Larry Ellison (oracle yes Oracle) World leading software designer and supplier is getting beaten by some very smart high paid by NZ standards home grown Kiwi software designers that will make software designers sit up and take Notice the world over that has got to be good for NZ!
Reality check needed Ron in fact its been nearly seven years since the Labour Govt put up the $36 million for Team NZ thats less than $4 million a year.
How much did the country put up for the world cup for a negative return, nearly $1 billion dollars which local councils are still in debt up to their eyeballs from and have caused a lot of job losses because councils have had to sack staff to pay for under used stadiums while the Americas cup has turned a $120 million a year boat industry into a $2 billion a year boat industry employing 100,s if not thousands of full time workers!
If I had my way I would have put that rugby money into the boat industry at least we would have some return for our investment .Instead we have a bunch of empty stadiums and the loan shark big Aussie bankers Are smiling!
NZ Defence has been found to be just a tad careless in training its workers, apparently on the basis that because they are going into dangerous theatres of whatever, they need to be toughened and man-up to danger, before they are properly trained and instructed to deal with such dangers in a manful and knowledgable manner. Man what a bunch of clods and impractical managers in Defence. The authoritarian power with absolute power to ignore morality and fair behaviour and respect for the troops and their welfare is on the way to losing his, or her, humanity.
Not just training, but the basic activities of equipment and maintenance. I’m thinking of the poor guy who fucking drowned because his life vest wouldn’t inflate.
For a while back there the NZRAF had more “Wing Commanders” on the payroll than actual physical wings flyable in the fleet. Don’t know if it’s still the case.
Now I don’t have permission to edit with 5 minutes left to go. I was going to express my thinking better but you’ll just have to unscramble the code that attempts to convey the message! /sarc
Perhaps those wing commanders spent their spare time, instead of ensuring proper training and usage standards be met to prevent loss of human capacity and expensive capital equipment, developing the game Icarus. It sounds interesting and maybe challenging for a grounded sky pilot.
(Itching to dive-bomb a rival guild’s castle from dragon-back? It will be possible in the upcoming fantasy game Icarus Online.) http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/Icarus-Online/
(Icarus, son of Daedalus who dared to fly too near the sun on wings of feathers and wax. Daedalus had been imprisoned by King Minos of Crete within the walls of his …)
Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology
odd. Notes it down.
So what is the rate of accidental deaths for members of the NZDF v comparable civilian occupations? Do you know or is this just a rant based on ignorance and perception?
chris73
Do your own work if you are interested in gaining the information. But then if you were you would have some stored in your own mind and would have an idea of what I was referring to. Trouble with you RWNJs is that you are information beneficiaries too lazy to do your own amassing of stats and background.
In other words you don’t know so you’re making it up
What civilian occupations are comparable to NZDF functions?
Off the top of my head:
Firemen, truckies, carpenters, mechanics, storemen, administraters, doctors, nurses, medics, teachers, pilots, cooks, stewards, plumbers, gym instructors, dentists, pet ops, move ops, divers, psychatrists, builders and of course after the winds the guys were out with chainsaws but thats not a core function…
Theres probably more but thats enough to go on for now…
But there’s one overall function of NZDF that is in none of those trades. The clue is in the name.
Unless stewards routinely have light machine guns to carry around, of course.
They have accountants in the NZDF, therefore the NZDF are just like KPMG!!! And look, 4 letters as well, that’s not just coincidence!!!
Soldier first and trade second but that wasn’t the question was it, the question was: “what civilian occupations are comparable to NZDF functions?”
Now while I am pretty damn awesome I do have to admit that reading peoples minds isn’t one of my particular talents so if you want me to answer a question make sure you phrase the question properly
The forestry Industry makes the defense force look good who needs enemies when we are more dangerous with self inflicted losses even in Afghanistan Key Turned down amoured vehicles and refused to use light amoured vehicles because they were to expensive to take to that theater of war!
nationals cost cutting at work again down grading our armed services while Poncekey takes all the limelight for being the US,s lapdog is criminal negligence.
National can.t help themselves cutting forrestry inspection from 1,000 down to 220 a year has lead to a massive increase in deaths negligence the minister Joyce should be put on trial for manslaughter!
I’m guessing you’ve had a few drinks?
It seems as if the GCSB is the only government department that will listen to you.
over and out.
Key is the only person in NZ who will know if the GCSB has listened in on him.
6 months from now he’ll be so desperate to have anyone listen to him that he’ll be sending them a special request
Lol
The other 9/11.
http://www.democracynow.org/topics/1973_chilean_coup
edit: snap xtasy.
WRT things Chilean:
Two nations were influenced by our thinkers and example:
Finland and Chile. Finland learned its lessons from John Dewey. Its
schools are child-centered. It prizes the arts and physical
education. It has no standardized testing. Its schools are noted
for both excellence and equity. It is a top performer on
international tests. Chile learned its lessons from Milton
Friedman. It has vouchers and testing. Its schools are highly
segregated by social class. The quality of education is highly
dependent on family income. Students in Chile are rioting to demand
free public education. No one considers Chile a model. Which
direction are we going? Why? Whose ideas are dominant
today?
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/09/08/the-two-nations-that-learned-from-us/
Yep. A side tangential issue to that touches on some comments on this site lately about the loyalty of the armed forces and who they actually belong to and act for.
As is shown by the Chile coup, the Fiji coups, and many other examples, armed forces do not belong to the people and neither are they loyal to the people, nor even the government. They act for and belong to others. They do what they are ordered to – such as bomb and kill civilians and others living in their own country (Egypt), murder politicians (Chile), act for the Crown (British Crown) to protect the Crown (reason for ignoring Lange in first Fiji coup)
Militaries are for these purposes, which are quite contrary to the popular understanding of the wider public who assume that they are on “our” side. Especially in NZ where, you know, nothing like that ever happens, couldn’t, nah, that happens overseas….
Some posters have highlighted these realities recently and it has left a chill in the air ……….
be very afraid of all militaries
Thank You for posting these links joe90. Will make some time to watch, read and absorb.
Red-Green, my first upload for a while.
I’m guessing it’s the DC effect and lots of coffee.
https://soundcloud.com/theal1en/red-green or via my widget affected site http://www.al1en.org
Here is an example of setting yourself up for problems. Relying too heavily on man-made things for your business when you operate in a non-man-made environment.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/9156195/Storm-damages-over-800-Canterbury-irrigators
Rely on power for your dairy shed – what happens when the power goes out?
Rely on external water supply for your grass – what happens when the external water supply dries up?
Rely on mechanical means to feed the animals – what happens when nature tips it upside down?
Too much reliance on non-natural items. Too intensive. Too clever for our own good, methinks
One other too – Canterbury used to have large hedges planted all over to protect from the wind and stop the earth being blown away (this was learned from when the land was stripped and early weather blew the dirt away). When these hedges began being flattened about 15 years ago many old-timers said strongly that they would rue the day. The winds would return and wreak havoc they said. And looky at that – the winds came screaming down through the mountains and instead of screeching across at the height of 10m hedges it screeched across at the height of 1cm blades of grass.
I have too many digs at farmers and this is not intended as another. It is a dig at humanwomankind and its tendency to always forget the lessons of the past. Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them. Voila.
vto
Good points.
Correct. You point to an economy predicated on fragility.
The problem is that they listened to the anti global warming sorces and didn’t buy generators to run even just one machine to relieve the suffering of their animals. Personally I have changed to all electricity but I have not sold my gas .. that is in reserve for when the power fails …. if a townie with just himself to think about can do it why not the farmer with hundreds of stock their responsibility.
Yep – vto – we were sitting there watching the TV news about all the mangled irrigation pipes wondering why the heck they had’nt laid them down, dismantled them or done something else to protect them when they had plenty of warning those high winds were coming. And maybe those irrigation contraptions could be replaced with sprinkler pipes laid in the ground ?
And now you’re talking about the removal of the shelter hedges. Hadn’t realised that had happened. Why did the dairy farmers or whoever think they were there in the first place – as decoration ? Farmers don’t do decoration.
Amazing lack of thought on the part of whoever is in charge of the dairy farms in Canterbury.
That’s what K-line is for.
One more time in the ghetto, yes, yet another comment on the question: Does raising the minimum wage lead to more unemployment, the answer so far from what i have posted has been a resounding and emphatic NO,
This link is pretty looo-ong and may have your eyeballs sliding out of their socket and off down your cheeks if you try and read it all at once, it does tho present the argument from both sides, a couple of salient points when we consider what is the American experience and how the template is more or less a mirror of our own,
Paul Krugman: ”The current level of the minimum wage is very low by any reasonable standard”.
In a New York Time op-ed piece Noble Prize winning economist Paul Krugman argued that raising the minimum wage was both good politics and sound policy. Moreover, He argued in favor of increasing the Federal baseline to keep up with inflation,
”For about four decades increases in the minimum wage have consistently fallen behind inflation, so that in real terms the minimum wage is substantially lower than it was in the 1960’s, meanwhile, worker productivity has doubled”, (New York Times 2/17/13).
Starts to make the USA sound like a small country located in the South Pacific Ocean doesn’t it, and then there is this:
”If the minimum wage reflected worker productivity it would be nearly $22 per hour”.
Citing a study done by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, the Huffington Post explained that the current minimum wage lags far behind what it should after accounting for productivity increases,
”The minimum wage should have reached $21.72 an hour in 2012 if it kept up with increases in worker productivity according to a March study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research”,
”While advancements in technology have increased the amount of goods and services that can be produced in a set amount of time wages have remained relatively flat the study point out”, (the Huffington Post 2/13/13).
Not here in little old Noo Zealand tho right, the robber barons wouldn’t whip us into productivity increases while not passing on a fair share of such increases as wage rises, or would they???,
http://www.mediamatters.org/research/2013/07/24/right-wing…mini/195026
This would tend to suggest that the US experience of the Neoliberal experiment matches our own,
”Out-put growth in the measured sectors averaged 2.6% per annum from 1978 to 2007, the main driver of this out-put growth was labour productivity of +2.0% per annum”.
http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/tprp/08-02/05.htm
The studies are nice but also irrelevant to our specific conditions, we can get the economic and social outcomes we want in NZ via innovative fiscal means.
Yes i am sure the Treasury info is irrelevant to you, please expand upon these innovative fiscal means…
get more cash into the economy and keep it there and circulating. Nothing magic.
The Greens are questioning some of the NACTs innovative means of pulling money Out of the economy with a little pokie game, a devilish device. Have a go at their fruit loop machine and try for a thinking MP to cross the House.
https://www.greens.org.nz/skycity#1
The most interesting and thoughtful article by Krugman was quite recentl;y where he wrote about the wonk factor and related it to the Republicans which I don’t particularly dis-agree with … they are a festering sore on American politics …. HOWEVER when I come to The Standard I see evidence of a similar problem.
Wonk Factor = a habit of only reading sources that you agree with.
I wonder if I suffer from it too since I only read Krugman becuase I agree with him and cannot be bothered with the RW crap.
PS. I never considered Sir Roger RW, that was the journalists and Alliance idiots bellyacheing.
The Standard is a left wing site in case you havn’t noticed, given that, i am hardly going to give oxygen to the rights politico/economic agenda,
They have the mainstream media happily doing that for them…
jcuknz
Are you into studying the cosmos. Because you don’t seem to know much about what is going on down and around here on little ole NZ. Sir Roger not RW? That joke won’t fly.
Here’s a jolly little poem by AA Milne just right for Sir Roger…It may seem silly, but not very.
Bad Sir Brian Botany
Sir Brian had a battleaxe with great big knobs on;
He went among the villagers and blipped them on the head.
On Wednesday and on Saturday, but mostly on the latter day,
He called at all the cottages, and this what he said:
I am Sir Brian, as bold as a lion –
Take that! – and that! – and that!
Sir Brian woke one morning, and he couldn’t find his battleaxe:
He walked into the village in his second pair of boots.
He had gone a hundred paces, when the street was full of faces,
And the villagers were round him with ironical salutes…
Sir Brian went a journey, and he found a lot of duck-weed:
They pulled him out and dried him, and they blipped him on the head.
They took him by the breeches, and they hurled him into ditches,
And they pushed him under waterfalls, and this is what they said:
You are Sir Brian, as bold as a lion –
Sir Brian, the lion, good-bye!
And now he goes about the village as B.Botany, Esquire.
I am Sir Brian? Oh no!
I am Sir Brian? Who’s he?
I haven’t got any title, I’m Botany –
Plain Mr Botany (B).
I considered him to be seriously unwise and in way too much of a hurry. The over-regulated state with a habit of hiding unemployment in the farming sector, forestry, the post office, railways, etc was never going to survive because it simply wasn’t economic. Nor was the tariff system that resulted in the first corporate I worked with having a larger lobby group in Wellington protecting the tariffs than their head office and sales force combined.
Problem was that it’d gotten to the point of collapse as the NZLP took power and literally found that they couldn’t pay for it any more. Inflation was already out of control so they couldn’t print their way out. That allowed border-line hysterics like Douglas, Prebble, Moore, etc way way too much power to make completely bad through to simply shoddy deals. Problem was that the Labour MPs including the backboners were so used to only have 3 years that they tried to do everything in 3 years – and it made the economic reforms completely desperate and dangerous. It takes time to change economic systems safely.
Nett result of doing sudden change like that was that we wound up with a rump of people with few skills in the wrong parts of the country who went on unemployment for far too long. Go to somewhere like Rotorua or the old tariff factories and you can see the generational damage that fell out of that. National unfortunately usually come around just often enough to kill those regional towns whenever they start getting better off.
It also made it freaking hard to get capital for anything productive in this country for decades after the ’87 crash when the ponzi cowboys tainted the finance markets and killed all of the pre-existing capital outlets.
Of course if Muldoon hadn’t been such a diehard conservative screwing the pooch in the decade before trying to prevent change, then it’d have been a whole lot easier.
That’s really good summary of post-Muldoon lprent.. It is understandable the way you explain it. Muldoon may have been the right man for the job for a while, but after two terms leaders need to be put out to grass, otherwise they get stuck in the dried cow pats and have to be prised up. I also think that the terms should be for four years. You refer to three and it does seem that it is just too hard to plan, implement and monitor results within that time. Hence the shonky legislation we get.
Muldoon right to the finish sang the song ”I did it my way’ and wanted to take It with him when he went. Lange said that before Muldoon officially handed over the keys to the hope-chest we had a capital flight so bad that Labour had to call up all the diplomats overseas and sequester their credit card balances.
What upset me was the flamboyant way Douglas et al closed down businesses which were really operating, even with some assistance, and then they replaced them with slogans which weren’t as useful at the supermarket. First pain, then gain for instance. Unions bad, business sanctified. Tariffs and subsidies gone altogether. Nudity was de rigueur to all trade talks so that it was plain to all that we didn’t carry any concealed weaponry, even dicks. New business was going to spring up, vigorous from all this fertiliser. But in fact, if it did it tended to be shopworn old business recycled, carrying out previous government activities.
And the new floating exchange rate and foreign ownership seem to have creamed off
financial successes with keen assistance from inflated financial speculators, inflated property speculators, inflated importers, and the naivety of us all. We have reacted similarly to the people of Albania when stripped of the restraints of communism and exposed to sharp teeth of capitalism. Where they were fleeced by ponzi schemes and fulsome promises from money sharks. Who was that sneaking round the corner – Mac the Knife! Our theme song.
Time for We Got Talent and let’s get a new song!
The problem with increasing the minimum wage is that all wages would rise accordingly and this would promote inflation … which as a superanuient relying on an annual re-adjustment is likelly rather tough on me …. however Krugman also pointed out that inflation makes it easier for a country to retire its debt which is a good thing instead of the RW going on about living within your means like a household. But a country is not a household and if you stiffle the ecconomy with austerity measures it is going to take a hell of a long time to get out of the poo. In this respect I think the National Governmeent over the past five years has steered a good course between the camps … austerity v. stimulous.
So I think many writers here are living with ideological blinkers which say “left good – right bad” when it is not a clear cut black and white situation.
Income for the top 10% have been skyrocketing just fine without inflation.
The inflation thing is just a myth. Under Helen Clark the minimum wage went from about $8 to about $12 and inflation was fucking low.
More of the economy in wages and less in profit is a good thing.
Reducing private taxation (profit) and giving people more return for their labour should be supported.
I can’t see how people can argue for reduced public taxation without also arguing for reduced private taxation.
Profit is a tax on the cost of production.
+1
Why should all wages rise accordingly?
The gap between the top and bottom earners has been growing rapidly wider over the years, it can just gradually narrow over the years.
”All wages would rise accordingly”, not necessarily and really only at the behest of employers, and what you say would insinuate that there is plenty of fat on the employers bulk to be able to raise all wages…
jacknuts even treasury disagrees with you they said at the last election that raising the minimum wage would not lower employment or increase inflation in this economic climate!
In the 1930’s countries that increased their minimum wage came out of recession much faster than the countries which didn’t!
It would be an idea to do some research on the history of economics before you start your rant on chicago school propaganda.
Just repeat the mantra of chicago school of colonial extractive economics there is no other way there is no other way thats chicago school of cultonomics!
Mediocrity Watch: JORDAN WILLIAMS
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Thursday 12 September 2013
Jim Mora, Jordan Williams, Scott York
Following the absurdly substandard, dishonest performance by Professor Robert Patman on yesterday’s show, longtime sufferers no doubt thought it unlikely that The Panel could sink any lower. After all, who could possibly be more dishonest than Patman, or Garth “Gaga” George, or Nevil “Breivik” Gibson, or Christine (Spankin’) Rankin, or Dr Michael Bassett? Well, step forward Jordan Williams, right-wing agitator, lawyer and junior colleague of that preposterously pretentious Panel pontificator, Stephen Franks. Presumably the producers formulated a cunning plan that Williams would act as a counterweight to the sensible and well informed Scott York. Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. As listeners no doubt picked up, Jordan Williams knows fuck-all about anything, but doesn’t let that stop him from engaging in highly incendiary political rhetoric. It doesn’t however, make the show one whit more interesting….
JIM MORA: [brightly]Syria, gentlemen. What do you think?
SCOTT YORK: Obama has got himself in a hole. He’s still using belligerent language, but that won’t achieve his goals. Bombing Syria would stir up a hornet’s nest.
JORDAN WILLIAMS: [quietly and deliberately, to indicate thoughtfulness] The line should never have been drawn. The real problem is Iran.
JIM MORA: Do you think it’s do-able, extracting the chemical weapons out of Syria?
Scott York says something vaguely sensible and non-controversial. Jordan Williams, on the other hand, sees this as a teaching moment; only problem is he doesn’t know enough about the middle east or about American history to teach anybody anything. Embarrassingly, he attempts to draw a parallel between Obama and earlier U.S. presidents. He blithers about how the Soviets “treated Roosevelt and Kennedy with contempt”, but not Eisenhower—“because they knew he wasn’t going to mess about.” This is a remarkably foolish, vague and uneducated statement, even by the dismal standards, or lack of standards, at Radio NZ National. Williams clearly knows nothing about Eisenhower, or the Cuban “missile crisis”, and has probably read not a single book about either. As usual, however, his blithely ignorant comments go unchallenged by either Mora or the ostensibly liberal York.
SOAPBOX
Scott York makes some interesting observations about the Labour leadership contest.
Jordan Williams has a spray at Grant Robertson—“my good friend”— for suggesting rent controls in Christchurch. “We have a far further left Labour Party than we realized,” he foams. “Capping rents seems like a recipe for disaster.” This goads the abnormally mild and tolerant Scott York into actually saying something that might upset someone: he points out that the market has clearly failed. Mora, uncomfortable, agrees with York, and Williams starts to make a lame and incoherent rejoinder before being saved by the bell. It’s five o’clock, and the imperative of the News means that another right wing chatterbox gets away without having to defend his half-baked views.
Nice summary, Moz. I came in late and only heard the Chch discussion, but ‘saved by the bell’ indeed. 5 more minutes and Scott Yorke would have had the odious and dull witted Williams on the canvas. For the benefit of readers, Williams was saying the rent caps proposed by Grant Robertson would mean landlords would have less incentive to build properties. That might be true, but the answer is obvious; ignore the private sector and build communal housing in partnership with the Council. It is the People’s Republic of Chch after all.
Yes being able to rack-rent people for what are essentially wrecked houses will be sure to have the rack-renters falling all over each other to build 1000’s of rentals so that people will pay far less rent,
The Landlords are all laughing up their sleeves why would they introduce more rental stock when they are ‘creaming it’ renting out the wrecks,
i gave Grant Robertson a + for after having a good look at the situation down there saying Government edict should set the rents where double garages are now considered luxury accommodation…
Scott YORKE. Of course! A while ago, you got me for carelessly mis-spelling Mai Chen’s name. This is yet another point for you, my friend.
Just the other day that terrifying force of nature Queen of Thorns got me for writing Grant Robinson instead of Robertson.
One more slip and Mr Prent will no doubt slap another month-long ban on me….
[lprent: I don’t do it for typos. I’d have to ban myself. ]
You deserve a medal for listening to Mora’s programme.
I do it for you, Paul, and everybody else out there too busy and too intelligent to listen to such crap.
@ Morrissey….I really appreciate your analysis and commentary….on Mora’s programme and Crump’s evening radio.
I appreciate the kind words, Chooky.
Heh.
Press Release doesn’t appear to be online yet.
Why oh why cannot the left wing groups get their act together. Having two left of centre parties contesting the seat could let National take the seat. There is little point in both Labour and Greens both contesting except to make it easier for National to win
Totally – Labour should step aside and let the Greens run the only Left candidate – Mojo Mathers should stand again – she will be an excellent MP for Christchurch East.
Oh wait – perhaps that isn’t what you had in mind?
Perhaps National can put up a candidate of Aaron Gilmore’s quality again.
I would have no problem with a green candidate if that was what the two parties agreed. I just don’t want to see two similar parties dividing the left vote.
The only people that think it is ok to do that appear to be National
Why should either party step aside? They are different political parties, not two parties in coalition.
To prevent a vote split which lets National through the middle to take the seat.
I can’t see a reason why the Greens shouldn’t put up a candidate – it is a fully-fledged independent party after all.
I think you have to trust people to vote strategically. They’ve managed it in previous elections and there’s no reason to expect them to split the vote this time.
Waitakere and Paula Bennett recommends your concept.
Hmm yeah, forgot about that one. Damn!
Labour will need to be a bit more appealing this time then.
basically, unless the Left get seriously hungry enough to win, and to do what it takes to win, they’re not going to make it.
GregJ
All of National’s candidates are of Aaron Gilmore quality; it’s just that some are better at concealing it.
Are you familiar with the concept of MMP? It might help.
by-election is a FPP race.
true dat.
Gower showing that he still doesn’t understand how preferential voting works:
After three weeks of street-fighting, Mr Jones is still likely to come third in this race. But he’s a likely kingmaker for the other two, and can expect a senior role.
Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Voters-dont-think-Jones-has-changed/tabid/1607/articleID/312976/Default.aspx#ixzz2egDoC4Km
“street-fighting” ?
Lol. What is Gower smoking?
Why NZers did not vote
– They felt that the election was a foregone conclusion, thanks to many polls pointing to a National win.
– They did not trust politicians.
– They had other commitments on the day.
Most people who decided not to vote, made that decision on the day.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2011/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503012&objectid=10801848
My thoughts about an extra rise in inflation is that employers would raise prices to cover wage rises but I know from my personal experience over the years that the more dollars you have the greater is the persons discretion in what they spend on. My only reservation is the stubborn antipathy to organising a system of adjusting pensions more frequently than annually. Governments have mini budgets so likewise they could have six month budgets which would help somewhat instead of annual events.
My views come from my experience and I do not see any need to study the egg heads of whatever perswasion