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 employeesâtwo from the same intelligence unit as Ouzan. Last year their companyâBillGuardâraised 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 âsuspiciousâ behavior.
Whatâs the link between credit card protection and the IDF? Raphael Ouzan, now BillGuardâs CTO explains:
âI 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 guildâs 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 interestingâŚ.
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 Dalzielâs 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 Partyâs candidate selection rules to be eligible for nomination. Please contact [email protected] 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.
âThe 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,â Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.
âThe 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.â
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 Partyâs 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? đŻ
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
Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It was another ‘SHOCK! HORROR!’ headline from a media increasingly venturing into tabloid-style journalism:Andrea Vance’s article seemed to focus on the "million dollar sums from the Government as the country grapples with a housing ...
Dr Brian Easton writes: Itâs the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I havenât seen them. Here is my guess at some ...
What Was the Prime Minister Reading in the Runup to Election Year?Itâs the summer break. Everyone settles down with family, books, the sun and some fishing. But the Prime Minister has a pile of briefing papers prepared just before Christmas, which have to be worked through. I havenât seen them. ...
In case you hadn't noticed, FYI, the public OIA request site, has been used to conduct a significant excavation into New Zealand's intelligence agencies, with requests made for assorted policies and procedures. Yesterday in response to one of these requests the GCSB released its policy on New Zealand Purpose and ...
Farming leaders are watching closely  whether Damien OâConnor keeps the key portfolios of Agriculture and Trade when Prime Minister Chris Hipkins restructures his Cabinet. OâConnor has been one of the few ministers during Labourâs term in office who has won broad support for what he has done ...
South Islands farmers are whining about another drought, the third in three years. If only we knew what was causing this! If only someone had warned them that they faced a drying climate! But we do know what is causing it: climate change. And they have been warned, repeatedly, for ...
Ok, thereâs good news and bad news in this weekâs inflation figures, but bad > good. Our inflation rate held steady but hey, at a level below the inflation rate in Australia. The main reason for the so/so result here? A fall in petrol prices of 7.2% offset the really ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isnât leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet ...
Since her shock resignation announcement, Jacinda Ardern has been at pains to point out that she isnât leaving because of the toxicity directed at her on social media and elsewhere, rebutting journalists who suggested misogyny and hate may have driven her from office. Yet there have been dozens of columns ...
The Clinical Magus: Of particular relevance to New Zealanders struggling to come to terms with the sudden departure of their prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is Jungâs concept of the anima. Much more than what others have called the feminine principle, the anima is what the human male has made out ...
The Select Committee, considering the proposed RNZ-TVNZ merger, has come back with a report conceding many of the criticisms that were made of the original legislation. In what is one of the most comprehensive demolitions of a Bill submitted to a Select Committee, the Economic Development, Science and Innovation ...
Such are the 2020s, the age when no-one, it seems, actually respects the basic underpinnings of democracy. Even in New Zealand. This week, I stumbled across a pair of lengthy and genuinely serious articles, that basically argue that Something is Rotten in the state of New Zealand democracy. One ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hurrah. Today we found something fresh on the Beehive website, Beehive.govt.nz, which claims to be the best place to find Government initiatives, policies and Ministerial information. It wasnât from Finance Minister Grant Robertson, whose reaction to the latest inflation figures would have been appreciated. So, too, ...
Smiling And Waiving A Golden Opportunity: Chris Hipkins knew that the day at Ratana would be Jacindaâs day â her final opportunity to bask in the unalloyed love and support of her followers. He simply could not afford to be seen to overshadow this last chance for his former boss ...
Extremism Consumes Itself: The plot of âAct of Oblivionâ concerns the relentless pursuit of the âregicidesâ Edward Whalley and William Goffe â two of the fifty-nine signatories to King Charles Iâs death warrant. As with his many other works of historical fiction, Robert Harrisâs novel brings to life a period ...
To challenge the Governmentâs promotion of co-governance, to share power between Maori and public authorities and agencies, is to invite accusations of racism. An example: this article by Martyn Bradbury on The Daily Blog headed Luxonâs race baiting hypocrisy at Ratana. The article was triggered by National leader Christopher Luxon, ...
A very informative video discussion: Are we getting the whole story about Ukraine? | Robert Wright & Ivan Katchanovski Getting objective information on the situation in Ukraine and the cause of this current war is not easy. There is the current censorship and blatant mainstream media bias – which ...
Yesterday the Herald ran an op-ed from Mayor Wayne Brown titled “The case for light rail is lighter than ever” and a few things stood out. However, itâs getting more and more tricky to make a strong economic case for spending up to $29 billion on a single route of ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Samantha Harrington Imagine it’s a cold February night and your furnace breaks. You want to replace it with an electric heat pump because you’ve heard that tax credits will help pay for the switch. And you know that heat pumps can reduce ...
In 2005, then-National Party leader based his entire election campaign on racism, with his infamous racist Orewa speech and racist iwi/kiwi billboards. Now, Christopher Luxon seems to want to do it all again: Fresh off using his platform at this week's RÄtana celebrations to criticise the government's approach to ...
Inflation is showing little sign of slowing down, posing a problem for freshly minted PM Chris Hipkins. According to that old campaigner Richard Prebble, Hipkins should call a snap election. If he waits till October, he risks being swept away. The dilemma for the new leader is that fighting an election ...
Buzz from the Beehive A great deal has happened since January 19. Among other things, a new Prime Minister and deputy have been sworn in and our leaders (past, present and aspiring) have delivered speeches at Ratana. Newshub reported that politicians of all stripes had descended upon RÄtana for the ...
Itâs a big day for New Zealand; our 41st Prime Minister has taken office and the new, âChippyâ era of politics is underway. Or, on the other hand, the Labour Party continues to govern with an overall majority and much the same leadership team in place. Life goes on and ...
New Zealand has another Prime Minister who does not have a basic grasp of the three articles of the Treaty of Waitangi. THOMAS CRANMER writes: It is simply astonishing that New Zealandâs next Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, is unable to give even a brief explanation of the three articles ...
A statue of a semi-naked Nick Smith puts the misogyny debate into perspective. GRAHAM ADAMS writes ⌠In the wake of Ardernâs abrupt resignation, the mainstream media are determined to convince us she was hounded from office mainly because she is a woman and had to fall on her sword ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe:Â In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealandâs new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his partyâs currently suicidal political course. If Chris âChippyâ Hipkins is ...
An editorial in the NZ Herald last week, titled “Nimbyism goes bananas as housing intensifies“, introduced Herald readers to a couple of acronyms that go along with the now-familiar NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard): âbananasâ (build absolutely nothing anywhere near anyone) âcaveâ dwellers (citizens against virtually everything). The editorial ...
Back in the dark autumn of 2020, when the prospect of Covid was freaking the country out, Finance Minister Grant Robertson set himself and Treasury a series of questions about what a post-Covid economy might look like. Those were fearful days, and the questions in part reflected a series ...
Buzz from the Beehive Yet another day has passed without Ministers of the Crown posting something to show they are still working for us on the Beehive website. Nothing new has been posted since January 17. Â Perhaps the ministers are all engaged in the bemusing annual excursion ...
Incoming Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has already indicated he intends making the tax system âfairerâ. That points to the route a government facing an election could take to tilt the odds towards winning  in its favour, given Labourâs support in the last months of the Ardern era had been ...
NewsHub has a poll on the cost-of-living crisis, which has an interesting finding: the vast majority of kiwis prefer wage rises to tax cuts: When asked whether income has kept up with the cost of living, 54.8 percent of people surveyed said no and according to 58.6 percent of ...
Labour has begun 2023 with the centre-left bloc behind in the polls and losing ground. That being so, did his colleagues choose Chris Hipkins as the replacement for Jacinda Ardern because they think he has a realistic shot at leading them to victory this year, or because heâs the best ...
Two Flags, Two Masters? Just as it required a full-scale military effort to destroy the first attempt at MÄori self-government in the 1850s and 60s (an effort that divided Maoridom itself into supporters and opponents of the Crown) any second attempt to establish tino rangatiratanga, based on the confiscatory policies ...
The first of Kiwirail’s big network shutdowns to fix the foundations on our tracks is now well underway with the Southern Line closed between Otahuhu and Newmarket. This is following on from the network wide Christmas/New Year shutdown, during which Kiwirail say that nearly 1,300 people working across 69 different ...
This is a re-post from the Citizens' Climate Lobby blogIn last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress included about $20 billion earmarked for natural climate solutions. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for deciding how those funds should be allocated to meet the climate ...
Youâve really got to wonder at the introspection, or lack thereof, from much of the mainstream media post Jacinda Ardern stepping down. Some so-called journalists havenât even taken a breath before once again putting the boot in, which clearly shows their inherent bias and lack of any misgivings about fueling ...
Over the weekend I was interviewed by a media outlet about the threats that Jacinda Ardern and her family have received while she has been PM and what can be expected now that she has resigned. I noted that the level of threat she has been exposed to is unprecedented ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey ...
A Different Kind Of Vibe: In the days and weeks ahead, as the Hipkins ministry takes shape, the only question that matters is whether New Zealandâs new prime minister possesses both the wisdom and the courage to correct his partyâs currently suicidal political course. If Chris âChippyâ Hipkins is able to steer ...
The days of the Labour Government being associated with middle class social liberalism look to be numbered. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni are heralding a major shift in emphasis away from the constituencies and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central towards the ...
Following the surprise resignation of Jacinda Ardern last week, her replacement, Chis Hipkins, has said: Over the coming week, Cabinet will be making decisions on reining in some programs and projects that aren’t essential right now That messaging is similar to what Jacinda Ardern said late last year and as ...
Much of what will mark the early days of Chris Hipkinsâ Prime Ministership would have happened anyway. By December, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister were making it clear the summer break and early days of this year were going to be spent on a reset of government policy. ...
Going to try to get into the blogging thing again (ha!) what with an election coming up and all that. So today I thought I'd start small and simple, by merely tackling the world's (second) richest man.I'm no fan of Elon Musk. You don't want to know why, but I'll ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 15, 2023 thru Sat, Jan 21, 2023. Story of the Week State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2022With a new year underway, most of the climate data for ...
Well, that was a disappointment. As of today, the New Zealand Labour Caucus opted for Chris Hipkins as our new Prime Minister, and I cannot help but let loose a cynical cackle. ...
Get ready for a major political reset once Chris Hipkins is sworn in as Prime Minister this week. Labour’s new leader is likely to push the Government to the right economically, and do his best to jettison the damaging perceptions that Labour has become âtoo wokeâ on social issues. Overall, ...
Things have gone sideways… and it’s only the third week of January? It was political earthquake time. For some the Prime Minister made a truly significant announcement. For others – did you have this on your bingo card? – a body double did so (sit tight, you’ll understand later, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Because our hard-working Ministers of the Crown are engaged in Labour Party caucus stuff in Napier, no doubt jockeying to ensure they keep their jobs or get a better one, Point of Order was not surprised to find no fresh news on the Beehive website this ...
By the end of 2019, Jacinda Ardern was a political superstar heading towards an election defeat. She was an icon, internationally beloved, on track to be an ex-prime minister before the age of forty. It was the year of the Christchurch terror attack when Ardernâs response to the atrocity saw ...
People complain about their jobs being meaningless. Does it matter?David Graeber, author of Bullshit Jobs: The Rise of Pointless Work and What We Can Do About It, would have smiled at Elon Muskâs sacking half the Twitter workforce. Musk seems to be confirming the main thesis of the book, that ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes: Should New Zealand have a snap election? Thatâs one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernâs shock resignation. Thereâs an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. ...
Should New Zealand have a snap election? Thatâs one of the questions arising out of the chaos of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardernâs shock resignation. Thereâs an increased realisation that everything has changed, and the old plans and assumptions for election year have suddenly evaporated. So, although Ardern has named an ...
I warned about the trap of virtue signaling in my article Virtue signaling over Ukraine. This video is still relevant – but have we moved on since then? The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was universally condemned at the time. Or was it? Certainly, the political atmosphere ...
Earlier this week Point of Order carried a post by Geoffrey Miller  on how Japan under a new security blueprint is doubling its defence spending. The plans see Japan buying up advanced weaponry â including long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US â and spending more on ...
Anyone else suffering back-to-work-blues? We’re battling, but still upright. Haere tonu! Today’s cover image is of sunset over Tirohanga WhÄnui Bridge, sourced from Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Jolisa pondered the fate of AT’s ‘Statements of Imagination’. Tuesday’s post was a guest post by Grady ...
Open access notables Bad news delivered by an all-star cast of familiar researchers: Another Year of Record Heat for the Oceans. From the abstract: In 2022, the world’s oceans, as given by OHC, were again the hottest in the historical record and exceeded the previous 2021 record maximum. According to IAP/CAS data, ...
The resignation of Jacinda Ardern has already made more global headlines than you might expect for that of the PM of a small commonwealth nation like say Sierra Leone (population 6.5 million) or Singapore (population 5.5 million). But international observers might not be too surprised by Ardernâs announcement that ...
One of my earliest political memories is the resignation of Prime Minister David Lange in August 1989. I remember this because of a brown felt-tipped pen drawing I did of the Beehive, the building that houses the Executive of the New Zealand Government. More than thirty years later, we ...
Buzz from the Beehive Hard on the heels of our Buzz from the Beehive earlier today, the PM has made two announcements â the 2023 general election will be held on Saturday 14 October and she will not be campaigning to win a third term as Prime Minister.  She will ...
Jacinda Ardern had an outsized impact on New Zealandâs international relations. While all Prime Ministers travel internationally, Ardernâs calendar was fuller than most. Ardernâs first major foreign trip came within weeks of her election in 2017, to the APEC summit in Vietnam. The meeting gave Ardern her first in-person encounter ...
She gave it her all. No New Zealand Prime Minister has ever dominated the political scene at home as she has done, or has established an international profile to match hers. No New Zealand Prime Minister has had to confront such a sequence of domestic and international catastrophes – from ...
Jacinda Ardern's shock resignation announcement today has left a lot of us with a lot of complicated feelings. In my case, while I've been highly critical of Ardern's government, I'm still sorry to see her go. We've had far too many terrible things happen during her term as Prime Minister ...
The decision by Jacinda Ardern to end her term as Prime Minister on February 7 has come as a stunning surprise. It turns the task of a centre-left government winning re-election this year from difficult to nigh on impossible. No-one else among the Labour caucus has Ardernâs ability to explain ...
Jacinda Ardernâs first press conference as Labour leader in August 2017 was a defining moment in the past decade of New Zealand politics. A young woman (by the standards of politics) who had long been tipped for higher office, she had underperformed as a minister and Andrew Littleâs noble resignation ...
 The tools exist to help families with surging costs â and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Members of Parliament for the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand have today written to Iranâs Grand Ayatollah Khamenei to condemn the ongoing violence and killing of womenâs rights and democracy protesters, and to call on him to intervene immediately. ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. âIâd urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papÄ te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wÄhi rua mai ana rÄ runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te mÄreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira NÄ reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mĹwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pĹuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the TairÄwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. âAnnouncing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,â Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 daysâ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
The Government is maintaining its strong trade focus in 2023 with Trade and Agriculture Minister Damien OâConnor visiting Europe this week to discuss the role of agricultural trade in climate change and food security, WTO reform and New Zealand agricultural innovation. Damien OâConnor will travel tomorrow to Switzerland to attend the ...
The Government has extended its medium-scale classification of Cyclone Hale to the Wairarapa after assessing storm damage to the eastern coastline of the region. âWeâre making up to $80,000 available to the East Coast Rural Support Trust to help farmers and growers recover from the significant damage in the region,â ...
The Government is making an initial contribution of $150,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in TairÄwhiti following ex-Tropical Cyclone Hale, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. âWhile Cyclone Hale has caused widespread heavy rain, flooding and high winds across many parts of the North Island, TairÄwhiti ...
Rural Communities Minister Damien OâConnor has classified this weekâs Cyclone Hale that caused significant flood damage across the TairÄwhiti/Gisborne District as a medium-scale adverse event, unlocking Government support for farmers and growers. âWeâre making up to $100,000 available to help coordinate efforts as farmers and growers recover from the heavy ...
A vaccine for people at risk of mpox (Monkeypox) will be available if prescribed by a medical practitioner to people who meet eligibility criteria from Monday 16 January, says Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall. Â 5,000 vials of the vaccine have been obtained, enough for up to 20,000 ...
RNZ News Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has acknowledged the way Aucklanders have come together and opened their homes to those in need, with the New Zealand government focused on providing the resources needed to get the city back up and running. The new prime minister â just four days into ...
RNZ News Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty has asked for communication on support after the severe thunderstorm in Auckland to be stepped up. It comes after a Civil Defence warning text failed to be sent out, and Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown told RNZ they will be reviewing the response, ...
RNZ News Three people are dead and at least one person is missing following the flooding overnight in Auckland, New Zealandâs largest city. About 1000 people were still stranded today after Auckland Airport was closed last night because of flooding of the arrival and departure foyers. Flights were cancelled for ...
Wayne Brown has doubled down on his decision last night to shun the media until close to midnight and only order a state of emergency at 9.30pm. In a defensive display to the media this afternoon, the Auckland mayor was questioned on comments other councillors made last night, including some ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed there are three deaths linked to the extreme weather event in Auckland over the past 24 hours. There is also at least one person missing. Speaking at a press conference in Auckland, Hipkins said the priority was to make sure Aucklanders were safe, housed ...
*This story was first published on The Conversation and is republished with permission*Until New Zealand's stormwater drain system adapts to our rising climate, it will never be able to cope with the level of flooding seen in Auckland on Friday night, writes James Renwick The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced ...
Chris Hipkins has experienced his first major event as prime minister, just days into his tenure. Heâs spent the day in Auckland alongside emergency services, surveying the damage and assessing next steps. Heâs due to speak at 3.15pm alongside Auckland mayor Wayne Brown. Thanks to Stuff, here is a livestream. ...
Due to the âunprecedented weather eventâ in Auckland, organisers have confirmed the âheartbreaking decisionâ to cancel this yearâs Laneway Festival. âWe were so excited to deliver this show to our biggest crowd ever in New Zealand, our team has been working around the clock to do everything they can to ...
With the rain easing for a moment, many will be beginning the arduous task of cleaning out their flooded property. Auckland council has release advice for cleaning up after a flood. Cleaning up after a flood It is important to clean and dry your house and everything in it. Floodwater ...
Air New Zealand Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer Captain David Morgan says the airlineâs domestic flights in and out of Auckland resumed from 12pm today as Auckland Airport re-opens. But he said with a backlog of flights and customers, the priority is those who need to travel urgently. âThose ...
Festival-goers holding on hope for Laneway, set to take place at Western Springs on Monday, will have to wait a bit longer for an official update. A brief post on Facebook this afternoon stated: âSafety is Laneway Festivalâs number one priority. With the large weather event Auckland is currently experiencing, ...
Wayne Brown has defended the timing of a declaration of a state of emergency last night following record rainfall in Auckland. âThe state of emergency is a prescribed process, itâs quite formal, and I had to wait until I had the official request from the emergency management centre. The moment ...
After the 11th hour cancellation last night, Elton John has cancelled the second concert of his farewell tour at Mt Smart, which had been scheduled for this evening. In a statement, John said: âFollowing the instruction of the emergency services, we have no option but to cancel tonightâs show in ...
The member of parliament for Mt Albert, Jacinda Ardern, has posted a message on Facebook following the flooding in Auckland. âIâm very conscious that itâs been a while since I posted, and there have been a few big things happening. But today the most important thing is everyoneâs wellbeing and ...
Flooding of the runway, the check-in and arrivals areas on the ground floor and surrounding roads has disrupted operations at Auckland International, halting all departures until at least 5pm today, with no arrivals before 4:30am tomorrow. âPeople are asked not to come to the International Terminal at this time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka â Victoria University of Wellington Victoria Park near the Auckland CBD on January 27.Getty Images The extraordinary flood event Auckland experienced on the night of January 27, the eve of the ...
New Zealandâs largest insurance group, IAG, says it is on track to receive more than 1,100 claims from Aucklanders by lunchtime after the city was deluged in the wettest day on record. Those claims, said the group which includes AMI, State and NZI Insurance, span property damage to homes and ...
The rampant flooding in Auckland didnât just detonate its provincial public holiday weekend â it coincided with the biggest weekend of the year to date for live events. A pair of Elton John concerts at Mt Smart stadium had a combined capacity of over 80,000, while both Laneway at Western ...
Auckland is beginning a clean-up after its wettest day since records began. âAuckland was clobbered on Friday,â said emergency management duty controller Andrew Clark. âWe wonât start to get a good idea of numbers affected until later today and, even then, this will take time, with information still coming in ...
The prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is travelling to Auckland after devastating floods hit the city overnight. With the airport out of operation until at least midday, he is landing at Whenuapai air base on a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules aircraft from Wellington. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has arrived in Auckland for a daylong visit to the city following its catastrophic flood on Friday night. Flying in an Air Force Hercules to Whenuapai, Hipkins will spend roughly three hours on the ground assessing flood damage in the city before returning. He will receive ...
A quirk of timing left all Aucklandâs institutions on the back foot. But social media, particularly TikTok, graphically showed just how bad the situation was. Late afternoon on a Friday is known as time to quietly drop bad news. You have the plausible deniability of it happening during work hours, ...
Itâs a common sight during summer. Itâs also a recipe for disaster.I recently drove with my family from New Plymouth to TÄmaki Makaurau and, just like how I lost count of how many cows I saw on the way, I lost count of how many cars had a passenger ...
Opinion - Election year has begun with a bang, and already the punditry and speculation are ramping up, but Grant Duncan warns not to treat polls as gospel. ...
New Zealandâs new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, is formally facing down an emergency just a few days after being sworn in, summoning the National Crisis Management Centre to the Beehive. The Beehive Bunker is being stood up to help with coordination of the emergency response in Auckland. Iâve asked ...
Analysis - Jacinda Ardern is one of New Zealand's most historically significant leaders. But she did not achieve the grand vision for Aotearoa her outsized rhetoric promised. ...
Brits abroad can be an asset to Aotearoa - but only if we make an effort to engage with te ao MÄori, writes Scottish expat Fran Barclay Earlier this week, the UK High Commissioner signalled a promising intention to address the barriers facing young MÄori and Pasifika who aspire to ...
"They want the MÄoris out": provincial life in NZShe hadnât learned to shut her mouth. Howard was tired of Councillor Kemp harping on and on and on. He pushed himself deeper into the boardroom chair and leaned back as far as he could force it. This woman had ranted ...
Positive affirmation quotes often arenât helpful for tÄngata whai ora. But taking the piss out of them can be. Early in January, on the first day of what would be a week of staying in bed with the curtains pulled, I put a disappointingaffirmations Instagram post up on my stories. ...
Ellen Rykers visits Mahakirau Forest Estate, âa crown jewel in the Coromandel Rangeâ, where pest control is serious business.This is an excerpt from our weekly environment newsletter Future Proof â sign up here. The Mahakirau Forest Estate is not your average subdivision. Enter through its tall ...
As Auckland tackles severe floods and the cityâs airport emerges from a deluge on both the runway and in terminals, Air New Zealand has confirmed that no flights will leave or arrive before noon on Saturday at the earliest. In a statement, the airline said anyone booked for a flight ...
RNZ News Mayor Wayne Brown has shut down criticism that he was too slow in declaring a state of emergency after severe flooding in Auckland, New Zealandâs largest city. In a media stand-up late on Friday evening, Brown said he was following advice from experts and as soon as they ...
The Prime Minister has gone down to the Beehive bunker to help coordinate the emergency response, as the Insurance Council warns some Aucklanders whose homes and business are flooded face very hard times ahead. Jonathan Milne reports.Comment: Standing by the south-western motorway, I watched in dismay as hundreds of cars ...
A state of emergency has been declared in Auckland as severe weather causes major flooding across much of the city. Itâs expected the rain will continue into the morning. This post will be updated as more information is shared.What does a state of emergency mean? A state of emergency ...
Aucklandâs mayor Wayne Brown said he declared an emergency in Auckland as soon as he possibly could â and he made the decision without listening to the âclamourâ of the public. There has been some criticism of the mayor for his relative silence today throughout the deadly flooding thatâs hit ...
Welcome to a special late night edition of The Spinoffâs live updates as Auckland enters a state of emergency. Stewart Sowman-Lund is on deck, with help from our news team.The top linesAuckland is in a state of emergency. It will remain in place for seven ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is pleased the call was made to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. All government agencies were working âflat outâ to help in what was an âextraordinary set of circumstancesâ, Hipkins said in a tweet. âThe emergency response is underway and the government is ready ...
Aucklandâs mayor Wayne Brown has released a statement following the decision to declare a state of emergency in Auckland. Brown has faced criticism this evening for his relative silence throughout todayâs major flooding, with the first public pronouncement of the state of emergency coming from his deputy. Brown said the ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Treasurer Jim Chalmers has laid out an economic blueprint for pursuing âvalues-based capitalismâ, involving public-private co-investment and collaboration and the renovation of key economic institutions and markets. In a 6000-word essay in The Monthly ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Ward, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Queensland Five years ago, bulldozers with chains cleared forests and woodlands almost triple the size of the Australian Capital Territory in a single year. Brazil? Indonesia? No â much closer: Queensland. In 2018-19, ...
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[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 đ
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 employeesâtwo from the same intelligence unit as Ouzan. Last year their companyâBillGuardâraised 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 âsuspiciousâ behavior.
Whatâs the link between credit card protection and the IDF? Raphael Ouzan, now BillGuardâs CTO explains:
âI 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 guildâs 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 đ
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. đ
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 interestingâŚ.
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. đ
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? đŻ
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