Open mike 13/03/2025

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 13th, 2025 - 36 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

36 comments on “Open mike 13/03/2025 ”

  1. Kay 1
    13 March 2025 at 8:19 am

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/544621/theft-is-theft-bill-making-employers-theft-of-workers-wages-a-crime-passes

    What one would think is fair and reasonable. So look who voted against it…

    Poor people stealing anything (even out of desperation) =bad and deserving of a criminal conviction.

    Employers deliberately withholding wages= perfectly acceptable.

    Reply
    • Tiger Mountain 1.1
      13 March 2025 at 9:09 am

      Despicable stuff, it took so much effort to win Living Wage for Parliamentary cleaners and other contractors in the first place. In context of the pay rates and benefits that MPs and their staff receive, it is so obviously “down punching”. These workers clean the toilets MPs crap in, restrooms, offices and general areas yet they are not worth around $4 more per hour than minimum wage?

      Min wage $23.50 per hour from 1 April 2025. $23.15 now.

      Living wage currently $27.80 per hour

      Reply
      • Barfly 1.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 3:08 pm

        Superannuation up about 4% to balance inflation so all you minimum and low waged people – minimum wage increase of 1.5% – This is second year that the Act Minister Brooke van Velden has blatantly robbed the lowest paid in New Zealand and not from any need. IMO that vile piece of filth just gets her jollies from punching down.

        Reply
    • gsays 1.2
      13 March 2025 at 10:56 am

      They couldn't in good conscience vote for it.

      The state owes hundreds of thousands of dollars of back pay through the Holidays Act to several thousand nurses.

      Still.

      Reply
  2. PsyclingLeft.Always 2
    13 March 2025 at 8:20 am

    They finally met. And it was productive ?

    Erica Stanford and David Seymour meet over free school lunches programme fiasco

    Were they in a Reality Free room?

    "We discussed a whole range of issues around the school lunch programme and how it's getting better, and what our plan to do that is," Seymour said.

    Stanford characterised the meeting this morning as "really productive".

    "We went through some of the complex and challenging issues, and I offered David my full support: anything he needed from my office, we would be providing it," she said.

    Productive. The mind…boggles

    The meeting comes a day after Libelle Group, which was subcontracted by the main contractor Compass to provide 124,000 of the 242,000 lunches a day, went into liquidation.

    Seymour earlier told Midday Report he had been aware for "weeks" there were issues with Libelle, but the government was not aware the company might fold in the way it has.

    Receiver Deloitte yesterday told Checkpoint the company had been struggling for months and still owed money to multiple suppliers and staff.

    Seymour has consistently refused to get into the details of Libelle's struggles, saying that was commercially sensitive – and a matter for Compass to handle with Libelle.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/544573/erica-stanford-and-david-seymour-meet-over-free-school-lunches-programme-fiasco

    Reply
  3. tWig 3
    13 March 2025 at 8:26 am

    Seems like Orr left because he didn't want to loosen capital holding requirements on the big banks. Willis does.

    Reply
  4. tWig 4
    13 March 2025 at 8:31 am

    And it seems the underlying reason for the US tariff war is that Trump wants a return to pre-income tax days. Tariffs used to be the main way that governments raised income.

    That he can use it to threaten other countries is a plus.

    Reply
  5. PsyclingLeft.Always 5
    13 March 2025 at 8:41 am

    Those Bankers. its not our fault our profits are so bigly……

    Bank profits soar to record $7.2b amid litany of concerns

    As some of its the customers fault. They were so resilient.

    Head of banking at advisory firm KPMG John Kensington said the banks' improvement really reflected the resilience of its customers, who had come through high interest rates and cost of living.

    Yea. interesting reading what else ol' John has to say. (and who were these participants) I also note his mention of “fringe elements” Well..who?

    "Concern was expressed by all participants about the state of the economy and a range of related challenges including: a lack of productivity within the New Zealand economy, a feeling that New Zealand needed to change and move away from the heavy focus on risk management and a move to more of a can-do or yes mantra to ensure that it would be an attractive place for investors and their capital.

    "Participants were unanimously of the view that now was the time for bi-partisan politics across the board," Kensington said, adding there was a concern that "fringe elements" in coalition governments would contribute to significant problems not being resolved.

    Ol'John further opines…. (hmmm I think the banks own involvement in money laundering should have been mentioned. I will link further down)

    "Very few customers appear willing to pay, say, a monthly fee to cover the costs of banks' antifraud programmes and would undoubtedly object to, say, $5 being charged monthly to their account, however, once they have sustained a loss they are of the view that they should be 100 percent remunerated regardless of the circumstances."

    And it was also some light heartedness. So funny….(might be banker humour ?)

    Moves to beef up the financial strength of Kiwibank to better compete against the big four Australian owned banks also caused comment.

    Kensington said the topic was discussed with a "slight degree of humour".

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/544531/bank-profits-soar-to-record-7-point-2b-amid-litany-of-concerns

    ANZ joins long list of banks ticked off for anti-money laundering failures

    NZ bank money laundry problems. Links within Link….

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/131875404/anz-joins-long-list-of-banks-ticked-off-for-antimoney-laundering-failures

    Reply
    • Res Publica 5.1
      13 March 2025 at 9:24 am

      Yeah, the irony is off the charts.

      Banks raking in record profits while talking about customer resilience like it's some kind of heroic struggle. When in reality, the struggle is caused by the banks and their high rates. And then there's the classic "we can't charge a small fee for fraud prevention, but customers expect full reimbursement when they get scammed" line.

      Like… maybe if the banks actually did their due diligence on fraud, people wouldn't be getting scammed in the first place?

      As for the "fringe elements" comment—yeah, that’s a fun little dog whistle. Who exactly are they talking about? People who want more banking oversight? Those pesky voters who don’t want their economy dictated by corporate profit margins?

      And that Kiwibank "humour" bit—sure, sure, just a funny little joke about competition in a sector dominated by Aussie-owned giants. Bet the big four were howling with laughter.

      Meanwhile, the real scandals—like money laundering—get brushed under the rug.

      You’d think that would be a bigger concern than, say, whether a bank is "too woke" to lend to climate-risky businesses. But hey, priorities.

      Reply
      • PsyclingLeft.Always 5.1.1
        14 March 2025 at 8:30 am

        Hi, yea I sure hope others see this irony. These bankers and the rest of the "top feeders" live in some kind of alternative reality. Well, alter to where the rest of us live.

        How it gets changed? Some good Ideas on the Left to bring forward. Hopefully not deemed fringe by other Left parties…

        After all NZ is a beautiful place. It should feel so..for all.

        Reply
  6. joe90 6
    13 March 2025 at 10:46 am

    Meet aggrieved libertarian and end times loon Curt Zant

    A US family is selling their Hawke’s Bay farm after losing a “philosophical” dispute with the local council over whether part of their land should be designated an Outstanding Natural Feature.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360609902/us-family-selling-nz-farm-after-losing-court-case-over-outstanding-natural-feature

    https://www.chbdc.govt.nz/assets/Document-Library/District-Plan-Appeals/Curt-and-Tricia-Zant-Notice-of-Appeal.pdf

    Reply
    • Barfly 6.1
      13 March 2025 at 11:10 am

      Ah balls …Trumps gonna add another 25% tariffs to NZ for infringing US Billionaires citizens freedumbs. Betta tell Winston

      Reply
      • joe90 6.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 7:53 pm

        Curt and Tricia will be right at home in a freedumb city.

        .

        Several groups representing “startup nations”—tech hubs exempt from the taxes and regulations that apply to the countries where they are located—are drafting Congressional legislation to create “freedom cities” in the US that would be similarly free from certain federal laws, WIRED has learned.

        According to interviews and presentations viewed by WIRED, the goal of these cities would be to have places where anti-aging clinical trials, nuclear reactor startups, and building construction can proceed without having to get prior approval from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

        https://www.wired.com/story/startup-nations-donald-trump-legislation/

        Reply
    • Bearded Git 6.2
      13 March 2025 at 9:19 pm

      Zant is an idiot. The ONF designation was arrived at after consideration of expert landscape evidence. It is not a philosophical issue.

      ONF designation in no way interferes with farming. It does however often prevent landscape wrecking subdivision and development, which is presumably what Zant had in mind from his reaction.

      Well done the Environment Court…..Zant should stay in the USA.

      Seymour will be fuming. Watch out for a new bill that overrides all district plans, despite these having been prepared based on expert evidence. (This is pretty much what the fast track bill does already)

      Reply
    • PsyclingLeft.Always 6.3
      14 March 2025 at 8:38 am

      I clicked one Link and was kinda surprised by the header

      ‘Socialist agenda’: US family selling NZ farm after losing dispute with council

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360609902/us-family-selling-nz-farm-after-losing-court-case-over-outstanding-natural-feature

      I thought Curt Loon Zant must have been describing that well known commie witch Jacinda , but no….its the actual present Govt. IE NAct1. Who knew? Maybe they have been hiding it?

      Really…NZ is so much better off without the Curt Loon Zants.

      Reply
  7. newsense 7
    13 March 2025 at 11:05 am

    The left have done well as of late in the polls…

    BUT a second round of storm clouds gathers. Why was our response to the pandemic initially so good? Because we didn’t have any media that would print lies to attack the government. We had several politicians float things that were said on Fox and other places, or printed in The Australian, but no major media outlet in New Zealand ran deranged anti-vax attacks. The politicians who even lightly tried got heavily punished.

    The injection of heavily partisan top controlled media like the Murdoch group or worse is a threat over the horizon. Beware!

    The second is the campaign to change the national character, I’ve found this best expressed by this opinion piece, the kind potentially forbidden by new owners at NZME, looking at why the police would suddenly arrest Gandalf, unlicensed weed dealer. It’s an attack on altruism, on a common sense interpretation of the law and of doing something that corporations could be gouging profits out of for social benefit. See school lunches.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360611924/verity-johnson-yes-gandalf-green-fairy-may-have-broken-law-what-we-did-him-worse

    Our community is worse since the 90s. We often put security fences around our school fields and playgrounds because of a prevalence of vandalism and other activities. Community institutions and social glue get their funding removed. This is a second wave, an attempt to make us more toward the US socially. And don’t say it couldn’t happen here. Our pandemic response was good luck that the right is determined not to allow again.

    Reply
    • newsense 7.1
      13 March 2025 at 11:16 am

      And the idea of actual liberal thought in the harm principle permeating anything this government does…

      from the article:

      As a nation, we often make decisions based on questions like, “Is this hurting anyone? Is this hurting me? No? Well, who cares then.”

      but decisions have been made time and again, on planning, on speed limits, on tobacco, on trans rights and other rights…this is not a principle of this government, despite their vestiges of libertarian fig leafs.

      Reply
    • Bearded Git 7.2
      13 March 2025 at 9:24 pm

      NZ's pandemic response was not good luck. It was a clever.well informed and highly successful response from a caring government.

      If Luxon had been in charge it would have been a disaster.

      Reply
  8. Incognito 8
    13 March 2025 at 12:49 pm

    Gordon Campbell gives Peters and pretty much the whole Coalition demerit points for lacking consistency, spine, and merit.

    https://werewolf.co.nz/2025/03/gordon-campbell-on-winston-peters-battle-against-the-phantom-legions-of-the-woke/

    Yes, current hiring practices in the public service do encourage diversity, but – as RNZ’s Ingrid Hipkiss pointed out to Peters – nowhere in the rules does it say that diversity should be at the expense of merit. Nor is there anything but isolated, anecdotal evidence from the aggrieved that diversity must have been the reason why they weren’t hired.

    Peters has more supporters than people who vote for him/NZF because many strongly defend merit as the raison d'être and deciding fitness factor.

    Reply
    • gsays 8.1
      13 March 2025 at 4:23 pm

      On Peters, he is probably best suited to be the one who meets with Rubio.

      Kinda 'speaks the same language', won't grovel, could put New Zealand's interests First and unlikely to be pushed around.

      Reply
      • Incognito 8.1.1
        13 March 2025 at 4:53 pm

        Yes, better suited than the airline manager who cannot read the room even when he’s in it (but he’s a bit Schrödinger with a superposition of being simultaneously in Te Puke and Hawaii, so even he doesn’t know if he’s in the room or not).

        Reply
    • feijoa 8.2
      13 March 2025 at 5:32 pm

      The old merit argument…

      IF we had equality, a woman would be the right person for the job 50% of the time.

      Maori- 20% of the time.

      ETC

      Reply
  9. Michael Scott 9
    13 March 2025 at 3:18 pm

    The Brazilian government is hosting the 2025 UN COP Climate Change Conference.

    All 65,000 registered delegates will be able to drive through the rainforest to view for themselves the ravages climate change has wrought.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9vy191rgn1o

    You couldn't make this up.

    Reply

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