Anyone notice how little energy we're getting out of the southern ocean in terms of weather front formation?
The 10 day forecast through to 23 June shows slow moving Tasman lows, which is great for moisture (finally!), but not the deep southern energy that will bring snow and hence snow packs.
Yes, I certainly do notice that. It's been the case for a while now; at least, it's been patently obvious to those of us living in the far south; at first we said, "sleeping dragon', knowing it was just building, ready to burst upon us the way at always has done, only it doesn't any more; our weather is tame compared to what it was. Both encouraging and concerning at the same time.
Yeah, strange days in Whakatipu. I'm looking out my window at a green, sort of growing lawn, this time of year it would normally be browned off by the frost. Go onto a north facing hill and there's quite a bit of growth, and grazed out paddocks are coming back green after a week or so.
The way the forecast models are looking there's not going to be any change from this pattern until maybe early July, maybe… So no natural snow for southern skifields, and temperatures too warm for any meaningful snowmaking until after the school holidays.
This could get rather interesting around the town.
Apparently there is a anomaly around the Antarctic, saw a technical explanation I didn’t understand and didn’t talk about nearby land masses. Will see if I can find the tweets.
Build to need i agree (though what constitutes need will cause debate e.g. cycle bridges)….build in the knowledge that everything built creates emissions and consumes limited resources in its construction and importantly in its maintenance.
edit
And also build to last for just 50 years rather than the 100 years someone mentioned previously. Everything changes rapidly so be prepared with Plan B if a weather event happens or with a sea bridge, a ship loses steering or something and wipes out essential parts.
Think Picton – Mikhail Lermontov, Italy – dozy navigation also there etc. And possibly government-sponsored terrorism, Rainbow Warrior v France, USA v Iran. We are not immune from that even if we are dancing away from Covid19.
I used to have thoughts like that whenever Rick Astley and anyone out of the Stock Aitken and Waterman school of mid 1980s music was pushed into my ears in a supermarket.
But helpfully I didn't run the country at the time.
In your case, mozzie, I think we'd be happy to find you somewhere you could learn to just post once, before progressing to something much much more difficult such as wit (relatively speaking).
"In New Zealand, about 50 percent of our overall homeless population are women, which is internationally quite rare…
Women had an average of 2.6 children, while men had an average of 1.6 children.. Four out of every five women were Māori while for men, two thirds were Māori
Dr Fraser said the statistics showed the welfare system was not working. "It really just shows our benefits aren't high enough. They need to be higher, they need to be easier to access.
"These are really vulnerable people and their children deserve the best possible start in life that they can, but they're clearly not getting that if their mums are so stressed out and needing that wrap-around housing support."
It offers rebates of up to $8,625 for a new electric car and up to $5750 for a plug-in hybrid car – but will not be given on cars that cost $80,000 or more. Cars had to have at least a three-star safety rating to be eligible.
Fees on higher emitting vehicles will start from January 1, 2022.
i guess they set 'affordable' until it hits 79.999.99 NZD……..oh boy.
Well i guess the new minimum wage will making the buying of such a car within a year totally affordable. Totally. Or else those making that amount should just cycle from South Auckland to their jobs. But then maybe when all those that can not afford to buy a new car between now and Jan 2022 are to be 'fined' out of car ownership, rather then 'incentivised in' via cheap to free and punctual, safe and regular public transport. Something we are still not able to provide pretty much anywhere in the country.
But i hope that the Middleclass in NZ that changes things is very happy and pleased and totally not ashamed of the fact that the lower class is financing their Middle Class status to great measure. Maybe Labour needs to rename itself the "Middle Class Party of Aotearo".
And last but least, read the article to the end, and realise that not word not one pixle was used on 'bicycles, or buses, or trams, or any other form of public transport'. It is not the 'tradies subsidizing teslas', it is the poor NZ who needs a car because they have no public infrastructure what so ever that is subsidizing the schmucks in Wellington, and the million dollar burbs in Auckland.
Or in words that some might understand better, The tax payer from South Auckland is financing a new car or several new family cars for the likes of Mike Hoskins and everyone in his ‘class’. The Upper Class. The Middle class gets a treat for buying the used cars of the likes of Mike Hoskins, and the proletariat is financing all of it.
Stats NZ (link to Excel sheet on this page) sez the median gross household income for Auckland year ended 30 June 2020 was $104,821 – and the mean gross household income was $128,138.
But yeah, plenty of opportunity there for $15,000 cars. Or even a $50,000 car every few years. It might just need a sacrifice of a few expensive holidays.
It might just need a sacrifice of a few expensive holidays.
There’s a lot of pent-up money because people had to cancel their overseas holidays in 2020 and also this year. So, let’s spend it on a Tesla or some other vital material wealth.
Gotta admit, every now and then I sneak a fantasy peek at Tesla's NZ inventory list. They seem to be shifting them a lot faster now than even just a few months back, let alone last year.
Sabine this was a Green Policy which was stymied by NZ First. It is designed to encourage the greater buying of electric and hybrid vehicles by those who can make the choice, as most of us have never purchased a new car and need more second hand choices.
In your usual fashion you poke the Government instead of looking at the intended outcomes James Shaw and Julie Anne Genter were aiming for. There is so much bile in your system it is clouding your judgement and causing many to be turned off posting, but then that is perhaps your goal? There is no suggested "Other" way.. just bile.
What got left out of Sabine's critique of the article might be important.
"and about $3,500 for used cars."
"Rebates of up to $3,450 will be given to those who buy used electric cars and $2,300 for plug-in hybrids. From January, smaller rebates will also be offered to buyers of other low emission cars."
"Wood said those fees would not apply to cars already in the country, which meant low-income families who relied on cheaper second-hand cars would not face the fee."
"Petrol cars with lower emissions – such as a Toyota Rav 4 or Suzuki Vitara – would not face fees."
It means that people that have the means get government tax rebates as per the cars the y buy.
As i said Incognito
The rich can get up to 8700 NZD per vehicle they purchase, the not so rich can get a few grand less, and the rest of the country that can't afford a used or a new electric or hybrid vehicle and is dependend on an old gasguzzler get to pay for the boondoogle.
And not a single word and pixle was extended to the announcment of the Government and dear Green Co leader Shaw to the tax rebates commuters that use public transport will get with the purchase of an annual bus ticket. – Got any comment to that?
And thus you discuss me and the details of the money, and rest assured Mike Hoskins and his wife and their children could easily buy a car for each of them, rake in the 8700 max per vehicle and thus get 5 for the price of 4 all courtesy of those that actually pay taxes in this country.
Good grief, this is the best national government we could get. Maybe that is why it is so appreciated by Middle Nuzilind.
No, this government should be looking at being fair.
So this particular announcement should have been coupled with an announcement for the many that use public transports. Tax rebates for both.
Is that really so hard to understand?
Disclaimer, i don't own a car, never did. I am a public transport user, a walker, a cycler, i ride share etc.
So in my opinion this announcement will do very little to encourage people that don't have the money to buy up and into a better car generation to use buses and trains instead. But i guess that was never the point. It is however nice to know that we are not so broke as a country to not give away a few tax incentives to people who already aren't known for paying much taxes.
Sabine asseverates, "the rest of the country that can't afford a used or a new electric or hybrid vehicle and is dependent on an old gasguzzler get to pay for the boondoogle."
The article Sabine quotes says "Petrol cars with lower emissions – such as a Toyota Rav 4 or Suzuki Vitara – would not face fees." They don't pay for the boondoogle. Nor do people who keep their cars, gas guzzlers or no.
The article also says that those who buy a car already in the country do not pay the fee- "low-income families who relied on cheaper second-hand cars would not face the fee."
Funny how people get things wrong. ACT's Seymour says that Tesla buyers will get all this money, but the announcement limits the EV/hybrid fees to cars below $80,000.
for what its worth, i must be too poor as i don't know many people who can afford that much for a car, but then i am proud proletariat and i know my place :).
What i am saying is that those that don't get tax rebates – are the ones that finance tax rebates generally the tax paying working public, many who are not in a financial position to take the government up on its offer. And in this announcement there is no mention of tax rebates for people that use public transport all year round, or those that have bought a decent bicycle to ride all year round. – Care to comment on that?
What it does is it affords a tax incentives to people that can buy an EV or lower emission vehicle in the time. Are you one of these people ? Because then you may are biased in your assumption.
Did you miss the bits where the funding for the rebates is going to come from fees loaded onto the highest emitting vehicles such as Ford Ranger Codpiece Editions? That the whole programme is set up to be zero cost to the government? That it only affects the cost to those buying freshly imported vehicles (new or used), that it will not have direct effects on the used vehicle market within NZ?
That is not at all what i missed. As i said, many that drive high emission vehicles are not forcibly in a postion to actually change their cars. For a starter. So yeah, again those that can't afford to buy a decent car get to subsidze those that don't need a hand out. Maybe they should have targeted the group that drives old and high emission vehicles with that incentives.
Did you miss where i advocate for tax rebates for people that commute? Have you got a comment to that? You know, incentives people out of gazz guzzlers or other cheap polluters by making public transport cheap?
Those not in a position to change their cars are completely unaffected by this emissions fee and rebate scheme. They can continue driving the cars they already have in exactly the same way they are doing now. Yes, you have completely missed that part of it.
Public transport users are already heavily subsidised, and very likely will continue to get ever more subsidies. Just by tweaking where NZTA spends money. Where does NZTA get its money? Almost entirely from road users. But that's a completely separate funding give and take from this emissions feebate scheme. And the way road users subsidise public transport users means there's already a pretty good argument the poor family from Otara that drives because public transport just can't work for their workplaces and schedules is already subsidising the hi-falutin mirror-glazed office denizens of central Auckland.
Where the money for public transport comes from
The NZ Transport Agency and public transport 2013The NZ Transport Agency’s investment in land transport comes mainly from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF) – a three-year funding pool, currently at $9.3 billion. Other sources include local authorities, developers, landowners, and the Crown (government). These funding sources are combined and paid out on a three yearly basis through the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP).Who contributes to the NlTF?Anyone who owns or runs a motor vehicle invests in land transport, and therefore in public transport. New Zealand’s road users contribute to the $9.3 billion NLTF through fuel excise duty (around 52%), road user charges (39%), and motor vehicle registrations (6%). The rest comes from people who lease or buy state highway property. By law, NLTF money has to be invested in land transport.
snip
How we invest through the NlTP
Investments of more than $1.7 billion will be paid out through the 2012-15 NLTP for public transport services, infrastructure and planning. This amount is over 15% of the total NLTP, and includes the money from our regional and territorial authority partners.
We pay out 50% of the subsidy for urban buses, and between 40% and 60% of the subsidy for the Total Mobility scheme (help for people with impairments who cannot use public transport).
About 80% of all Tesla sales are Model 3s. You can get a new one of these in New Zealand for just under $70,000.
64% of all the new battery electric cars sold in New Zealand in March 2021 were model 3 Tesla vehicles. So a lot of Tesla buyers will certainly be cashing in. They won't get "all" the money but I would like to see your evidence that Seymour really made that statement and used those words. How about a link for him saying that?
Context should give you that I was quoting from the article that I was quoting higher in the comment which linked to the comments I made to Sabine' article available in her original comment.
I was wrong is saying all Teslas were outside the $70 grand range. There is a cheaper model at $69 grand so Seymour is not wrong.
There was a hefty price drop on Tesla models announced 19//4/21, less than a month ago dropping the entry model to below $70 grand.
Thank you for replying. No I didn't get any hint from the context, but I now see where you were getting it from. Seymour was coming close to your interpretation but it isn't that much divorced from the reality of the 64% numbers implication.
Thanks, Alwyn. How many EV or hybrids, bought in NZ are second-hand as opposed to new Teslas? I'm asking whether new Teslas are a significant part of total EV sales.
I have a second hand Leaf. Three people I know have the same. I know of no Teslas. One mechanical buff I know- I saw his EV today….. a second hand EV ute that he converted to be an EV from a petrol ute using a Leaf battery and some sort of lower-powered electric motor.
I'm not at all sure whether I am reading this correctly but if I am there were 427 more new-import pure EVs at the end of March than February and 256 more used-import EVs for the same period. That would seem to make New Tesla vehicles about half of all the EVs registered in the month.
I'm not sure where to get the number of used Tesla cars though. Be very cautious with my calculation though. I'm not at all sure on whether I am reading these numbers correctly.
I have noticed a great increase in the number of Tesla cars in Wellington this year. That probably is only due to the fact that a Tesla is very distinctive and I tend to notice them. I don't think I would recognize a Leaf at a glance.
We have a hybrid Camry and an ICE Jazz. We use about 4.6 l/100 Km in the Camry and 5.7 l/100 Km in the Jazz. The Jazz is all around town usage in a hilly Wellington. Those aren't too bad for fuel consumption really.
And thus you discuss me and the details of the money, and rest assured Mike Hoskins and his wife and their children could easily buy a car for each of them, rake in the 8700 max per vehicle and thus get 5 for the price of 4 all courtesy of those that actually pay taxes in this country.
Happy to discuss. You have an issue with Mike Hosking, which is why you can’t stop ranting about him. In fact, my diagnosis is that you have Mike Hosking Syndrome. And please leave his children out of your tirades; what have they done to you to deserve your scorn? A very low blow by anyone’s standard.
You obviously didn’t read the press release from Government on this announcement. Doesn’t surprise me, because ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?
“We’ve already committed to policies that will make a difference, like the Clean Car Import Standard, decarbonising the public transport bus fleet and revitalising rail, but we have to do more.
Surprisingly, there was nothing in the announcement either about the movie on the Christchurch mosque shootings, but maybe that was just an oversight or a deliberate omission by “Government and dear Green Co leader Shaw”, if you’re inclined that way, as you clearly are.
But then again, this announcement was on “Clean car package to drive down emissions”. PT is already heavily subsidised and you obviously didn’t know this or deliberately left it out of your comments because it obviously doesn’t suit your narrative.
… it is the poor NZ who needs a car because they have no public infrastructure what so ever that is subsidizing the schmucks in Wellington, and the million dollar burbs in Auckland.
Coming from you, calling them “schmucks” is quite something. Of course, your comments are completely disconnected from reality and it just shows your blind envy and hatred for people whom you don’t even know.
Or in words that some might understand better, The tax payer from South Auckland is financing a new car or several new family cars for the likes of Mike Hoskins and everyone in his ‘class’.
Oh, that’s right, only the poor pay taxes and the rich evade and avoid their dues. FYI, Mike Hosking has no class.
“Importantly the policy only applies to new and used cars arriving in New Zealand, so the existing second hand market of cars that lower income families tend to purchase from will not be affected.
Do you want NZ to become “a dumping ground for millions of "dirty second-hands"”.
Oh, that’s right, only the poor pay taxes and the rich evade and avoid their dues. FYI, Mike Hosking has no class.
“Importantly the policy only applies to new and used cars arriving in New Zealand, so the existing second hand market of cars that lower income families tend to purchase from will not be affected.
Do you want NZ to become “a dumping ground for millions of "dirty second-hands"”.
No Mike Hoskins is part of the 'Upper Class'. You or anyone else liking him or not has got nothing to do with that, that status is based on income and he has that income. Secondly, he and his wife are be financially flush enough to take the government up on this offer to buy a brandnew vehicle for each and everyone of their whanau and this will then be a nice discount if you can get it. – Or do you dispute that reality?
Next, NZ is already a dumping ground for millions of dirty second hands, as most Kiwis can't afford anything better, and this country does not builds its own vehicles. So by essence every vehicle is imported and NZ will thus become its burial ground. – Or do you dispute that reality?
As for who pays taxes in this country, are you now saying that the rich do pay their full share of taxes and thus we don't need to tax the rich? Because it is not the poor that depend on puplic transport that are being offered tax incentives to get out of their unwarrnated, unlisenced, dangerous cars that they drive because that is all they can afford, and that is the only transport they have due to systematically underfunding of the public transport. – Or do you dispute that reality?
I do hope that you are able to at least think a bit further then "labour good' everyone else who don't agree is bad. It makes you look deeply lazy and conformist.
The best way to get the roads free of cars for cyclists is to get people into public transport. And a really good way of doing that is to make it cheap, safe, fast, reliable and often. And by paying the people that drive the buses, and such a decent wage. Unless of course we are too broke for that.
Looking at the list of comments on the right hand side I realise that your icon is a nice colour Sabine, and you have so many there will soon be enough to wallpaper a small room.
I do hope that you are able to at least think a bit further then "labour good' everyone else who don't agree is bad. It makes you look deeply lazy and conformist.
You can read my mind like an open book, but you’re too illiterate to understand the words.
The best way to get the roads free of cars for cyclists is to get people into public transport. And a really good way of doing that is to make it cheap, safe, fast, reliable and often. And by paying the people that drive the buses, and such a decent wage. Unless of course we are too broke for that.
Do you know what zero cost to the Government means?
Do you know what “Clean car package to drive down emissions” means?
Do you think it has anything to do with saving the lives of penguins?
I don’t, which is why I stay on topic and you’re all over the place with your comments. It is not that people disagree with your opinions, it is that they have pointed out what you have missed and what you got wrong. Unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of it and sadly, you simply ignore it, as usual. You call yourself “proud proletariat” but your comments are not helping anybody.
I cannot dispute your ‘reality’ because it is all true, in your head.
I fear this is a policy being rapidly over run by events. Much cheaper electrics and hybrids are coming onto the market fast.
The whole of life cost of running electric and hybrid vehicles compares very very well with running an equivalent ICE vehicle. So much so that if you have the money (and a bit of solar on the roof makes it even better) frankly you are nuts to not buy electric unless there are range issues where a hybrid is the best answer. I simply would not have subsidised the high price vehicles – maybe a cap at around $32k if you have to do this at all. It would have been far better to do a smaller ongoing subsidy to lower the buy price for the cheap vehicle market with maybe some limited repayment through slightly higher rego. fees. You want the people who spend $5k to $15k on vehicles being able to get the lower running costs of small electrics not continuing to use ICE vehicles And with no run out market the new market for ICE cars is likely to collapse quite quickly.
This looks like a trickle down vehicle market where the wealthier get the subsidy and the poorer wait for the left overs.
As to fleet vehicles – given the economics I'd give about an 18mth grace period then wack them with the tax system if they haven't changed over from ICE.
I see that it only applies to plug in hybrids according to the news story
If a country with one of the highest vaccination rates on the planet is struggling with the Delta variant, imagine countries with low vaccine coverage.
It's just more evidence to get your jabs when they are offered to you.
With two doses of a coronavirus vaccine showing good protection against infection from the Delta variant, the government is seeking to get more jabs into arms. Currently, 55.4 per cent of the adult population has had two doses. (from the ft link in the tweet joe90 linked)
Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the large share of those waiting for approval came as a surprise.
[…]
"Yes, it's kind of a formal stamp of approval, but I don't think it really provides much more than what we already know," he said. "We have more data on vaccine safety than with any other vaccine, even before the review of the full approval."
Here in the Waikato there is virtually no information being given out by the DHB for those of us in Group 3 except to say they will contact us. Been waiting since early May – not a dicky bird.
"Currently, 55.4 per cent of the adult population has had two doses".
Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could say the same about New Zealand? We are at about one tenth of that figure aren't we?
And wouldn't it be wonderful if we were actually being offered the jabs instead of being told, basically, Shut up and wait. Don't call us. We'll call you at some future time. Maybe.
Fuck me you're a clueless selfish whining twat, alwyn. Clue for the clueless: it’s not all about you.
You are not at risk of getting covid at the moment, unlike those in the UK or just about anywhere else.
Getting our population vaccinated will be a good thing economically for those reliant of foreign warm bodies arriving here, but really for just about everyone else here, economically it's ticking along similarly to how it would be without covid. A little bit of patience is in order.
"You are not at risk of getting covid at the moment".
Really? When we have thousands of people who have been in Melbourne and who are allowed back without any isolation at all I am entitled to be worried.
After all, Melbourne was meant to be safe too, wasn't it? Look how that has turned out? I am of an age, and with a suitably compromised state of health to be concerned. But you say that I'm not at risk and you know, or at least claim to know all about such things.
I can assure you that there is no way that I plan to take up your offer to "fuck you" as you so delicately put it. On the other hand I don't mind suggesting that you get fucked.
Their struggle could well become our struggle. The longer the virus runs rampant in unvaccinated people and populations with low vaccination rates, the higher the chances of new variants evolving that might be resistant to existing vaccines. Looker after Number One only is the most shortsighted thing to do, as it generally is anyway.
Making good progress in my burg. 0800 booking secures group 3's and over 50 Māori an appointment within a week and supply dependent after 4pm walk-ups, afaik all over 16's, are available.
Beggars belief that these top flight world leaders, including the queen, would be allowed to gather and hob- nob unfettered in this stinking plague pit.
Originally the delay between doses was three weeks IIRC. As was used for the phase 3 trials.
When the UK started running short with the AZ, they decided to delay the second dose to 12 weeks to free up those doses for other people to get their first dose. Since then, it seems they've decided the longer delay actually gives a better immune response. But now they're closing the gap between doses to try to get more people double-dosed as quickly as possible because of the new variants.
The Herne Bay set will be pleased with the government. Last week they got the billion dollar bike bridge to bayswater, this week they got a subsidised Tesla.
Sorry folks in the rest of Auckland where your roads have been cancelled and now your subsidising someone else’s Tesla.
Similar point made in an excellent Listener article this week, when they compared the 'bike bridge' to the private 'green school' funding. “The Greens cannot credibly claim to be the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised when they’re seduced into showboating projects such as this.”
“The Greens cannot credibly claim to be the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised when they’re seduced into showboating projects such as this.”
Intriguing quote Gypsy. I cancelled my Listener subscription earlier this year, so perhaps you could check for me – did the author(s) of that "excellent Listener article" happen to indicate which political party, if not the Greens, they think is "most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised"? Perhaps the Māori party?
They didn't pass that judgement, I'm afraid. I believe their point was to highlight the hypocrisy of paying for education and cycling for the wealthy while championing the cause of the downtrodden. You know, the old 'actions speak louder than words' thing?
So then it's possible that the Greens are (still) "the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised"? Disappointing that the author(s) didn't clarify what they believed in their otherwise "excellent article" – how difficult could it be?
The author(s) are right, of course: hypocrisy – there’s a lot of it about.
It's possible they still are. The authors point is that they may no longer be able to credibly claim to be. But to be fair you haven't read the article.
To be fair I made that clear, and the quote you provided is confirmation that the decision to cancel my Listener sub was a good one, so thanks for that.
"It's possible they still are." "…they may no longer be able…"
Still relatively good then – they’ve got my party vote until it’s shown that the Greens are no longer “the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised” – could be a looooong wait.
James Shaw accepted that, while there were green positives in relation to the green school, the funding model supported was a mistake.
Maybe we need more honest parties like the Greens in parliament.
Meanwhile gypsy you ignore all of the positive work being done by the Greens on climate change and poverty. Take s look at their proposal for a wealth tax for instance…. something Jacinda and Robertson are far to neo-liberal to contemplate.
Proposals are not 'positive work being done'. The funding of a school for the wealthy was an actual policy put into action and supported by the Green party.
No, Drowsy – just a light-weight, cheap shot at the Greens with no serious analysis of any party's social policy.
When Pamela Stirling became Editor of the Listener, Chris Trotter related in a recent post that she said that the Listener would cease being the mouthpiece of the Alliance Party. Chris then said she had since pretty well transformed it into a mouthpiece for the National Party.
I saw this editorial as confirming what Chris wrote.
You are misinformed or do have a selective memory.
“Just to be clear, never, ever was this a 100 per cent grant – not at all,” Chris Edwards, Green School New Zealand chief executive, said on Wednesday. “The application was for a 25 per cent grant – the rest was a series of loans.”
I didn't claim the school received a 100% grant. I described the money as 'funding'. James Shaw himself described the decision as an error of judgement, and went on to say this:
"So again I apologise. I apologise to parents, to teachers, to unions. I apologise to Green Party members who have been working tirelessly in their communities to make sure that the Green’s are a party the next Government and have felt demoralised by this decision. I apologise to the schools in Taranaki who quire rightfully want the best for their children. And I want you to know, all of you, that I have listened to your concerns."
Gypsy – you knew all that which you have just quoted, and that James Shaw had clearly stated that it was an error of judgement… Yet you sneakily used it to back up the Listener Editorial which I have described as a cheap shot, but which you described as 'excellent'.
I think we can all see where you are coming from, Gypsy.
… paying for education and cycling for the wealthy … [my italics]
Make of that what you will, but to me you were lying by omission to tell the full story, which would make you a hypocritical troll, in my book. This seems to a hallmark of commenters who have an engrained anti-Green Party bias. Quoting from a propaganda magazine that is not accessible to others here is very poor form but goes with the trolling, I guess.
The fee only occurs if you buy in a vehicle from overseas- cars already in NZ don't pay a fee. The fee occurs if you choose to buy a petrol /diesel car with more than low emissions.
You get a fee paid to you if you choose to buy a car that is new or second hand and it's an EV or a hybrid and costs less than $80,000.
You avoid paying a fee if you choose to buy a car with low emissions.
You neither pay or receive a fee if you choose an EV of hybrid costing over $80,000 or if you choose a low emissions vehicle.
There are choices. You can choose to subsidise, or not.
The bit about changes "that improved how investigations were managed" – were they part of the results from the suggested programme, or did the project take so long to get off the ground that other managers implemented a workaround that turned out to be better than the proposed project?
Or maybe it just took so long to get going that it became obsolete before it started lol.
I was unclear what all these groups needed to "investigate" or was it a dodge to cover up prying into the personal affairs of their fellow citizens without checks nd balances.
The 2 year delay at the start probably sunk it – they attempted to tender in 2016 and then the only company which met the requirements went into liquidation.
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I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?And I can't take itHow could I fake it?How could I fake it?Song: The Lonely Biscuits.“A bit nippy”, I thought when I woke this morning, and then, soon after that, I wondered whether hell had frozen over. Dear friends, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Asheville, North Carolina, was once widely considered a climate haven thanks to its elevated, inland location and cooler temperatures than much of the Southeast. Then came the catastrophic floods of Hurricane Helene in September 2024. It was a stark reminder that nowhere is safe from ...
Early reports indicate that the temporary Israel/Hamas ceasefire deal (due to take effect on Sunday) will allow for the gradual release of groups of Israeli hostages, the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails (likely only a fraction of the total incarcerated population), and the withdrawal ...
My daily news diet is not what it once was.It was the TV news that lost me first. Too infantilising, too breathless, too frustrating.The Herald was next. You could look past the reactionary framing while it was being a decent newspaper of record, but once Shayne Currie began unleashing all ...
Hit the road Jack and don't you come backNo more, no more, no more, no moreHit the road Jack and don't you come back no moreWhat you say?Songwriters: Percy MayfieldMorena,I keep many of my posts, like this one, paywall-free so that everyone can read them.However, please consider supporting me as ...
This might be the longest delay between reading (or in this case re-reading) a work, and actually writing a review of it I have ever managed. Indeed, when I last read these books in December 2022, I was not planning on writing anything about them… but as A Phuulish Fellow ...
Kia Ora,I try to keep most my posts without a paywall for public interest journalism purposes. However, if you can afford to, please consider supporting me as a paid subscriber and/or supporting over at Ko-Fi. That will help me to continue, and to keep spending time on the work. Embarrassingly, ...
There was a time when Google was the best thing in my world. I was an early adopter of their AdWords program and boy did I like what it did for my business. It put rocket fuel in it, is what it did. For every dollar I spent, those ads ...
A while back I was engaged in an unpleasant exchange with a leader of the most well-known NZ anti-vax group and several like-minded trolls. I had responded to a racist meme on social media in which a rightwing podcaster in the US interviewed one of the leaders of the Proud ...
Hi,If you’ve been reading Webworm for a while, you’ll be familiar with Anna Wilding. Between 2020 and 2021 I looked at how the New Zealander had managed to weasel her way into countless news stories over the years, often with very little proof any of it had actually happened. When ...
It's a long white cloud for you, baby; staying together alwaysSummertime in AotearoaWhere the sunshine kisses the water, we will find it alwaysSummertime in AotearoaYeah, it′s SummertimeIt's SummertimeWriters: Codi Wehi Ngatai, Moresby Kainuku, Pipiwharauroa Campbell, Taulutoa Michael Schuster, Rebekah Jane Brady, Te Naawe Jordan Muturangi Tupe, Thomas Edward Scrase.Many of ...
Last year, 292 people died unnecessarily on our roads. That is the lowest result in over a decade and only the fourth time in the last 70 years we’ve seen fewer than 300 deaths in a calendar year. Yet, while it is 292 people too many, with each death being ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob HensonFlames from the Palisades Fire burn a building at Sunset Boulevard amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire had destroyed thousands of structures and ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Regulatory Standards Bill, as I understand it, seeks to bind parliament to a specific range of law-making.For example, it seems to ensure primacy of individual rights over that of community, environment, te Tiriti ...
Happy New Year!I had a lovely break, thanks very much for asking: friends, family, sunshine, books, podcasts, refreshing swims, barbecues, bike rides. So good to step away from the firehose for a while, to have less Trump and Seymour in your day. Who needs the Luxons in their risible PJs ...
Patrick Reynolds is deputy chair of the Auckland City Centre Advisory Panel and a director of Greater Auckland In 2003, after much argument, including the election of a Mayor in 2001 who ran on stopping it, Britomart train station in downtown Auckland opened. A mere 1km twin track terminating branch ...
For the first time in a decade, a New Zealand Prime Minister is heading to the Middle East. The trip is more than just a courtesy call. New Zealand PMs frequently change planes in Dubai en route to destinations elsewhere. But Christopher Luxon’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
The decade between 1952 and the early 1960s was the peak period for the style of music we now call doo wop, after which it got dissolved into soul music, girl groups, and within pop music in general. Basically, doo wop was a form of small group harmonising with a ...
The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
Open access notablesLarge emissions of CO2 and CH4 due to active-layer warming in Arctic tundra, Torn et al., Nature Communications:Climate warming may accelerate decomposition of Arctic soil carbon, but few controlled experiments have manipulated the entire active layer. To determine surface-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide and ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Over the holidays, there was a rising tide of calls for people to submit on National's repulsive, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill, along with a wave of advice and examples of what to say. And it looks like people rose to the occasion, with over 300,000 ...
The lie is my expenseThe scope of my desireThe Party blessed me with its futureAnd I protect it with fireI am the Nina The Pinta The Santa MariaThe noose and the rapistAnd the fields overseerThe agents of orangeThe priests of HiroshimaThe cost of my desire…Sleep now in the fireSongwriters: Brad ...
This is a re-post from the Climate BrinkGlobal surface temperatures have risen around 1.3C since the preindustrial (1850-1900) period as a result of human activity.1 However, this aggregate number masks a lot of underlying factors that contribute to global surface temperature changes over time.These include CO2, which is the primary ...
There are times when movement around us seems to slow down. And the faster things get, the slower it all appears.And so it is with the whirlwind of early year political activity.They are harbingers for what is to come:Video: Wayne Wright Jnr, funder of Sean Plunket, talk growing power and ...
Hi,Right now the power is out, so I’m just relying on the laptop battery and tethering to my phone’s 5G which is dropping in and out. We’ll see how we go.First up — I’m fine. I can’t see any flames out the window. I live in the greater Hollywood area ...
2024 was a tough year for working Kiwis. But together we’ve been able to fight back for a just and fair New Zealand and in 2025 we need to keep standing up for what’s right and having our voices heard. That starts with our Mood of the Workforce Survey. It’s your ...
Time is never time at allYou can never ever leaveWithout leaving a piece of youthAnd our lives are forever changedWe will never be the sameThe more you change, the less you feelSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan.Babinden - Baba’s DayToday, January 8th, 2025, is Babinden, “The Day of the baba” or “The ...
..I/We wish to make the following comments:I oppose the Treaty Principles Bill."5. Act binds the CrownThis Act binds the Crown."How does this Act "bind the Crown" when Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which the Act refers to, has been violated by the Crown on numerous occassions, resulting in massive loss of ...
Everything is good and brownI'm here againWith a sunshine smile upon my faceMy friends are close at handAnd all my inhibitions have disappeared without a traceI'm glad, oh, that I found oohSomebody who I can rely onSongwriter: Jay KayGood morning, all you lovely people. Today, I’ve got nothing except a ...
Welcome to 2025. After wrapping up 2024, here’s a look at some of the things we can expect to see this year along with a few predictions. Council and Elections Elections One of the biggest things this year will be local body elections in October. Will Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Canadians can take a while to get angry – but when they finally do, watch out. Canada has been falling out of love with Justin Trudeau for years, and his exit has to be the least surprising news event of the New Year. On recent polling, Trudeau’s Liberal party has ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Much like 2023, many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and ...
Submissions on National's racist, white supremacist Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill are due tomorrow! So today, after a good long holiday from all that bullshit, I finally got my shit together to submit on it. As I noted here, people should write their own submissions in their own ...
Ooh, baby (ooh, baby)It's making me crazy (it's making me crazy)Every time I look around (look around)Every time I look around (every time I look around)Every time I look aroundIt's in my faceSongwriters: Alan Leo Jansson / Paul Lawrence L. Fuemana.Today, I’ll be talking about rich, middle-aged men who’ve made ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 29, 2024 thru Sat, January 4, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Hi,The thing that stood out at me while shopping for Christmas presents in New Zealand was how hard it was to avoid Zuru products. Toy manufacturer Zuru is a bit like Netflix, in that it has so much data on what people want they can flood the market with so ...
And when a child is born into this worldIt has no conceptOf the tone of skin it's living inAnd there's a million voicesAnd there's a million voicesTo tell you what you should be thinkingSong by Neneh Cherry and Youssou N'Dour.The moment you see that face, you can hear her voice; ...
While we may not always have quality political leadership, a couple of recently published autobiographies indicate sometimes we strike it lucky. When ranking our prime ministers, retired professor of history Erik Olssen commented that ‘neither Holland nor Nash was especially effective as prime minister – even his private secretary thought ...
Baby, be the class clownI'll be the beauty queen in tearsIt's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fearLet's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O ...
Open access notables Why Misinformation Must Not Be Ignored, Ecker et al., American Psychologist:Recent academic debate has seen the emergence of the claim that misinformation is not a significant societal problem. We argue that the arguments used to support this minimizing position are flawed, particularly if interpreted (e.g., by policymakers or the public) as suggesting ...
What I’ve Been Doing: I buried a close family member.What I’ve Been Watching: Andor, Jack Reacher, Xmas movies.What I’ve Been Reflecting On: The Usefulness of Writing and the Worthiness of Doing So — especially as things become more transparent on their own.I also hate competing on any day, and if ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by John Wihbey. A version of this article first appeared on Yale Climate Connections on Nov. 11, 2008. (Image credits: The White House, Jonathan Cutrer / CC BY 2.0; President Jimmy Carter, Trikosko/Library of Congress; Solar dedication, Bill Fitz-Patrick / Jimmy Carter Library; Solar ...
Morena folks,We’re having a good break, recharging the batteries. Hope you’re enjoying the holiday period. I’m not feeling terribly inspired by much at the moment, I’m afraid—not from a writing point of view, anyway.So, today, we’re travelling back in time. You’ll have to imagine the wavy lines and sci-fi sound ...
Completed reads for 2024: Oration on the Dignity of Man, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola A Platonic Discourse Upon Love, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Of Being and Unity, by Giovanni Pico della Mirandola The Life of Pico della Mirandola, by Giovanni Francesco Pico Three Letters Written by Pico ...
Welcome to 2025, Aotearoa. Well… what can one really say? 2024 was a story of a bad beginning, an infernal middle and an indescribably farcical end. But to chart a course for a real future, it does pay to know where we’ve been… so we know where we need ...
Welcome to the official half-way point of the 2020s. Anyway, as per my New Years tradition, here’s where A Phuulish Fellow’s blog traffic came from in 2024: United States United Kingdom New Zealand Canada Sweden Australia Germany Spain Brazil Finland The top four are the same as 2023, ...
Completed reads for December: Be A Wolf!, by Brian Strickland The Magic Flute [libretto], by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Emanuel Schikaneder The Invisible Eye, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Owl’s Ear, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Waters of Death, by Erckmann-Chatrian The Spider, by Hanns Heinz Ewers Who Knows?, by Guy de Maupassant ...
Well, it’s the last day of the year, so it’s time for a quick wrap-up of the most important things that happened in 2024 for urbanism and transport in our city. A huge thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and supported us in our mission to make ...
Leave your office, run past your funeralLeave your home, car, leave your pulpitJoin us in the streets where weJoin us in the streets where weDon't belong, don't belongHere under the starsThrowing light…Song: Jeffery BuckleyToday, I’ll discuss the standout politicians of the last 12 months. Each party will receive three awards, ...
Hi,A lot’s happened this year in the world of Webworm, and as 2024 comes to an end I thought I’d look back at a few of the things that popped. Maybe you missed them, or you might want to revisit some of these essay and podcast episodes over your break ...
Hi,I wanted to share this piece by film editor Dan Kircher about what cinema has been up to in 2024.Dan edited my documentary Mister Organ, as well as this year’s excellent crowd-pleasing Bookworm.Dan adores movies. He gets the language of cinema, he knows what he loves, and writes accordingly. And ...
Without delving into personal details but in order to give readers a sense of the year that was, I thought I would offer the study in contrasts that are Xmas 2023 and Xmas 2024: Xmas 2023 in Starship Children’s Hospital (after third of four surgeries). Even opening presents was an ...
Heavy disclaimer: Alpha/beta/omega dynamics is a popular trope that’s used in a wide range of stories and my thoughts on it do not apply to all cases. I’m most familiar with it through the lens of male-focused fanfic, typically m/m but sometimes also featuring m/f and that’s the situation I’m ...
Hi,Webworm has been pretty heavy this year — mainly because the world is pretty heavy. But as we sprint (or limp, you choose) through the final days of 2024, I wanted to keep Webworm a little lighter.So today I wanted to look at one of the biggest and weirdest elements ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 22, 2024 thru Sat, December 28, 2024. This week's roundup is the second one published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, ...
We’ll have a climate change ChristmasFrom now until foreverWarming our hearts and mindsAnd planet all togetherSpirits high and oceans higherChestnuts roast on wildfiresIf coal is on your wishlistMerry Climate Change ChristmasSong by Ian McConnellReindeer emissions are not something I’d thought about in terms of climate change. I guess some significant ...
KP continues to putt-putt along as a tiny niche blog that offers a NZ perspective on international affairs with a few observations about NZ domestic politics thrown in. In 2024 there was also some personal posts given that my son was in the last four months of a nine month ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Associate Health Minister with responsibility for Pharmac David Seymour is pleased to see Pharmac continue to increase availability of medicines for Kiwis with the government’s largest ever investment in Pharmac. “Pharmac operates independently, but it must work within the budget constraints set by the government,” says Mr Seymour. “When this government assumed ...
Mā mua ka kite a muri, mā muri ka ora e mua - Those who lead give sight to those who follow, those who follow give life to those who lead. Māori recipients in the New Year 2025 Honours list show comprehensive dedication to improving communities across the motu that ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is wishing all New Zealanders a great holiday season as Kiwis prepare for gatherings with friends and families to see in the New Year. It is a great time of year to remind everyone to stay fire safe over the summer. “I know ...
From 1 January 2025, first-time tertiary learners will have access to a new Fees Free entitlement of up to $12,000 for their final year of provider-based study or final two years of work-based learning, Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Targeting funding to the final year of study ...
New Zealand needs to boost its productivity growth and become more attractive and accessible as a workplace in order to fix its labour market woes, a recruitment agency says.Commenting on new salary survey results from Robert Walters, Shay Peters, the company’s Australia and New Zealand chief executive, says the Government ...
Comment: When Newsroom’s editor Jonathan Milne invited me to write one of two special pieces for the summer break, I faced quite the conundrum. My options were to either review a work of non-fiction or write a column about hope and optimism for 2025.I initially misread Jonathan’s request to review ...
By Daniel Perese of Te Ao Māori News Māori politicians across the political spectrum in Aotearoa New Zealand have called for immediate aid to enter Gaza following a temporary ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, agreed yesterday, comes into effect on Sunday, January 19. Foreign Minister Winston Peters ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Sherlock, Lecturer, School of Fashion and Textiles, RMIT University Australian-owned brand UGG Since 1974 has announced it will change its name to “Since 74” for sales outside Australia and New Zealand. There has been a long-running battle over the rights ...
The committee has agreed to split into two sub-committees to increase the number of people it can hear from in the time available. Each sub-committee will meet for 30 hours total, together making up 60 of the 80 planned hours of hearings. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Parmeter, Research scholar, Middle East studies, Australian National University The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to come into effect on Sunday, has understandably been welcomed by the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians. Israelis are relieved that a process for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Carson, Senior Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Western Australia Over the past several days, the world has watched on in shock as wildfires have devastated large parts of Los Angeles. Beyond the obvious destruction – to landscapes, homes, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Cairns, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacy, NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow, University of Sydney AtlasStudio/Shutterstock TikTok and Instagram influencers have been peddling the “Barbie drug” to help you tan. But melanotan-II, as it’s called officially, is a solution that’s too good to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula Jarzabkowski, Professor in Strategic Management, The University of Queensland A series of wildfires in Los Angeles County have caused widespread devastation in California, including at least 24 deaths and the destruction of more than 12,000 homes and structures. Thousands of residents ...
COMMENTARY:By Monika Singh The lack of women representation in parliaments across the world remains a vexed and contentious issue. In Fiji, this problem has again surfaced for debate in response to Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica’s call for a quota system to increase women’s representation in Parliament. Kamikamica was ...
What compels someone of significant status in society to break the law, repeatedly, might be the same reason I did as a poor teenager. Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, who left parliament a year ago today following revelations of shoplifting, is now at the centre of another shoplifting complaint. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kath Albury, Professor of Media and Communication and Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, Swinburne University of Technology natamrli/Shutterstock Last week, social media giant Meta announced major changes to its content moderation practices. This includes an ...
"Gisborne has suffered from housing underdevelopment and a lack of supply, coupled with damage from severe weather events," Minister Tama Potaka says. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Andhov, Associate Professor, Law School, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Iconic Bestiary/Shutterstock They say a picture is worth a thousand words. But in the world of legal contracts, pictures can be worth even more by making complicated concepts more ...
Asia Pacific Report The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli authorities to allow foreign journalists into Gaza in the wake of the three-phase ceasefire agreement set to to begin on Sunday. The New York-based global media watchdog urged the international community “to independently investigate ...
The agreement will ease Palestinians’ suffering, but international agencies will struggle to meet the massive need for humanitarian relief. This is an excerpt from The World Bulletin, our weekly global current affairs newsletter exclusively for Spinoff Members. Sign up here. We start the World Bulletin’s year with a rare piece of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marika Sosnowski, Postdoctoral research fellow, The University of Melbourne After 467 days of violence, a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has been reached and will come into effect on Sunday, pending Israeli government approval. This agreement will not end the ...
We love to suffer through tramps to enjoy natural beauty… except when we don’t.It can feel a bit shitty to stay inside and wallow all day when it’s nice out. Hot sunlight hits your window and your mum’s voice rings around in your head: get outside and enjoy the ...
Requests for official information involving potentially damning correspondence are totally legitimate – but have been put in the ‘too hard basket' by officials refusing to properly follow the Local Government Official Information and Meetings ...
With the local body elections in October, a long-awaited upgrade of Courtenay Place, and big changes for water, housing and the economy, it’s set to be another dramatic year for the capital city. The Golden Mile Conservative city councillors made a last-minute attempt in November to scrap the Golden Mile ...
I’ve already broken most of my resolutions, and it’s only January. How do I salvage my clean slate? Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nz Dear Hera,It’s only 6 days into the new year, and I’m already ready for 2026. I made five resolutions and have already broken ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samuel Cornell, PhD Candidate, UNSW Beach Safety Research Group + School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney byvalet/Shutterstock Australia is considered a nation of beach lovers. But with all this water surrounding us, drownings remain tragically common. At least 55 people have ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Sergii Gnatiuk/Shutterstock Over the past two years, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has captivated public attention. This year signals the beginning of a new phase: the rise of AI agents. AI ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dorina Pojani, Associate Professor in Urban Planning, The University of Queensland shisu_ka/Shutterstock A wide range of voices in the Australian media have been sounding the alarm about the phenomenon of “forever-renting”. This describes a situation in which individuals or families ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Originally known as 2JJ, or Double Jay, when it launched in Sydney at 11am on January 19 1975, Triple J has since become the national youth network. The station now encompasses broadcast ...
Currently, under 18s are legally allowed to buy Lotto tickets. That’s about to change, explains The Bulletin’s Stewart Sowman-Lund. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The anonymised database is crucial to the government's social investment approach to funding programmes - but was incapable of doing so without extra investment. ...
Opinion: 2025 is a critical year for Aotearoa New Zealand’s natural world. With the entire environmental management system slated for reform, it’s the most important year in decades. If the hot-headed excesses of last year’s law-making continue, it will lead to terrible long-term outcomes. But if sense prevails, we could ...
Opinion: As I reflect on the tumultuous year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead, I wonder what it will hold.For me I can’t look past the middle of February right now as that is when my dissertation must be submitted, hopefully completing my master’s degree. It ...
An anticipated move to tax charities’ business operations would reduce charitable activity and may cause businesses to leave New Zealand, a lawyer warns. In a push to find new sources of revenue the Government is looking at implementing a charity tax, which would see the business arm of companies such as ...
As parliamentary staff start to read through thousands of submissions on the Treaty principles bill, Shanti Mathias explores how submitting became the go-to way to engage with politics – and asks whether it makes a difference. While the exact number is currently being confirmed, it seems almost certain that submissions ...
A plan about ferries, highly anticipated select committee hearings and a new deputy prime minister are all on the cards for Aotearoa in the 2025 political year. Here’s a rundown of what to expect and when to expect it. The ‘brace for impact, it’s coming soon’ bitsThe political calendar ...
http://metvuw.com/forecast/forecast.php?type=rain®ion=swp&noofdays=10
Anyone notice how little energy we're getting out of the southern ocean in terms of weather front formation?
The 10 day forecast through to 23 June shows slow moving Tasman lows, which is great for moisture (finally!), but not the deep southern energy that will bring snow and hence snow packs.
Yes, I certainly do notice that. It's been the case for a while now; at least, it's been patently obvious to those of us living in the far south; at first we said, "sleeping dragon', knowing it was just building, ready to burst upon us the way at always has done, only it doesn't any more; our weather is tame compared to what it was. Both encouraging and concerning at the same time.
Yeah, strange days in Whakatipu. I'm looking out my window at a green, sort of growing lawn, this time of year it would normally be browned off by the frost. Go onto a north facing hill and there's quite a bit of growth, and grazed out paddocks are coming back green after a week or so.
The way the forecast models are looking there's not going to be any change from this pattern until maybe early July, maybe… So no natural snow for southern skifields, and temperatures too warm for any meaningful snowmaking until after the school holidays.
This could get rather interesting around the town.
Same up here at ruapehu, freaky june weather, not complaining to much was good for shearing last week .
Usually the rock n roll weather starts after the shortest day ,but we haven't even had a taste of winter yet.
Apparently there is a anomaly around the Antarctic, saw a technical explanation I didn’t understand and didn’t talk about nearby land masses. Will see if I can find the tweets.
https://twitter.com/scottduncanwx/status/1403370165195128833?s=21
I hope that simply means our big cold hit is in August ie later, harder, and shorter.
Getting in training for the Hump Ridge for later.
There is an explanation by Ben Noll .
1 There is a strong polar vortex (pv)operating.
2 The pv is found when the southern oscillation is positive.
3 The exceptional cold anomaly in the Antarctic (-6.9c) moves all indicators the SH is around -0.6 and the global anomaly is 0.
https://twitter.com/BenNollWeather/status/1403719990394556422
yeah, its muggy alright, but sadly no drops are falling.
Build less, not more.
Yes.
With some exceptions to that rule. Projects pandering to my personal interests and hobbies is a good place to start
[typo fixed in e-mail address]
Build better, and build to need rather then status.
Build to need i agree (though what constitutes need will cause debate e.g. cycle bridges)….build in the knowledge that everything built creates emissions and consumes limited resources in its construction and importantly in its maintenance.
edit
And also build to last for just 50 years rather than the 100 years someone mentioned previously. Everything changes rapidly so be prepared with Plan B if a weather event happens or with a sea bridge, a ship loses steering or something and wipes out essential parts.
Think Picton – Mikhail Lermontov, Italy – dozy navigation also there etc. And possibly government-sponsored terrorism, Rainbow Warrior v France, USA v Iran. We are not immune from that even if we are dancing away from Covid19.
"And also build to last for just 50 years rather than the 100 years"
Are you sure you have that the way round you intended?
That upcoming Hollywood treatment of the Christchurch massacre
I wonder if they'll show the dramatic sequel involving Chelsea Clinton at the vigil in New York….
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-17/hillary-clintons-daughter-accused-of-stoking-islamophobia/10909366
Kim Jon Un wants to crack down hard on anyone listening to K-Pop with hard labour and work camps.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/300331611/kim-jong-un-calls-kpop-a-vicious-cancer-that-merits-work-camp-execution
I used to have thoughts like that whenever Rick Astley and anyone out of the Stock Aitken and Waterman school of mid 1980s music was pushed into my ears in a supermarket.
But helpfully I didn't run the country at the time.
Could Kim Jong Un send Chance the Rapper to a labour camp? He might learn to write something witty and clever there?
Could Kim Jong Un send Chance the Rapper to a labour camp? He might learn to write something witty there.
In your case, mozzie, I think we'd be happy to find you somewhere you could learn to just post once, before progressing to something much much more difficult such as wit (relatively speaking).
Baby steps.
Ah yes.
You can be sure to be well informed by reading the entertainment sector of any publication. That's for sure.
These are the women that women and concerned men should be advocating for:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444596/homeless-women-more-likely-than-men-to-be-younger-maori-and-sole-parents-study
The Otago University research analysed data of nearly 400 men and women who were homeless before being re-housed by Housing First services…
"To address the issue to the best of our ability, we need to know more about the different experiences of different groups, and that includes women.
"In New Zealand, about 50 percent of our overall homeless population are women, which is internationally quite rare…
Women had an average of 2.6 children, while men had an average of 1.6 children..
Four out of every five women were Māori while for men, two thirds were Māori
Dr Fraser said the statistics showed the welfare system was not working.
"It really just shows our benefits aren't high enough. They need to be higher, they need to be easier to access.
"These are really vulnerable people and their children deserve the best possible start in life that they can, but they're clearly not getting that if their mums are so stressed out and needing that wrap-around housing support."
Such a kind and gentle government.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/the-feebate-govt-confirms-rebates-for-buyers-of-electric-cars-but-petrol-car-buyers-will-cop-it/TEJ3V5CF72YFTT5NPQTOWJ3AAE/
i guess they set 'affordable' until it hits 79.999.99 NZD……..oh boy.
Well i guess the new minimum wage will making the buying of such a car within a year totally affordable. Totally. Or else those making that amount should just cycle from South Auckland to their jobs. But then maybe when all those that can not afford to buy a new car between now and Jan 2022 are to be 'fined' out of car ownership, rather then 'incentivised in' via cheap to free and punctual, safe and regular public transport. Something we are still not able to provide pretty much anywhere in the country.
But i hope that the Middleclass in NZ that changes things is very happy and pleased and totally not ashamed of the fact that the lower class is financing their Middle Class status to great measure. Maybe Labour needs to rename itself the "Middle Class Party of Aotearo".
And last but least, read the article to the end, and realise that not word not one pixle was used on 'bicycles, or buses, or trams, or any other form of public transport'. It is not the 'tradies subsidizing teslas', it is the poor NZ who needs a car because they have no public infrastructure what so ever that is subsidizing the schmucks in Wellington, and the million dollar burbs in Auckland.
Or in words that some might understand better, The tax payer from South Auckland is financing a new car or several new family cars for the likes of Mike Hoskins and everyone in his ‘class’. The Upper Class. The Middle class gets a treat for buying the used cars of the likes of Mike Hoskins, and the proletariat is financing all of it.
Did you know the median household income p.a.in Auckland in 2020 is $140,000, for rest of NZ its $114,000
yes no one can afford at $15,000 car at all
No I don't know that.
Stats NZ (link to Excel sheet on this page) sez the median gross household income for Auckland year ended 30 June 2020 was $104,821 – and the mean gross household income was $128,138.
But yeah, plenty of opportunity there for $15,000 cars. Or even a $50,000 car every few years. It might just need a sacrifice of a few expensive holidays.
There’s a lot of pent-up money because people had to cancel their overseas holidays in 2020 and also this year. So, let’s spend it on a Tesla or some other vital material wealth.
Gotta admit, every now and then I sneak a fantasy peek at Tesla's NZ inventory list. They seem to be shifting them a lot faster now than even just a few months back, let alone last year.
We all have our weaknesses but mine is not Teslas, I have to confess.
https://ecoprofile.infometrics.co.nz/auckland/StandardOfLiving/Household_Income
Infometrics would use official information – the link is a time series table and easier to read without Excel
Your infometrics link says mean household income, not median.
It doesn't say where it gets its information from – I wouldn't assume anything about where it comes from.
Sabine this was a Green Policy which was stymied by NZ First. It is designed to encourage the greater buying of electric and hybrid vehicles by those who can make the choice, as most of us have never purchased a new car and need more second hand choices.
In your usual fashion you poke the Government instead of looking at the intended outcomes James Shaw and Julie Anne Genter were aiming for. There is so much bile in your system it is clouding your judgement and causing many to be turned off posting, but then that is perhaps your goal? There is no suggested "Other" way.. just bile.
What got left out of Sabine's critique of the article might be important.
"and about $3,500 for used cars."
"Rebates of up to $3,450 will be given to those who buy used electric cars and $2,300 for plug-in hybrids. From January, smaller rebates will also be offered to buyers of other low emission cars."
"Wood said those fees would not apply to cars already in the country, which meant low-income families who relied on cheaper second-hand cars would not face the fee."
"Petrol cars with lower emissions – such as a Toyota Rav 4 or Suzuki Vitara – would not face fees."
Thank you for adding that; it obviously didn’t fit her usual vitriolic
rantnarrative.yes, it does.
It means that people that have the means get government tax rebates as per the cars the y buy.
As i said Incognito
The rich can get up to 8700 NZD per vehicle they purchase, the not so rich can get a few grand less, and the rest of the country that can't afford a used or a new electric or hybrid vehicle and is dependend on an old gasguzzler get to pay for the boondoogle.
And not a single word and pixle was extended to the announcment of the Government and dear Green Co leader Shaw to the tax rebates commuters that use public transport will get with the purchase of an annual bus ticket. – Got any comment to that?
And thus you discuss me and the details of the money, and rest assured Mike Hoskins and his wife and their children could easily buy a car for each of them, rake in the 8700 max per vehicle and thus get 5 for the price of 4 all courtesy of those that actually pay taxes in this country.
Good grief, this is the best national government we could get. Maybe that is why it is so appreciated by Middle Nuzilind.
This government should do nothing because someone will miss out according to sabine
No, this government should be looking at being fair.
So this particular announcement should have been coupled with an announcement for the many that use public transports. Tax rebates for both.
Is that really so hard to understand?
Disclaimer, i don't own a car, never did. I am a public transport user, a walker, a cycler, i ride share etc.
So in my opinion this announcement will do very little to encourage people that don't have the money to buy up and into a better car generation to use buses and trains instead. But i guess that was never the point. It is however nice to know that we are not so broke as a country to not give away a few tax incentives to people who already aren't known for paying much taxes.
You forgot about 'the nurses'…. early starts late finishes and all that
Sabine asseverates, "the rest of the country that can't afford a used or a new electric or hybrid vehicle and is dependent on an old gasguzzler get to pay for the boondoogle."
The article Sabine quotes says "Petrol cars with lower emissions – such as a Toyota Rav 4 or Suzuki Vitara – would not face fees." They don't pay for the boondoogle. Nor do people who keep their cars, gas guzzlers or no.
The article also says that those who buy a car already in the country do not pay the fee- "low-income families who relied on cheaper second-hand cars would not face the fee."
Funny how people get things wrong. ACT's Seymour says that Tesla buyers will get all this money, but the announcement limits the EV/hybrid fees to cars below $80,000.
and you will have seen that i mentioned the price ticket. You can get some nice cars for 79.999
according to this the cheapest comes in at 49.900
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/evs/124395353/lowest-to-highest-every-new-electric-car-you-can-buy-in-nz-in-2021
for what its worth, i must be too poor as i don't know many people who can afford that much for a car, but then i am proud proletariat and i know my place :).
What i am saying is that those that don't get tax rebates – are the ones that finance tax rebates generally the tax paying working public, many who are not in a financial position to take the government up on its offer. And in this announcement there is no mention of tax rebates for people that use public transport all year round, or those that have bought a decent bicycle to ride all year round. – Care to comment on that?
What it does is it affords a tax incentives to people that can buy an EV or lower emission vehicle in the time. Are you one of these people ? Because then you may are biased in your assumption.
Did you miss the bits where the funding for the rebates is going to come from fees loaded onto the highest emitting vehicles such as Ford Ranger Codpiece Editions? That the whole programme is set up to be zero cost to the government? That it only affects the cost to those buying freshly imported vehicles (new or used), that it will not have direct effects on the used vehicle market within NZ?
That is not at all what i missed. As i said, many that drive high emission vehicles are not forcibly in a postion to actually change their cars. For a starter. So yeah, again those that can't afford to buy a decent car get to subsidze those that don't need a hand out. Maybe they should have targeted the group that drives old and high emission vehicles with that incentives.
Did you miss where i advocate for tax rebates for people that commute? Have you got a comment to that? You know, incentives people out of gazz guzzlers or other cheap polluters by making public transport cheap?
Those not in a position to change their cars are completely unaffected by this emissions fee and rebate scheme. They can continue driving the cars they already have in exactly the same way they are doing now. Yes, you have completely missed that part of it.
Public transport users are already heavily subsidised, and very likely will continue to get ever more subsidies. Just by tweaking where NZTA spends money. Where does NZTA get its money? Almost entirely from road users. But that's a completely separate funding give and take from this emissions feebate scheme. And the way road users subsidise public transport users means there's already a pretty good argument the poor family from Otara that drives because public transport just can't work for their workplaces and schedules is already subsidising the hi-falutin mirror-glazed office denizens of central Auckland.
Most public transport is heavily subsidized
Oppd I see Andre beat me to it with a far better effort
Thanks mac1; as good as Readers Digest's "How to increase your word power."
About 80% of all Tesla sales are Model 3s. You can get a new one of these in New Zealand for just under $70,000.
64% of all the new battery electric cars sold in New Zealand in March 2021 were model 3 Tesla vehicles. So a lot of Tesla buyers will certainly be cashing in. They won't get "all" the money but I would like to see your evidence that Seymour really made that statement and used those words. How about a link for him saying that?
My links are
https://yourcar.co.nz/new-car-quotes/tesla-model-3-342/spec
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/evs/124764306/these-are-the-most-popular-electric-and-electrified-vehicles-in-nz
Context should give you that I was quoting from the article that I was quoting higher in the comment which linked to the comments I made to Sabine' article available in her original comment.
I was wrong is saying all Teslas were outside the $70 grand range. There is a cheaper model at $69 grand so Seymour is not wrong.
There was a hefty price drop on Tesla models announced 19//4/21, less than a month ago dropping the entry model to below $70 grand.
Thank you for replying. No I didn't get any hint from the context, but I now see where you were getting it from. Seymour was coming close to your interpretation but it isn't that much divorced from the reality of the 64% numbers implication.
Thanks, Alwyn. How many EV or hybrids, bought in NZ are second-hand as opposed to new Teslas? I'm asking whether new Teslas are a significant part of total EV sales.
I have a second hand Leaf. Three people I know have the same. I know of no Teslas. One mechanical buff I know- I saw his EV today….. a second hand EV ute that he converted to be an EV from a petrol ute using a Leaf battery and some sort of lower-powered electric motor.
I'm not at all sure whether I am reading this correctly but if I am there were 427 more new-import pure EVs at the end of March than February and 256 more used-import EVs for the same period. That would seem to make New Tesla vehicles about half of all the EVs registered in the month.
I'm not sure where to get the number of used Tesla cars though. Be very cautious with my calculation though. I'm not at all sure on whether I am reading these numbers correctly.
https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/fleet-statistics/sheet/monthly-ev-statistics
I have noticed a great increase in the number of Tesla cars in Wellington this year. That probably is only due to the fact that a Tesla is very distinctive and I tend to notice them. I don't think I would recognize a Leaf at a glance.
We have a hybrid Camry and an ICE Jazz. We use about 4.6 l/100 Km in the Camry and 5.7 l/100 Km in the Jazz. The Jazz is all around town usage in a hilly Wellington. Those aren't too bad for fuel consumption really.
Happy to discuss. You have an issue with Mike Hosking, which is why you can’t stop ranting about him. In fact, my diagnosis is that you have Mike Hosking Syndrome. And please leave his children out of your tirades; what have they done to you to deserve your scorn? A very low blow by anyone’s standard.
You obviously didn’t read the press release from Government on this announcement. Doesn’t surprise me, because ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/clean-car-package-drive-down-emissions
Surprisingly, there was nothing in the announcement either about the movie on the Christchurch mosque shootings, but maybe that was just an oversight or a deliberate omission by “Government and dear Green Co leader Shaw”, if you’re inclined that way, as you clearly are.
But then again, this announcement was on “Clean car package to drive down emissions”. PT is already heavily subsidised and you obviously didn’t know this or deliberately left it out of your comments because it obviously doesn’t suit your narrative.
Coming from you, calling them “schmucks” is quite something. Of course, your comments are completely disconnected from reality and it just shows your blind envy and hatred for people whom you don’t even know.
Oh, that’s right, only the poor pay taxes and the rich evade and avoid their dues. FYI, Mike Hosking has no class.
Do you want NZ to become “a dumping ground for millions of "dirty second-hands"”.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/nz-risks-becoming-dumping-ground-for-dirty-petrol-cars-if-ban-comes-too-late-climate-change-minister-james-shaw.html
I’d rather listen to dear Mr Shaw than the reckons of an ignorant simpleton. Any time.
Bye bye for now, I’ve got work to do.
No Mike Hoskins is part of the 'Upper Class'. You or anyone else liking him or not has got nothing to do with that, that status is based on income and he has that income. Secondly, he and his wife are be financially flush enough to take the government up on this offer to buy a brandnew vehicle for each and everyone of their whanau and this will then be a nice discount if you can get it. – Or do you dispute that reality?
Next, NZ is already a dumping ground for millions of dirty second hands, as most Kiwis can't afford anything better, and this country does not builds its own vehicles. So by essence every vehicle is imported and NZ will thus become its burial ground. – Or do you dispute that reality?
As for who pays taxes in this country, are you now saying that the rich do pay their full share of taxes and thus we don't need to tax the rich? Because it is not the poor that depend on puplic transport that are being offered tax incentives to get out of their unwarrnated, unlisenced, dangerous cars that they drive because that is all they can afford, and that is the only transport they have due to systematically underfunding of the public transport. – Or do you dispute that reality?
I do hope that you are able to at least think a bit further then "labour good' everyone else who don't agree is bad. It makes you look deeply lazy and conformist.
The best way to get the roads free of cars for cyclists is to get people into public transport. And a really good way of doing that is to make it cheap, safe, fast, reliable and often. And by paying the people that drive the buses, and such a decent wage. Unless of course we are too broke for that.
Looking at the list of comments on the right hand side I realise that your icon is a nice colour Sabine, and you have so many there will soon be enough to wallpaper a small room.
You can read my mind like an open book, but you’re too illiterate to understand the words.
Do you know what zero cost to the Government means?
Do you know what “Clean car package to drive down emissions” means?
Do you think it has anything to do with saving the lives of penguins?
I don’t, which is why I stay on topic and you’re all over the place with your comments. It is not that people disagree with your opinions, it is that they have pointed out what you have missed and what you got wrong. Unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of it and sadly, you simply ignore it, as usual. You call yourself “proud proletariat” but your comments are not helping anybody.
I cannot dispute your ‘reality’ because it is all true, in your head.
I fear this is a policy being rapidly over run by events. Much cheaper electrics and hybrids are coming onto the market fast.
The whole of life cost of running electric and hybrid vehicles compares very very well with running an equivalent ICE vehicle. So much so that if you have the money (and a bit of solar on the roof makes it even better) frankly you are nuts to not buy electric unless there are range issues where a hybrid is the best answer. I simply would not have subsidised the high price vehicles – maybe a cap at around $32k if you have to do this at all. It would have been far better to do a smaller ongoing subsidy to lower the buy price for the cheap vehicle market with maybe some limited repayment through slightly higher rego. fees. You want the people who spend $5k to $15k on vehicles being able to get the lower running costs of small electrics not continuing to use ICE vehicles And with no run out market the new market for ICE cars is likely to collapse quite quickly.
This looks like a trickle down vehicle market where the wealthier get the subsidy and the poorer wait for the left overs.
As to fleet vehicles – given the economics I'd give about an 18mth grace period then wack them with the tax system if they haven't changed over from ICE.
I see that it only applies to plug in hybrids according to the news story
If a country with one of the highest vaccination rates on the planet is struggling with the Delta variant, imagine countries with low vaccine coverage.
https://twitter.com/jburnmurdoch/status/1403423583641210880
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1403423583641210880.html
Yes, I saw that speculated yesterday. 90% of the new infections are all Delta Variant. The fucking virus is not finished yet with us humans.
It's just more evidence to get your jabs when they are offered to you.
And there goes the but more data…
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's latest vaccine monitor report, nearly a third — 32% — of unvaccinated adults are waiting for full FDA approval of a vaccine before getting it.
Dr. William Moss, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said the large share of those waiting for approval came as a surprise.
[…]
"Yes, it's kind of a formal stamp of approval, but I don't think it really provides much more than what we already know," he said. "We have more data on vaccine safety than with any other vaccine, even before the review of the full approval."
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/full-fda-approval-drive-covid-19-vaccinations-experts/story?id=78048166
Trying hard to organise my vaccination but best case scenario is currently second week of August.
This is Auckland Central.
Meanwhile…
Here in the Waikato there is virtually no information being given out by the DHB for those of us in Group 3 except to say they will contact us. Been waiting since early May – not a dicky bird.
When …….
right. 🙂
"Currently, 55.4 per cent of the adult population has had two doses".
Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could say the same about New Zealand? We are at about one tenth of that figure aren't we?
And wouldn't it be wonderful if we were actually being offered the jabs instead of being told, basically, Shut up and wait. Don't call us. We'll call you at some future time. Maybe.
Fuck me you're a clueless selfish whining twat, alwyn. Clue for the clueless: it’s not all about you.
You are not at risk of getting covid at the moment, unlike those in the UK or just about anywhere else.
Getting our population vaccinated will be a good thing economically for those reliant of foreign warm bodies arriving here, but really for just about everyone else here, economically it's ticking along similarly to how it would be without covid. A little bit of patience is in order.
"You are not at risk of getting covid at the moment".
Really? When we have thousands of people who have been in Melbourne and who are allowed back without any isolation at all I am entitled to be worried.
After all, Melbourne was meant to be safe too, wasn't it? Look how that has turned out? I am of an age, and with a suitably compromised state of health to be concerned. But you say that I'm not at risk and you know, or at least claim to know all about such things.
I can assure you that there is no way that I plan to take up your offer to "fuck you" as you so delicately put it. On the other hand I don't mind suggesting that you get fucked.
Alwyn, you sound almost sick with worry – I for one hope you pull through.
Andre
Their struggle could well become our struggle. The longer the virus runs rampant in unvaccinated people and populations with low vaccination rates, the higher the chances of new variants evolving that might be resistant to existing vaccines. Looker after Number One only is the most shortsighted thing to do, as it generally is anyway.
Making good progress in my burg. 0800 booking secures group 3's and over 50 Māori an appointment within a week and supply dependent after 4pm walk-ups, afaik all over 16's, are available.
Where do you live? Nobody in Wellington seems to have the faintest idea when over 75's are going to get the option?
Perhaps I can move into your neighborhood.
Whanganui.
UK….is struggling with the Delta variant … but in Cornwall,
luckily, G7 attendees appear immune.
Beggars belief that these top flight world leaders, including the queen, would be allowed to gather and hob- nob unfettered in this stinking plague pit.
Have they not heard of Zoom?
Bets on how many of them aren't fully jabbed?
Bojo might be one, having had it, but I'm betting the others were near the top of the queue.
"others were near the top of the queue."
You mean like all the many and varied Health Ministers, and Covid 19 Minister we seem to have who were getting done back in March.
Yes.
I do mean like that.
BloJo got his first late March. It's AZ, so he's probably close to getting his second.
Merkel mid-March with AZ, dunno about second dose
Biden second dose of Pfizer in January.
Trudeau first dose AZ late April
Macron says he's been vaccinated but haven't found further details
Suga fully vaccinated with Pfizer early April
Draghi got first AZ jab end of March.
So mostly not fully vaccinated.
how long before the second dose with AZ? Didn't think it was all that long, but haven't been looking too closely.
Originally the delay between doses was three weeks IIRC. As was used for the phase 3 trials.
When the UK started running short with the AZ, they decided to delay the second dose to 12 weeks to free up those doses for other people to get their first dose. Since then, it seems they've decided the longer delay actually gives a better immune response. But now they're closing the gap between doses to try to get more people double-dosed as quickly as possible because of the new variants.
Dunno what other countries are doing.
interesting.
Zoom's for ordinary people. And red-shirts.
https://twitter.com/kevinguilfoile/status/1403376339319668736
https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/covid-19-outbreakcloses-hotel-hosting-g7-summit-delegation-2021-06-10/
Children's learning game – Which one is not like the others? Interesting about red shirts joe90 – hadn't known that and funny (not) in this context.
They do look as if they've just been beamed down. Using Tesla Star Transport I presume.
The Herne Bay set will be pleased with the government. Last week they got the billion dollar bike bridge to bayswater, this week they got a subsidised Tesla.
Sorry folks in the rest of Auckland where your roads have been cancelled and now your subsidising someone else’s Tesla.
Herne Bay has resisted the shared path for over a decade.
Herne Bay people don't stoop to a car worth only $80k.
Try a different suburb for imagined grievance.
Similar point made in an excellent Listener article this week, when they compared the 'bike bridge' to the private 'green school' funding. “The Greens cannot credibly claim to be the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised when they’re seduced into showboating projects such as this.”
Intriguing quote Gypsy. I cancelled my Listener subscription earlier this year, so perhaps you could check for me – did the author(s) of that "excellent Listener article" happen to indicate which political party, if not the Greens, they think is "most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised"? Perhaps the Māori party?
They didn't pass that judgement, I'm afraid. I believe their point was to highlight the hypocrisy of paying for education and cycling for the wealthy while championing the cause of the downtrodden. You know, the old 'actions speak louder than words' thing?
So then it's possible that the Greens are (still) "the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised"? Disappointing that the author(s) didn't clarify what they believed in their otherwise "excellent article" – how difficult could it be?
The author(s) are right, of course: hypocrisy – there’s a lot of it about.
It's possible they still are. The authors point is that they may no longer be able to credibly claim to be. But to be fair you haven't read the article.
To be fair I made that clear, and the quote you provided is confirmation that the decision to cancel my Listener sub was a good one, so thanks for that.
Still relatively good then – they’ve got my party vote until it’s shown that the Greens are no longer “the party most dedicated to the vulnerable and marginalised” – could be a looooong wait.
Fair enough. At the moment mine will cancel yours out, but heh, you never know.
James Shaw accepted that, while there were green positives in relation to the green school, the funding model supported was a mistake.
Maybe we need more honest parties like the Greens in parliament.
Meanwhile gypsy you ignore all of the positive work being done by the Greens on climate change and poverty. Take s look at their proposal for a wealth tax for instance…. something Jacinda and Robertson are far to neo-liberal to contemplate.
I don’t want to derail this thread, but I’m curious how you found the new Cromwell-Clyde ride.
If you do reply, feel free to make it a standalone comment 😉
It was excellent.
You need an ebike or you have to be super fit. We rode the whole way from old Cromwell which is 43k and took 4 hours with stops.
You can start a few km closer to Cromwell amongst the vineyards at Bannockburn.
We had a car at each end. Friends have swapped keys at the half-way point.
Olivers is excellent for a beer/fud at the end.
The only downside is the noise of the traffic on the road across the lake.
Ta
Proposals are not 'positive work being done'. The funding of a school for the wealthy was an actual policy put into action and supported by the Green party.
No, Drowsy – just a light-weight, cheap shot at the Greens with no serious analysis of any party's social policy.
When Pamela Stirling became Editor of the Listener, Chris Trotter related in a recent post that she said that the Listener would cease being the mouthpiece of the Alliance Party. Chris then said she had since pretty well transformed it into a mouthpiece for the National Party.
I saw this editorial as confirming what Chris wrote.
You are misinformed or do have a selective memory.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/122640790/green-schools-117m-from-govt-never-ever-been-a-100-per-cent-grant-ce-says
I didn't claim the school received a 100% grant. I described the money as 'funding'. James Shaw himself described the decision as an error of judgement, and went on to say this:
"So again I apologise. I apologise to parents, to teachers, to unions. I apologise to Green Party members who have been working tirelessly in their communities to make sure that the Green’s are a party the next Government and have felt demoralised by this decision. I apologise to the schools in Taranaki who quire rightfully want the best for their children. And I want you to know, all of you, that I have listened to your concerns."
Gypsy – you knew all that which you have just quoted, and that James Shaw had clearly stated that it was an error of judgement… Yet you sneakily used it to back up the Listener Editorial which I have described as a cheap shot, but which you described as 'excellent'.
I think we can all see where you are coming from, Gypsy.
You said this:
Make of that what you will, but to me you were lying by omission to tell the full story, which would make you a hypocritical troll, in my book. This seems to a hallmark of commenters who have an engrained anti-Green Party bias. Quoting from a propaganda magazine that is not accessible to others here is very poor form but goes with the trolling, I guess.
The fee only occurs if you buy in a vehicle from overseas- cars already in NZ don't pay a fee. The fee occurs if you choose to buy a petrol /diesel car with more than low emissions.
You get a fee paid to you if you choose to buy a car that is new or second hand and it's an EV or a hybrid and costs less than $80,000.
You avoid paying a fee if you choose to buy a car with low emissions.
You neither pay or receive a fee if you choose an EV of hybrid costing over $80,000 or if you choose a low emissions vehicle.
There are choices. You can choose to subsidise, or not.
Some people don’t like others having choices because it is only fair if all people have the same choices. They’re living in Fantasy Land.
This sounds interesting though i haven't as yet read it.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444634/internal-affairs-intelligence-and-investigation-system-panned
It set out in 2013 to set up a system that let investigators in five different units share intelligence.
"The ultimate outcome… will be to enable efficient single and multi-unit investigations," it said.
Instead, after a series of hurdles, eight years on it has spent about $2 million on the intelligence side of things.
Obvious why it didn't work – they hadn't spent enough millions on it! Everyone else just pours the $ on, with a cherry on top. /sarc
Heh, interesting.
The bit about changes "that improved how investigations were managed" – were they part of the results from the suggested programme, or did the project take so long to get off the ground that other managers implemented a workaround that turned out to be better than the proposed project?
Or maybe it just took so long to get going that it became obsolete before it started lol.
I was unclear what all these groups needed to "investigate" or was it a dodge to cover up prying into the personal affairs of their fellow citizens without checks nd balances.
Any ideas anyone?
Depends on the units involved. They mentioned passports, so there's one aspect. There's also financial stuff, like gambling, lotteries, and some international financing/laundering regulations.
The 2 year delay at the start probably sunk it – they attempted to tender in 2016 and then the only company which met the requirements went into liquidation.
To Ben Purua and all others who have and will turn their lives around: RESPECT!
Kia kaha
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/125383822/ben-purua-went-to-prison-for-manslaughter-at-16–farming-has-changed-his-life