I have in the past weeks attempted to contribute Guest Posts for general discussion.
None of my contributions have appeared, which, perhaps, says something about their quality!
But, at the very least, a short email indicating that the said post does not reach the standard required, or any other reason, is a basic courtesy which I, we, if others have had the same result, might expect.
Hi Tony – That email goes to lprent. I’m aware that he is massively busy at work at the moment – you may notice that he hasn’t posted himself here for ages. It’s likely that TS email is slipping through the cracks. I apologise for that, and I’ll draw this to his attention.
I’ve done a couple for regulars, including the recent AK IT one for SaveNZ, which went down pretty well. The only difference if I do them is they go out under my byline. Not sure if that’s an advantage or a disadvantage 😉
I do appreciate all the work that must go on behind the scenes to keep The Standard on line – and hell, it is so so important as a place to vent one’s frustrations at the mess this neoliberal crap is getting us into.
Hello Tony V
Please don’t talk about venting your frustrations here in a guest post. If there is something to post about, please give us a good meaty one with your concerns and observations then as well explanation with links, details, background etc. We get enough venting as comments, they make the writer and every similar thinker feel better for a second, but we actually need to think beyond that as well, and what, and why it is important, and what is the scenario if we don’t get that change?
How can we get something better, and what do you and informed others think would be the best method for the situation? What do they do overseas? Is there a time when people are really receptive to thinking on new ideas? Are we not doing regular thinking and assessment of what is being done, but just waiting for failures and disasters and then getting angry? That’s so reactionary, do we need to plan and think better, and right at the beginning of some new scheme, and who will do this, and how can informed citizens have a say and provide guidance?
“Such a program would just about eliminate Work and Income.”
Not really. How many can live on that amount?
250,000 people depend on Disability Allowance.
85,000 are long term unwell or disabled and are currently on Supported Living. They have different welfare needs than the working population.
I can’t tell you how many are on sickness benefit because National are hiding them in the unemployed, but that will more tens of thousands.
People on the DPB etc.
All those people require further assistance as do people on the dole who have financial hardship.
All of that needs a competent system to deliver entitlements. It’s significant and UBI advocates need to start taking it seriously (sorry, not picking on you ianmac, but I”ve seen this written off too many times now).
Not any more. I don’t think the MoH would be an improvement and they won’t want to administer non-health and disability benefits anyway.
The ideal? Scrap WINZ. Create two new departments. One is the Dept of Social Welfare and it administers all UBI and supplementary payments. Use that as an opportunity to set up a system that supports people to live meaningful lives where that isn’t solely defined by having paid employment. Redefine welfare as being about individual, family, community and society wellbeing.
Have it completely separate from job seeking, which needs to be in a separate department.
Not that anyone is going to do that though 😉
So other than that, I think the most likely way to go is to use WINZ to administer the UBI and supplementaries, and for a left wong govt to strip out the worst of the punitive legislation and policy. They can also do quite a lot to change the culture within WINZ.
You didn’t read the rest of my comment did you. If you think that a UBI will pay a living income, please cite some people who’ve done work on this who have figured out how to pay for it. All the people I’ve seen do calculations are saying it will be less than a living income.
If you think that a UBI will pay a living income, please cite some people who’ve done work on this who have figured out how to pay for it.
You and them are looking at it the wrong way. It’s not that the UBI needs to be paid for but that the UBI would be the entire basis for the rest of the economy.
How it’s done is dependent upon which way you view it. If you view it as the UBI needing to be funded from taxes then you have problems and you can’t get the figures to work.
When you view it as a UBI of $60 billion per year with a multiplier of ~3 funding the economy then it fits nicely within our ~200 billion dollar economy.
Other changes would need to be made of course. The most important one being that the private banks could no longer create money. You’d also need to ban offshore ownership.
Those amounts are inadequate if we want to avoid more people living in hardship.
Working or top ups on top of that would improve things. However, top ups implies more administrative bureaucracy and not all can work. Coupled with growing automation, there won’t be as much available employment going forward.
Why change/replace the current system if we aren’t going to improve it?
A survey (not to long ago) claimed 3% of the over 65 suffer deprivation.
Although, notably, high home ownership levels amongst the over 65 contributes to that low percentage. Along with pensions being tied to the average wage (opposed to other benefits being tied to the CPI) and returns on savings/investments.
Therefore, even basing a UBI on the current pension rate may be insufficient.
The point of a UBI isn’t to give everyone free money that they can live well on (have you read the actual proposals?). Yes, everyone needs a livable income, but that shouldn’t be coming solely from the UBI, it should be coming from the UBI, full employment, living wage rates, affordable housing and social welfare that is fair and supportive not punitive like we have now.
Have you looked at the various models that people have done work on on how to pay for a UBI? I haven’t seen any model yet that suggests giving people a living income.
Most people are going to want to work as well as receive the UBI. If people don’t need to work as hard or as often for financial reasons that frees up jobs for other people (many people on 30 hour weeks instead). I agree that automation will be an issue, but it’s an issue without a UBI so let’s solve that alongside.
Re topups, make them entitlements and easily accessible. Some of the issues that would need to be solved would be Accommodation Supplement, which tends to be inaedquate because it gets sucked up by landlords, and the bureaucracy/hoop jumping that makes up life for current beneficiaries.
“The point of a UBI isn’t to give everyone free money that they can live well on”
I clearly stated above it doesn’t require to be a living wage.
“Have you looked at the various models that people have done work on on how to pay for a UBI? I haven’t seen any model yet that suggests giving people a living income”.
Again, I clearly stated above it doesn’t require to be a living wage.
The point you are overlooking is if we are going to change the system it’s got to be for the better. $200 a week isn’t an improvement, resulting in continuing the hardship a number currently face.
“Most people are going to want to work as well as receive the UBI”.
Good. Nothing wrong with that. They will be even better off.
“I agree that automation will be an issue, but it’s an issue without a UBI so let’s solve that alongside”
It can be resolved with a UBI was the point I’m making.
“Re topups, make them entitlements and easily accessible.”
That still requires more administrative bureaucracy.
As I stated above, the only reason why there is a low percentage of over 65 suffering is largely due to high home ownership levels amongst the over 65. Along with pensions being tied to the average wage (opposed to other benefits being tied to the CPI) and returns on savings/investments. Many others don’t have those benefits (home ownership, savings/investments) to help supplement their income. Thus, for those not working, $200 a week would result in financial hardship. As it currently does.
Food-banks have been reporting an increase in demand. A decent UBI ( but not a living wage) can help improve that. Hence, that is what we should be aiming for, improving peoples lives.
What’s a decent rate of UBI? If it’s not the Super rate (seeing as how too many elderly live in poverty), what is it? Can you please provide a model of how that would be paid for?
If you think that topups aren’t a useful way to go because of bureaucracy, please explain how you would make sure that someone with serious disability would get their needs met?
The point you are overlooking is if we are going to change the system it’s got to be for the better. $200 a week isn’t an improvement, resulting in continuing the hardship a number currently face.
I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI is for. It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name. People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that. Please go read what the point of a UBI is.
“If you think that topups aren’t a useful way to go because of bureaucracy, please explain how you would make sure that someone with serious disability would get their needs met?”
Those with serious disability would have their rate set higher when transitioning over. Those who later become seriously disable (which would be a relatively small number in comparison) would have to apply to get their ongoing rate set higher.
“I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI”
That’s you making those flawed assumptions again. Bad habit that.
“It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name.”
But it can be. UBI can replace welfare. We don’t require duplication, it’s inefficient.
“People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that.”
If they are not working or unable to work, can you explain how they will get more income than that?
Those with serious disability would have their rate set higher when transitioning over. Those who later become seriously disable (which would be a relatively small number in comparison) would have to apply to get their ongoing rate set higher.
yeah, that’s called a topup. Disability is often not a static state and each person will need to be assessed and some will need to be reassessed over time. You need a system to do that.
“I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI”
That’s you making those flawed assumptions again. Bad habit that.
And yet you keep talking about the UBI as a welfare substitute, it’s not.
“It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name.”
But it can be. UBI can replace welfare. We don’t require duplication, it’s inefficient.
No-one has suggested it duplication.
“People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that.”
If they are not working or unable to work, can you explain how they will get more income than that?
They will get the extra amount you named above like someone with a disability.
Many people cannot live on $400/wk. If they’re not able to work and there are no topups how is your system going to work?
I can see that UBI would be helpful as entitlement for maintenance for all. But different people fall into different strata of need.
There would have to be automatic topups for recognised need normal for those levels. They might be very low cost barriers to doctor, dentist, prescriptions, transport that go to not only old age pensioners, but all young families. There will need to be administration that assists people to get what they need within guidelines that are not rigid.
And all people be encouraged to do some community work. People with ability and capable but wheelchair bound, could do some reading education support work for instance. There are ways that all can promote wellbeing in society, both for the giver, the receiver, and the community which benefits too with pride at being a buzzing, happy group of people all needed and respected. Actually it can’t be that good because humans are ornery and don’t appreciate what they have and grizzle, but things would be improved.
joe90’s link to yesterday’s comment and link on UBI and Canada plus other nations is important to look at.
And under that is Sabine on teenagers taking governments to court over lack of climate action. Now that is bold and innovative. And what have they got to lose, on the one hand some difficulties and expense, and on the other hand they may achieve a gigantic effect of prevention and action to deal with the present which seems so hard to see for the enfeebled politicians who can’t see past the stacked wall of monopoly money.
We had a similar thing here once upon a time – it was called the family benefit, i think. If i remember rightly, one could capitalise it to get a “State Advances mortgage” to buy a first home. I think my mum did just that . . .
You are right about Family Benefit Murray but Jim Bolger canned it in the 90s. It wasn’t much each week but only the Mum could cash it. And yes the first home assistance was great.
I think Jim Bolger was a Catholic with a good sized family. The religious often seem to be very conservative about how families should be treated. They must have been the originators of the term husbanding, for looking after resources carefully.
I think Bill English also has a good sized family.
During the sixties my old man was a Beazly builder – Murray, Mrs Murray and family would walk through the door and mum would sit them down with a plan book containing around 20 designs all of which could be mirrored, reversed, extended or otherwise tickled to suit the Murray clan.
The Beazly parent company owned several subdivisions around the town so the Murray clan could choose a location to suit themselves and once decisions had been made finance would be arranged.
Usually the capitalised family benefits would provide part if not all of a deposit with a State Advances mortgage to finance the remainder.
Once finalised trucks would arrive on site carrying almost the entire house, framing through to cladding, roofing, kitchen and paint and local subcontractors would complete the Murray clan’s new house in around twelve weeks and they’d be in.
We got 5% mortgage for our first house. We were working at two jobs, doing a bit of night time restaurant work to boost our earnings otherwise we would have been entitled to a 3% mortgage. We had no children then. We went through very much what Joe90 did. I think it was Gerards in Hamilton, built a lovely 3 bedroom I think 1000 sq foot home in summerhill stone. Decided to take the opportunity before children to travel and work overseas so sold it for about $10,000 I think –
in 1968. We didn’t realise that life was at its crest for the world then, and is now sloping downhill. Ya don’t know how lucky ya are mate etc
New Zealand had to find new ways to manage as we lost our automatic export link to Britain. But we couldn’t throw ourselves into enterprising NZ, we gave our opportunities for that away, along with our ability to provide for our own needs out of our own earnings. Don’t people understand that yet? We are living on borrowed money in the style that we have become accustomed to, except for some hundred thousand that spoil the effect.
It’s time to regroup, have a group hug, plan a new strategy and unroll a new New Zealand, older, wiser, cautious about some things, but getting behind what is good and sustainable and pulling everyone in to help, even if just to hold onto the signs to the world to say Honk and call in and buy something from us.
edited
This really needs to be brought back. The best way out of poverty is home ownership. State Advances/Housing Corp assistance helped a lot of people into their own homes. Replacing this with cash transfer payments is/was not the greatest idea.
Peter Dunne saw the light and had a policy that would allow people to do this with WFF payments. but he never really fought for this.
Hey. This is very good and very surprising. An article by Jarrod Gilbert about Bill English’s policy actions. We are used to rubbishing Bill but wait. This is deeper.
“It was 2011 when English first shocked criminal justice circles.
He proclaimed prisons were a “moral and fiscal failure” and heralded the Government’s dramatic policy shift towards prisoner rehabilitation.”
“New Zealand has the fifth-highest rate of child abuse in the OECD. Last year I discovered that the period in which a New Zealander is most likely to be murdered is before the age of 3, a time when they cannot defend themselves, find sanctuary or even beg for help.
“When the Dirty Politics saga broke in 2014, many politicians dismissed the revelations made by Nicky Hager ……. English spoke out and his views were unequivocal: not only was he not involved but he didn’t like what was happening, either.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11604661
Historic victory as Japanese court issues first injunction against an operating nuclear reactor
Tokyo, 9 March 2016 – A local court today sided with the people of Japan by issuing the first injunction in the country’s history against an operating nuclear reactor.
“This is a landmark victory for people living in the shadow of shut-down reactors across Japan and a devastating blow against the nuclear industry and the policies of the Abe government,” said Hisayo Takada, Deputy Program Director at Greenpeace Japan.
“The court is sending a clear message to the nuclear industry nearly a week after the prosecution of TEPCO executives for criminal negligence that led to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. It’s a message that nuclear power has no place in Japan’s energy future.”
Did the Court require an alternative generating capacity?
Nuclear is the first best transition fuel to any other generation, for the scale that Japan needs it.
That’s an issue for the govt not the courts (kind of a weird suggestion there Ad).
Nuclear is never going to be a good transition energy, esp not in a country with earthquakes and tsunamis. It’s neither resilient, nor safe, nor sustainable, nor afaik economic.
If they thought Fukushima was bad try doing that when there’s no cheap oil available or after a GFC.
I don’t mind protest movements celebrating a ‘victory’. I loathe movements who walk away from the hard work of the alternatives that really work.
If someone would like to calculate the visible landscape left after replacing all of Japan’s nuclear generation with wind farms, I’d be interested. That’s where the work is.
I don’t believe it’s possible for the electronic/industrialised nations to keep their current lifestyles in a post-carbon world. We will have to powerdown. So from my perspective your basic premise of what should Japan replace nuclear with is faulty (ha ha).
I don’t know Japan that well, but I could have a crack at how it would work in NZ. The biggest obstacle to that conversation is whether we can make a living here and be less dependent on exports. Once that one is solved a whole bunch of critical things change, including our GHG emissions.
Ad, how do you decommission a 70 year old nuclear reactor which has more than reached the end of its already extended service life, when you have no more access to diesel fuel?
Also, failure of the modern globalised economic system is an inevitability at this point. The question is do you want a planned, graceful failure, or do you want a full speed train smash?
Wallace Chapman is repeatedly failing to do his job;
They might as well hire Jack Tame or Mike “Contra” Hosking.
RNZ National, Sunday 13 March 2016
The alarming vacuity continues on National Lite radio this morning. Wallace Chapman is obviously under management orders to “engage” his audience; this results in him repeatedly exhorting listeners to text in their opinions about whatever pop phenomenon he happens to touch upon during a particular programme. So in recent weeks we’ve been urged to send in our “all time favorite David Bowie song”, our “all time favorite movie”, our “all time favorite summer reading”, our “all-time favorite holiday spot”, our “all-time favorite beach”, et cetera, ad tedium, ad nauseam.
Super-alert listeners will have noted that Chapman doesn’t really seem to be putting much, or indeed any, effort into meeting these audience engagement targets. He seems to be simply going through the motions, like a reluctant teacher being coerced into delivering his lessons in a way he knows is dull and counterproductive.
This morning, for some reason (perhaps the death of Sir George Martin) someone on the program mentioned the Beatles. I’m quite sure I was not the only person to predict almost exactly what Chapman would say next….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: I’ve always been a Beatles fan. ….[long pause]….. Here’s an interesting thought: what is your favorite Beatles song? Text us….
But, when all is said and done, it is unfair to blame Chapman for this. Without a doubt, when he makes these appeals for text feedback, he is (by the sound of it reluctantly) just carrying out orders.
Where Chapman is culpable, however, is when he is covering more serious topics. Interviewing ostensibly “serious” people, he has, time after time, failed to hold them to account, even when they make the most bizarre, provocative and offensive statements. [1]
This morning, a short time after half-heartedly soliciting votes for all-time favorite Beatle songs, Chapman interviewed Canadian-born “social entrepreneur” Marilyn Garson, who has spent some time in Gaza. She made sure to speak disparagingly of “the militants” of Gaza’s Hamas government but, in spite of criticising the illegal blockade of the territory, she did not mention Israel or its chief arms supplier and sponsor the United States even once. As usual, Chapman never so much as demurred at a single thing she said, not even when she repeatedly described Israel’s massacres of the captive population of Gaza as “wars”. [2]
I sent him the following email….
Marilyn Garson’s careless use of the word “war.”
Dear Wallace,
Marilyn Garson talked about being in Gaza “during the last two wars.” A little later she referred to Gaza having “several full-scale wars” happen to it.
In fact, the imprisoned citizens of Gaza are defenceless. There was no “war” in Gaza in 2008-9 (what Israel boastfully called “twenty-two days of madness”) or in 2014; there was mass slaughter by Israel.
I watched the Chris Liddell “interview”, which was, as one would expect seeing that he was talking to the woefully ill-informed and under-repared Jack Tame, nothing more than an uninterrupted free podium.
Liddell talked with a lowered, croaky voice to convey intellectual depth and he continually raised his eyebrows to convey sincerity. Jack Tame, who might be the shallowest person “working” in the New Zealand media, failed to hold him to account for anything he said—even when Liddell called John Kasich a “respected, moderate governor”. Seconds after that howler, Liddell revealed that in 2012 he supported Mitt Romney.
Calling John Kasich “respected” and “moderate” and confessing to being a Romney supporter would have indicated to any viewer with an IQ above room temperature that Liddell was neither a serious nor credible commentator. But Jack Tame, that great gorgeous empty grin notwithstanding, seemed to comprehend not a single word Liddell said.
Liddell’s intimation the FBI could make decisions about prosecuting Clinton was dead wrong too.
In an ordinary case, that would not be a point worth making. The FBI routinely conducts major investigations in collaboration with Justice Department prosecutors — usually from the U.S. attorney’s office in the district where potential crimes occurred. That is because the FBI needs the assistance of a grand jury. The FBI does not have authority even to issue subpoenas, let alone to charge someone with a crime. Only federal prosecutors may issue subpoenas, on the lawful authority of the grand jury. Only prosecutors are empowered to present evidence or propose charges to the grand jury. And the Constitution vests only the grand jury with authority to indict — the formal accusation of a crime. In our system, the FBI can do none of these things.
No Justice Department, no grand jury. No grand jury, no case — period. As a technical matter, no matter how extensively the FBI pokes around on its own, no one can be a subject of a real investigation — i.e., one that can lead to criminal charges — unless and until there is a grand jury. That does not happen until the Justice Department hops on board.
People organising gigs of a political nature would be wise to always invite the 3 main party’s and then National if the main party’s leaders agree to front up. Either way Natcorp get it in the neck!
It was interesting to see a pretty coherent showing from the 3 opposition leaders. Clearly they have plenty of low hanging fruit to work with but they broadly seemed on the same page with issues around the dairy situation and Immigration/foreign investment which are going to be two massive issues playing out in 2017.
Contrast with Bill English’s “nothing to see here” interview on Q&A this morning. (link not yet online)
There seems a clear line drawn between the opposition being prepared to get involved directly with some sort of support package for the “too big to fail” dairy sector and the govts ideological hands off approach. While I ordinarily would not be in support of direct govt intervention my feeling is that this is going to be such a significant issue that the govt will be forced to take some action or face the consequences of significant 1980s style economic and social dislocation in the provinces. I think the opposition are being quite canny in positioning themselves ahead of the curve and waiting for the govt to pulled kicking and screaming towards their position.
“It was interesting to see a pretty coherent showing from the 3 opposition leaders. Clearly they have plenty of low hanging fruit to work with but they broadly seemed on the same page with issues around the dairy situation and Immigration/foreign investment which are going to be two massive issues playing out in 2017.”
Indeed, it was good to see. It almost looked like a Government in waiting.
Bill was using the line the TPP will help. It will allow more NZ farms to end up in offshore ownership.
Cartels can’t sell cannabis so are now focussing more on P and heroin. If we legalise class A drugs, what will the cartels do then?
I’m not supporting prohibition btw, just saying that I don’t think it’s as straightforward as its presented. Having locally grown cannabis that is cheaper is good though.
It’s a health issue. And the lies over it are become more apparent. The big lie that it will increase drug usage is being killed, by Portugal, and all the US states which have legalised cannabis. Most credible research now believes the spike which occurs after legalisation, is people just being honest about their pot use, not new users. And if anything usage is going down.
The real gateway drugs are prescription drugs, we at least do have a medical profession who don’t cut people off from pain killers.
But with this government moving us towards a more corporate medical model, we may just follow the States fast than we think.
Yes, I agree with all of that, but my question was about what will the Mexican cartels do if they lose their illegal drugs trade? They’re not going to just retire. That video failed to take that into account yet was celebrating a victory that hasn’t actually happened.
In capitalism, they will follow the money. Like they did by moving towards P and heroin. If that gone, prostitution and gambling would be my guess. Just like the other gangs have done.
The market for marijuana is much bigger than for harder drugs like P or heroin. When marijuana users have to buy from criminal suppliers, it puts them in contact with criminals that have an incentive to push other drugs. So legalising marijuana not only immediately eliminates much of the cartels’ business, it also eliminates their way to get new customers for their other lines. No, they won’t disappear in a puff of smoke, but they will shrivel to a small fraction of their current size. If there’s no customers. there’s no business. And many of their current suppliers will need to find something else to do.
Do you have any references for that? Because while I can see that some might disappear, I think that in general gangs just find other ways of making that money. People have to make a living. The actual people aren’t going to wither away.
“The most telling sign of the relationship between serious crime and Prohibition was the dramatic reversal in the rates for robbery, burglary, murder, and assault when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. That dramatic reversal has Marxist and business-cycle crime theorists puzzled to this day. For example, sociologist John Pandiani noted that “a major wave of crime appears to have begun as early as the mid 1920s [and] increased continually until 1933 . . . when it mysteriously reversed itself.”[50] Theodore Ferdinand also found a “mysterious” decline that began in 1933 and lasted throughout the 1930s.[51] How could they miss the significance of the fact that the crime rate dropped in 1933?”
There’s plenty of evidence from the end of Prohibition. If you’re interested, google it yourself. Or substantiate your assertions that the cartels will be able to easily transition into other organised criminal activities.
I assume that’s in the US (and would the Depression be a factor as well?). Not sure if that applies to the situation with Mexico now though. As noted, I support prohibition, and I’d like to see my question answered. What will the people in the cartels do then?
Of course, if there were other forms of crime that criminal organisations were involved in (say kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, that sort of thing), it might not be so easy to persuade remaining members to “transition” away from crime into a 9-5 job somewhere.
I haven’t thought about Timor L’Este lately. It is chugging along with the help of its oil revenues. The fund built up from that has to be conserved and waste and too many little luxuries for the politicians and leaders says Dr Ramos-Horta on RADIONZ. They are still arguing with Australia over how to divide up the oil field – has been continuing for 30? years. Oz never changes does it.
Wallace commented on the news blackout of the country’s problems, the murders and mass killing unreported, and that he only heard about the country from a cake stall in Dunedin run by principled supporters.
10:32 Jose Ramos-Horta – Timor-Leste Today
From 1975 to 1999 Timor-Leste, (formerly known as East Timor), was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. Over the course of the 24 year occupation, one-third of the Timorese population perished. Dr Jose Ramos-Horta was in exile during that time, but lead a campaign that ultimately saw his country become an independent nation. He became its Prime Minister and then President, and received a Nobel Peace Prize. He is now the United Nations’ special representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau.
I haven’t thought about Timor L’Este lately. It is chugging along with the help of its oil revenues. The fund built up from that has to be conserved and waste and too many little luxuries for the politicians and leaders says Dr Ramos-Horta on RADIONZ. They are still arguing with Australia over how to divide up the oil field – has been continuing for 30? years. Oz never changes does it.
Wallace commented on the news blackout of the country’s problems, the murders and mass killing unreported, and that he only heard about the country from a cake stall in Dunedin run by principled supporters.
10:32 Jose Ramos-Horta – Timor-Leste Today
From 1975 to 1999 Timor-Leste, (formerly known as East Timor), was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. Over the course of the 24 year occupation, one-third of the Timorese population perished. Dr Jose Ramos-Horta was in exile during that time, but lead a campaign that ultimately saw his country become an independent nation. He became its Prime Minister and then President, and received a Nobel Peace Prize. He is now the United Nations’ special representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. He mentioned with gratitude Helen Jansen in NZ.
Maire Leadbeater was involved as spokesperson for many years.
She was also involved in various other human rights groups including the Auckland East Timor Independence Committee, the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa and the Indonesia Human Rights Committee.[2][5] Her family’s left-wing activities made her the target of surveillance by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, the country’s main domestic intelligence agency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maire_Leadbeater
Note how her family were marked by the spy and security agencies for reminding people of the principles of human behaviour that were being broken in other countries that were being ignored by supposedly high principled countries like us and the USA.
Doubled up here. I will know how not to do this again. Sorry.
edited
I started taking a pretty serious interest in suicide when I found that 10% of the deepsea fishermen I knew had committed suicide. Someone ought to pay for that.
Well it was always an extreme profession – you give up normal social relationships, hobbies, sport, and time off – and then the companies bring in slave labour & throw you on the scrap heap? Very hard to take & you have weakened support networks to fall back on.
Nor is the skill set respected – but it takes several years to learn to mend net and splice wire fast enough to be useful in a modern context. Fishing, perhaps a bit like scrub cutting, used to attract people who found 9-5 conventional jobs soul destroying. Even some gang folk fitted in quite well – they had a culture of physical toughness, and there were an abundance of challenging physical tasks for them to excell at. We liked them.
But a bit like Fonterra, NZ companies were pretty good at getting bottom dollar for everything – and the great ongoing failure – they still have not developed the local market. They have much to learn.
‘ Someone ought to pay for that.
Fisherman Stuart? I see you were quoting a Gary Neave story the other day so you know all about them obviously.sarc.
Can you give me a link that substantiates your implication that 10% of Deep Sea fisherman commit suicide?
And then can you tell me who ‘should pay’, and why?
@TheLostSheep Fuck off troll “I found that 10% of the deepsea fishermen I knew” is what he said, so obviously anecdotal, ie:people he knew. Why would you want to pick a fight there?
Because he is implying there is an exceptionally high rate of suicide linked to Fishing employment, and that ‘someone should pay for that’.
As not a single one of the 100’s of fisherman i have known and consider good friends has committed suicide, I say he is talking utter shit.
Almost as much shit as you. Anyone thinks ‘fuck off troll’ is an intelligent lead in to an argument is brain dead moron.
Thanks Stuart M. that sounds a knowledgable background to it all. Rings a bell with what I keep hearing. Physical skills are downgraded – not flavour of the month with the IT obssessed (both of my kids are in IT) – very clever, useful, but doesn’t replace actual physical work.
And thinking that CAD? printing is going to do most of our physical stuff is not correct, and having robot worker factories just destroys the cement and inter-relationship of society and reduces customers, with so many dropping out from consumerism.
Though am reading Oliver James on Affluenza which I totally agree with, and he is not for consumerism as what we need in the long run.
So please keep writing here, it is good to read someone with experience that understands and communicates about our reality. We need to have ideas, people who get excited, and people who can balance ideas and assess them.
Most of all we need navigators and pilots of, and in the wide world.
I was thinking about this the other day, of the cost to the economy of each of those lives. A fairly clinical way of looking at things however. But as money talks in pretty much anything we do and anything the Government is interested in, if it was put in pure economic terms that we’re losing so many million $ a year due to these deaths then maybe authorities might look for new solutions or work harder at it.
Rachel Madow on how Trump’s bloodlust has shifted violence from it’s place on the fringe to mainstream republican politics. Deliberately. She’s making a connection between the unrest in Black communities in cities where Black people have been shot by police and the places where Trump has been inciting violence in the lead up to what happened in Chicago yesterday,
Working class, non-white, trans-national feminism in LA.
The film follows the Ovarian Psycos Brigade of Los Angeles, a group of women on bicycles who have been known to ride in and around the streets where women have recently been killed. The women, who call themselves Ovas, ride the streets at night together to let the community know they stand together without fear. Their motto is “ovaries so big we don’t need no balls.”
“We fight back against femicide, rape, the normalization of our disposability, [and] the war being played out upon our spaces,” said Xela de la X, the founder of the Ovarian Psycos.
…
Those that have seen the Ovas ride down a street together describe it as powerful sight—a “sea of women.” In Los Angeles less than 1 in 5 bicyclists is female so it’s even more powerful when you see a group of women of color cycling down the street. Many of the women cover their faces with bandanas that have white fallopian tubes printed on black fabric.
Someone on Twitter says the NZ army are being used for security at the TPPA re-education meetings. Read the convo. Good chart outlining control of dissent too. I’m unrepentant about calling National proto-fascist.
Did you notice that the first little girl who dropped a coin in the bass players had was till standing watching right the end. Grey jeans pink top. Entranced.
Interesting goungs on at Wellington airport. A huge Islamic Republic of Iran airbus is parked up at the international terminal. Shortly after it arrived a US airforce lear jet arrived and was promprly towed into a hanger. Coincidence? Probably 🙂
Would someone in here be able to tell me why … in Georges YourNZ “Recent Comments” section … Ben Rachingers username is highlighted in blue … and not black the same as most other folks … aside from Pete George and a small few other select people’s usernames?
Is this the way WordPress works?
I have asked this question before of Rachinger … and he was evasive … and told me to ask George.
It is likely that comments appear in blue because the user is logged in. You’ll notice that my comment here is blue because I am logged in (yes it’s a WordPress thing).
When you are logged in you don’t need to re-enter your details for every comment. If you look upthread you’ll see a few regular commenters are logged in.
It’s because they’ve got a web address written in the WEBSITE field, under email/name. It’s just a hyperlink to whatever they’ve written in there. Same as the blue names here, it’s nothing sinister at all. See if you click on Robs name you’ll go to the last page on the internet, lprent’s goes to the homepage here.
Says who? As long as you don’t put the site at legal risk, you’re pretty well free to comment on anything. But you know better than most which areas are sensitive at the moment, so stick to other subjects and you’ll get on fine.
Don’t worry too much. Just put yourself into my seat and think if I might decide it is worrisome bearing in mind I intensely dislike time wasted in court. And that I take draconian measures against anyone who tries to put me there. So I err on the side of caution. If I can’t figure out what you are talking about, because of opaque convolution, I assume the worst. It pays to be clear….
Then assess how much you want to continue commenting here.
We are adults. Determine how dangerously you want to get towards the edge. Besides, most of the commenters will try to warn you. But some consider watching banning to be entertaining…. 😈
Oh God … you are asking me to go out into “The Wilderness” in here.
I am a “Centre Right Voter”.
Are you trying to get me savaged to death?
Mind you … I have put up with so much shit and crap over in Georges Blog over the past six months … that I can probably cope with being outnumbered 100 to 1 by a bunch of Lefties. LOL.
That name is probably on auto-moderation because we want to tread carefully in the context of the ongoing legal issues. Reasonable comments will always be released (the delay depends on when moderators are about).
When I belonged to Georges Blog … I was permanently logged in at least 90% of the time.
My username was never highlighted in blue as opposed to black at any stage throughout “My Tenure” there … and I checked often after I discovered the “Black and Blue” anomaly.
What is considered to be “Logged-In” … with regards to Word Press?
Mike C
No two blogs are alike. Every blog owner runs their site as they see fit. If you’re a newbie then do what most newbies do… spend some time reading The Standard and join in with when you feel you’ve got the hang of the way it operates. It’s a left-wing blog site ranging from centre Left (probably where most commenters sit) to the far Left. All of them have contributions to make.
Up the top of the page, on the right, are some green and blue buttons. If you click the one that says “Log in” you will find out how this works on WordPress.
I think its time to get serious about limiting GHGs – and I don’t mean playing with a trashed and useless ETS.
But don’t worry folks – John and Paula will sort it out. Just don’t expect them to listen to any of the submissions we make – they are not listening to any on the TPPA either, and why change the habit of a lifetime?
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
COMMENTARY:By Ronny Kareni Since the atrocious footage of the suffering of an indigenous Papuan man reverberates in the heart of Puncak by the brute force of Indonesia’s army in early February, shocking tactics deployed by those in power to silence critics has been unfolding. Nowhere is this more evident ...
Analysis - Nicola Willis is holding firm on tax cuts despite the economic outlook being worse than forecast and critics urging her to wait, writes Peter Wilson for The Week In Politics. ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
Just a general complaint!
I have in the past weeks attempted to contribute Guest Posts for general discussion.
None of my contributions have appeared, which, perhaps, says something about their quality!
But, at the very least, a short email indicating that the said post does not reach the standard required, or any other reason, is a basic courtesy which I, we, if others have had the same result, might expect.
Cheers.
Hi Tony – That email goes to lprent. I’m aware that he is massively busy at work at the moment – you may notice that he hasn’t posted himself here for ages. It’s likely that TS email is slipping through the cracks. I apologise for that, and I’ll draw this to his attention.
You can always send them to me, too, Tony.
I’ve done a couple for regulars, including the recent AK IT one for SaveNZ, which went down pretty well. The only difference if I do them is they go out under my byline. Not sure if that’s an advantage or a disadvantage 😉
tereoputake@gmail.com
Thanks.
I do appreciate all the work that must go on behind the scenes to keep The Standard on line – and hell, it is so so important as a place to vent one’s frustrations at the mess this neoliberal crap is getting us into.
Hello Tony V
Please don’t talk about venting your frustrations here in a guest post. If there is something to post about, please give us a good meaty one with your concerns and observations then as well explanation with links, details, background etc. We get enough venting as comments, they make the writer and every similar thinker feel better for a second, but we actually need to think beyond that as well, and what, and why it is important, and what is the scenario if we don’t get that change?
How can we get something better, and what do you and informed others think would be the best method for the situation? What do they do overseas? Is there a time when people are really receptive to thinking on new ideas? Are we not doing regular thinking and assessment of what is being done, but just waiting for failures and disasters and then getting angry? That’s so reactionary, do we need to plan and think better, and right at the beginning of some new scheme, and who will do this, and how can informed citizens have a say and provide guidance?
You should be able to select Guest Post.
And currently back in Italy for work. Which paradoxically means that I will be more active than has been usual.
Canada Is About To Start Giving Away Free Money
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/canada-free-money_us_56df181ee4b0000de4063880?
We must watch with great interest. Such a program would just about eliminate Work and Income. Wonder if the $800-1000per month is for every adult.
Indeed, ianmac. It’s definitely one to keep an eye on.
“Such a program would just about eliminate Work and Income.”
Not really. How many can live on that amount?
250,000 people depend on Disability Allowance.
85,000 are long term unwell or disabled and are currently on Supported Living. They have different welfare needs than the working population.
I can’t tell you how many are on sickness benefit because National are hiding them in the unemployed, but that will more tens of thousands.
People on the DPB etc.
All those people require further assistance as do people on the dole who have financial hardship.
All of that needs a competent system to deliver entitlements. It’s significant and UBI advocates need to start taking it seriously (sorry, not picking on you ianmac, but I”ve seen this written off too many times now).
Are there better ways to assessing what higher need citizens require and ensuring that they get that extra assistance – other than WINZ offices?
Not any more. I don’t think the MoH would be an improvement and they won’t want to administer non-health and disability benefits anyway.
The ideal? Scrap WINZ. Create two new departments. One is the Dept of Social Welfare and it administers all UBI and supplementary payments. Use that as an opportunity to set up a system that supports people to live meaningful lives where that isn’t solely defined by having paid employment. Redefine welfare as being about individual, family, community and society wellbeing.
Have it completely separate from job seeking, which needs to be in a separate department.
Not that anyone is going to do that though 😉
So other than that, I think the most likely way to go is to use WINZ to administer the UBI and supplementaries, and for a left wong govt to strip out the worst of the punitive legislation and policy. They can also do quite a lot to change the culture within WINZ.
weka
+100
“Not really. How many can live on that amount?”
Not many if any, hence a UBI would require to be more.
But there would also be savings made putting an end to the bureaucracy at WINZ.
What’s their CEO on now days?
You didn’t read the rest of my comment did you. If you think that a UBI will pay a living income, please cite some people who’ve done work on this who have figured out how to pay for it. All the people I’ve seen do calculations are saying it will be less than a living income.
You and them are looking at it the wrong way. It’s not that the UBI needs to be paid for but that the UBI would be the entire basis for the rest of the economy.
I was just meaning he would need to put up some figures that shows how a high rate would be done.
How it’s done is dependent upon which way you view it. If you view it as the UBI needing to be funded from taxes then you have problems and you can’t get the figures to work.
When you view it as a UBI of $60 billion per year with a multiplier of ~3 funding the economy then it fits nicely within our ~200 billion dollar economy.
Other changes would need to be made of course. The most important one being that the private banks could no longer create money. You’d also need to ban offshore ownership.
Do you think Red’s figures don’t work?
Recalculate Red’s figures so the UBI results in being around $400 a week.
I can’t do that.
WTF is Red?
Red Logix, one of the standard authors who like yourself has written on the UBI. There’s a link on this page somewhere.
“The most important one being that the private banks could no longer create money.”
Ha, they aren’t going to give that up without a fight.
If we are going to replace welfare with a UBI, it would have to be as good as the pension. Not the living wage.
One way to pay for it would be increasing royalties, or at least start charging them – i.e. water (see Q&A).
Here’s Red’s figures, $200/wk ($300 for over 65s). It’s based on people also working (or getting topups).
http://thestandard.org.nz/universal-income-revisited/
Gareth Morgans is roughly the same rate.
http://thestandard.org.nz/gareth-morgans-big-kahuna/
Those amounts are inadequate if we want to avoid more people living in hardship.
Working or top ups on top of that would improve things. However, top ups implies more administrative bureaucracy and not all can work. Coupled with growing automation, there won’t be as much available employment going forward.
Why change/replace the current system if we aren’t going to improve it?
A survey (not to long ago) claimed 3% of the over 65 suffer deprivation.
Although, notably, high home ownership levels amongst the over 65 contributes to that low percentage. Along with pensions being tied to the average wage (opposed to other benefits being tied to the CPI) and returns on savings/investments.
Therefore, even basing a UBI on the current pension rate may be insufficient.
The point of a UBI isn’t to give everyone free money that they can live well on (have you read the actual proposals?). Yes, everyone needs a livable income, but that shouldn’t be coming solely from the UBI, it should be coming from the UBI, full employment, living wage rates, affordable housing and social welfare that is fair and supportive not punitive like we have now.
Have you looked at the various models that people have done work on on how to pay for a UBI? I haven’t seen any model yet that suggests giving people a living income.
Most people are going to want to work as well as receive the UBI. If people don’t need to work as hard or as often for financial reasons that frees up jobs for other people (many people on 30 hour weeks instead). I agree that automation will be an issue, but it’s an issue without a UBI so let’s solve that alongside.
Re topups, make them entitlements and easily accessible. Some of the issues that would need to be solved would be Accommodation Supplement, which tends to be inaedquate because it gets sucked up by landlords, and the bureaucracy/hoop jumping that makes up life for current beneficiaries.
None of those things are unsolvable.
“The point of a UBI isn’t to give everyone free money that they can live well on”
I clearly stated above it doesn’t require to be a living wage.
“Have you looked at the various models that people have done work on on how to pay for a UBI? I haven’t seen any model yet that suggests giving people a living income”.
Again, I clearly stated above it doesn’t require to be a living wage.
The point you are overlooking is if we are going to change the system it’s got to be for the better. $200 a week isn’t an improvement, resulting in continuing the hardship a number currently face.
“Most people are going to want to work as well as receive the UBI”.
Good. Nothing wrong with that. They will be even better off.
“I agree that automation will be an issue, but it’s an issue without a UBI so let’s solve that alongside”
It can be resolved with a UBI was the point I’m making.
“Re topups, make them entitlements and easily accessible.”
That still requires more administrative bureaucracy.
As I stated above, the only reason why there is a low percentage of over 65 suffering is largely due to high home ownership levels amongst the over 65. Along with pensions being tied to the average wage (opposed to other benefits being tied to the CPI) and returns on savings/investments. Many others don’t have those benefits (home ownership, savings/investments) to help supplement their income. Thus, for those not working, $200 a week would result in financial hardship. As it currently does.
Food-banks have been reporting an increase in demand. A decent UBI ( but not a living wage) can help improve that. Hence, that is what we should be aiming for, improving peoples lives.
What’s a decent rate of UBI? If it’s not the Super rate (seeing as how too many elderly live in poverty), what is it? Can you please provide a model of how that would be paid for?
If you think that topups aren’t a useful way to go because of bureaucracy, please explain how you would make sure that someone with serious disability would get their needs met?
The point you are overlooking is if we are going to change the system it’s got to be for the better. $200 a week isn’t an improvement, resulting in continuing the hardship a number currently face.
I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI is for. It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name. People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that. Please go read what the point of a UBI is.
“What’s a decent rate of UBI?”
See above comment (10:28 am)
“If you think that topups aren’t a useful way to go because of bureaucracy, please explain how you would make sure that someone with serious disability would get their needs met?”
Those with serious disability would have their rate set higher when transitioning over. Those who later become seriously disable (which would be a relatively small number in comparison) would have to apply to get their ongoing rate set higher.
“I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI”
That’s you making those flawed assumptions again. Bad habit that.
“It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name.”
But it can be. UBI can replace welfare. We don’t require duplication, it’s inefficient.
“People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that.”
If they are not working or unable to work, can you explain how they will get more income than that?
Those with serious disability would have their rate set higher when transitioning over. Those who later become seriously disable (which would be a relatively small number in comparison) would have to apply to get their ongoing rate set higher.
yeah, that’s called a topup. Disability is often not a static state and each person will need to be assessed and some will need to be reassessed over time. You need a system to do that.
“I really get the sense that you don’t understand what a UBI”
That’s you making those flawed assumptions again. Bad habit that.
And yet you keep talking about the UBI as a welfare substitute, it’s not.
“It’s not welfare. People without work aren’t going to be on the dole with a new name.”
But it can be. UBI can replace welfare. We don’t require duplication, it’s inefficient.
No-one has suggested it duplication.
“People aren’t going to be living on $200/wk, they will get more income than that.”
If they are not working or unable to work, can you explain how they will get more income than that?
They will get the extra amount you named above like someone with a disability.
Many people cannot live on $400/wk. If they’re not able to work and there are no topups how is your system going to work?
“Disability is often not a static state and each person will need to be assessed”
Those currently disabled have already been assessed, Moreover, in a number of cases people’s conditions won’t alter. For example down’s syndrome.
When transitioning their rate would be set higher from the start, that’s not a top up. That’s merely starting on a higher rate.
Doctors can reassess people that require it. Those that have improved won’t require a higher rate, thus a top up.
New applicants would see their rates topped up, so yeah a top up in that regards, but in the most minimalistic way.
“And yet you keep talking about the UBI as a welfare substitute, it’s not”
Seems it’s you that needs to do some research. Labour are considering just that.
“No-one has suggested it duplication”.
You were imply benefits would remain, thus I stated that is inefficient duplication.
“They will get the extra amount you named above like someone with a disability.”
And what about those that aren’t employed? How will they get more until they secure work, which could take some time?
“Many people cannot live on $400/wk”
Yet many on benefits currently are expected too.
I can see that UBI would be helpful as entitlement for maintenance for all. But different people fall into different strata of need.
There would have to be automatic topups for recognised need normal for those levels. They might be very low cost barriers to doctor, dentist, prescriptions, transport that go to not only old age pensioners, but all young families. There will need to be administration that assists people to get what they need within guidelines that are not rigid.
And all people be encouraged to do some community work. People with ability and capable but wheelchair bound, could do some reading education support work for instance. There are ways that all can promote wellbeing in society, both for the giver, the receiver, and the community which benefits too with pride at being a buzzing, happy group of people all needed and respected. Actually it can’t be that good because humans are ornery and don’t appreciate what they have and grizzle, but things would be improved.
Supported Living payment is about $250 a week. People are expected to live on that. Many get nothing extra.
I would have thought the opposite Sirenia. What are you basing that one?
Snap!
joe90’s link to yesterday’s comment and link on UBI and Canada plus other nations is important to look at.
And under that is Sabine on teenagers taking governments to court over lack of climate action. Now that is bold and innovative. And what have they got to lose, on the one hand some difficulties and expense, and on the other hand they may achieve a gigantic effect of prevention and action to deal with the present which seems so hard to see for the enfeebled politicians who can’t see past the stacked wall of monopoly money.
We had a similar thing here once upon a time – it was called the family benefit, i think. If i remember rightly, one could capitalise it to get a “State Advances mortgage” to buy a first home. I think my mum did just that . . .
You are right about Family Benefit Murray but Jim Bolger canned it in the 90s. It wasn’t much each week but only the Mum could cash it. And yes the first home assistance was great.
I think Jim Bolger was a Catholic with a good sized family. The religious often seem to be very conservative about how families should be treated. They must have been the originators of the term husbanding, for looking after resources carefully.
I think Bill English also has a good sized family.
During the sixties my old man was a Beazly builder – Murray, Mrs Murray and family would walk through the door and mum would sit them down with a plan book containing around 20 designs all of which could be mirrored, reversed, extended or otherwise tickled to suit the Murray clan.
The Beazly parent company owned several subdivisions around the town so the Murray clan could choose a location to suit themselves and once decisions had been made finance would be arranged.
Usually the capitalised family benefits would provide part if not all of a deposit with a State Advances mortgage to finance the remainder.
Once finalised trucks would arrive on site carrying almost the entire house, framing through to cladding, roofing, kitchen and paint and local subcontractors would complete the Murray clan’s new house in around twelve weeks and they’d be in.
Yup. My parents moved from a state house to private ownership. We had a Peerless home on pretty much the principle you describe (not that I remember).
My dad painted the house red.
We got 5% mortgage for our first house. We were working at two jobs, doing a bit of night time restaurant work to boost our earnings otherwise we would have been entitled to a 3% mortgage. We had no children then. We went through very much what Joe90 did. I think it was Gerards in Hamilton, built a lovely 3 bedroom I think 1000 sq foot home in summerhill stone. Decided to take the opportunity before children to travel and work overseas so sold it for about $10,000 I think –
in 1968. We didn’t realise that life was at its crest for the world then, and is now sloping downhill. Ya don’t know how lucky ya are mate etc
New Zealand had to find new ways to manage as we lost our automatic export link to Britain. But we couldn’t throw ourselves into enterprising NZ, we gave our opportunities for that away, along with our ability to provide for our own needs out of our own earnings. Don’t people understand that yet? We are living on borrowed money in the style that we have become accustomed to, except for some hundred thousand that spoil the effect.
It’s time to regroup, have a group hug, plan a new strategy and unroll a new New Zealand, older, wiser, cautious about some things, but getting behind what is good and sustainable and pulling everyone in to help, even if just to hold onto the signs to the world to say Honk and call in and buy something from us.
edited
And we still have pensions which are universal.
This really needs to be brought back. The best way out of poverty is home ownership. State Advances/Housing Corp assistance helped a lot of people into their own homes. Replacing this with cash transfer payments is/was not the greatest idea.
Peter Dunne saw the light and had a policy that would allow people to do this with WFF payments. but he never really fought for this.
Hey. This is very good and very surprising. An article by Jarrod Gilbert about Bill English’s policy actions. We are used to rubbishing Bill but wait. This is deeper.
“It was 2011 when English first shocked criminal justice circles.
He proclaimed prisons were a “moral and fiscal failure” and heralded the Government’s dramatic policy shift towards prisoner rehabilitation.”
“New Zealand has the fifth-highest rate of child abuse in the OECD. Last year I discovered that the period in which a New Zealander is most likely to be murdered is before the age of 3, a time when they cannot defend themselves, find sanctuary or even beg for help.
“When the Dirty Politics saga broke in 2014, many politicians dismissed the revelations made by Nicky Hager ……. English spoke out and his views were unequivocal: not only was he not involved but he didn’t like what was happening, either.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11604661
Mostly aimed at cost saving though.
Did the Court require an alternative generating capacity?
Nuclear is the first best transition fuel to any other generation, for the scale that Japan needs it.
That’s an issue for the govt not the courts (kind of a weird suggestion there Ad).
Nuclear is never going to be a good transition energy, esp not in a country with earthquakes and tsunamis. It’s neither resilient, nor safe, nor sustainable, nor afaik economic.
If they thought Fukushima was bad try doing that when there’s no cheap oil available or after a GFC.
I don’t mind protest movements celebrating a ‘victory’. I loathe movements who walk away from the hard work of the alternatives that really work.
If someone would like to calculate the visible landscape left after replacing all of Japan’s nuclear generation with wind farms, I’d be interested. That’s where the work is.
I don’t believe it’s possible for the electronic/industrialised nations to keep their current lifestyles in a post-carbon world. We will have to powerdown. So from my perspective your basic premise of what should Japan replace nuclear with is faulty (ha ha).
I don’t know Japan that well, but I could have a crack at how it would work in NZ. The biggest obstacle to that conversation is whether we can make a living here and be less dependent on exports. Once that one is solved a whole bunch of critical things change, including our GHG emissions.
Always loving the Greens who expect whole percentages of the world to fail in order to succeed
Are you talking about the Green Party? They don’t believe that.
Besides, you don’t understand what the issue is if that’s how you characterise it.
Would you mind addressing the actual points instead of making inane assumptions that aren’t based on anything?
Ad, how do you decommission a 70 year old nuclear reactor which has more than reached the end of its already extended service life, when you have no more access to diesel fuel?
Also, failure of the modern globalised economic system is an inevitability at this point. The question is do you want a planned, graceful failure, or do you want a full speed train smash?
You really don’t get it do you? The present system has already failed.
Ad, you do understand the unresolveble problems which plague nuclear reactor design, right?
“Alternatives that really work”
…. but can end life on earth at any time…..
the problem is that there is no more time and no more money to implement nuclear power as a large scale energy alternative for the world.
Easy access to fossil fuels ends in the next 25 years or so.
And we have no way of properly decommissioning the dozens of existing nuclear reactors and used fuel storage facilities.
The Japanese landscape will be fine as they’re building these.
This guy has a view on nuclear power that is probably worth adding into the mix of opinions
and these two
I see TVNZ are as slow as ever getting Q&A up on TV on-demand.
Wallace Chapman is repeatedly failing to do his job;
They might as well hire Jack Tame or Mike “Contra” Hosking.
RNZ National, Sunday 13 March 2016
The alarming vacuity continues on National Lite radio this morning. Wallace Chapman is obviously under management orders to “engage” his audience; this results in him repeatedly exhorting listeners to text in their opinions about whatever pop phenomenon he happens to touch upon during a particular programme. So in recent weeks we’ve been urged to send in our “all time favorite David Bowie song”, our “all time favorite movie”, our “all time favorite summer reading”, our “all-time favorite holiday spot”, our “all-time favorite beach”, et cetera, ad tedium, ad nauseam.
Super-alert listeners will have noted that Chapman doesn’t really seem to be putting much, or indeed any, effort into meeting these audience engagement targets. He seems to be simply going through the motions, like a reluctant teacher being coerced into delivering his lessons in a way he knows is dull and counterproductive.
This morning, for some reason (perhaps the death of Sir George Martin) someone on the program mentioned the Beatles. I’m quite sure I was not the only person to predict almost exactly what Chapman would say next….
WALLACE CHAPMAN: I’ve always been a Beatles fan. ….[long pause]….. Here’s an interesting thought: what is your favorite Beatles song? Text us….
But, when all is said and done, it is unfair to blame Chapman for this. Without a doubt, when he makes these appeals for text feedback, he is (by the sound of it reluctantly) just carrying out orders.
Where Chapman is culpable, however, is when he is covering more serious topics. Interviewing ostensibly “serious” people, he has, time after time, failed to hold them to account, even when they make the most bizarre, provocative and offensive statements. [1]
This morning, a short time after half-heartedly soliciting votes for all-time favorite Beatle songs, Chapman interviewed Canadian-born “social entrepreneur” Marilyn Garson, who has spent some time in Gaza. She made sure to speak disparagingly of “the militants” of Gaza’s Hamas government but, in spite of criticising the illegal blockade of the territory, she did not mention Israel or its chief arms supplier and sponsor the United States even once. As usual, Chapman never so much as demurred at a single thing she said, not even when she repeatedly described Israel’s massacres of the captive population of Gaza as “wars”. [2]
I sent him the following email….
Marilyn Garson’s careless use of the word “war.”
Dear Wallace,
Marilyn Garson talked about being in Gaza “during the last two wars.” A little later she referred to Gaza having “several full-scale wars” happen to it.
In fact, the imprisoned citizens of Gaza are defenceless. There was no “war” in Gaza in 2008-9 (what Israel boastfully called “twenty-two days of madness”) or in 2014; there was mass slaughter by Israel.
Yours sincerely,
Morrissey Breen
Northcote Point
[1] http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-28022016/#comment-1139695
[2] Anyone interested in what an informed and rigorous scholar, in contrast to the likes of Marilyn Garson, has to say about this matter should read the following…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-mutch/finkelstein-amnesty-gaza-israel_b_7786388.html
As usual, National refused to debate on TV3’s The Nation.
Good to see the opposition front up.
http://www.tv3.co.nz/tabid/3692/MCat/2910/Default.aspx
I watched the Chris Liddell “interview”, which was, as one would expect seeing that he was talking to the woefully ill-informed and under-repared Jack Tame, nothing more than an uninterrupted free podium.
Liddell talked with a lowered, croaky voice to convey intellectual depth and he continually raised his eyebrows to convey sincerity. Jack Tame, who might be the shallowest person “working” in the New Zealand media, failed to hold him to account for anything he said—even when Liddell called John Kasich a “respected, moderate governor”. Seconds after that howler, Liddell revealed that in 2012 he supported Mitt Romney.
Calling John Kasich “respected” and “moderate” and confessing to being a Romney supporter would have indicated to any viewer with an IQ above room temperature that Liddell was neither a serious nor credible commentator. But Jack Tame, that great gorgeous empty grin notwithstanding, seemed to comprehend not a single word Liddell said.
Liddell’s intimation the FBI could make decisions about prosecuting Clinton was dead wrong too.
In an ordinary case, that would not be a point worth making. The FBI routinely conducts major investigations in collaboration with Justice Department prosecutors — usually from the U.S. attorney’s office in the district where potential crimes occurred. That is because the FBI needs the assistance of a grand jury. The FBI does not have authority even to issue subpoenas, let alone to charge someone with a crime. Only federal prosecutors may issue subpoenas, on the lawful authority of the grand jury. Only prosecutors are empowered to present evidence or propose charges to the grand jury. And the Constitution vests only the grand jury with authority to indict — the formal accusation of a crime. In our system, the FBI can do none of these things.
No Justice Department, no grand jury. No grand jury, no case — period. As a technical matter, no matter how extensively the FBI pokes around on its own, no one can be a subject of a real investigation — i.e., one that can lead to criminal charges — unless and until there is a grand jury. That does not happen until the Justice Department hops on board.
google cache because NRO.
As usual, a good breakdown, Morrissey.
Too busy playing golf.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/golf/77826942/new-zealand-call-in-prime-minister-john-key-for-celebrity-challenge-at-nz-open
Allowing the opposition to control the narrative while showing voters where their priorities lie.
+1
People organising gigs of a political nature would be wise to always invite the 3 main party’s and then National if the main party’s leaders agree to front up. Either way Natcorp get it in the neck!
It was interesting to see a pretty coherent showing from the 3 opposition leaders. Clearly they have plenty of low hanging fruit to work with but they broadly seemed on the same page with issues around the dairy situation and Immigration/foreign investment which are going to be two massive issues playing out in 2017.
Contrast with Bill English’s “nothing to see here” interview on Q&A this morning. (link not yet online)
There seems a clear line drawn between the opposition being prepared to get involved directly with some sort of support package for the “too big to fail” dairy sector and the govts ideological hands off approach. While I ordinarily would not be in support of direct govt intervention my feeling is that this is going to be such a significant issue that the govt will be forced to take some action or face the consequences of significant 1980s style economic and social dislocation in the provinces. I think the opposition are being quite canny in positioning themselves ahead of the curve and waiting for the govt to pulled kicking and screaming towards their position.
“It was interesting to see a pretty coherent showing from the 3 opposition leaders. Clearly they have plenty of low hanging fruit to work with but they broadly seemed on the same page with issues around the dairy situation and Immigration/foreign investment which are going to be two massive issues playing out in 2017.”
Indeed, it was good to see. It almost looked like a Government in waiting.
Bill was using the line the TPP will help. It will allow more NZ farms to end up in offshore ownership.
According to Treasury (see link below) that’s a good thing. Yeah right.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11602794
WooHoo – It’s working
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_FAO4-Zi84
Cartels can’t sell cannabis so are now focussing more on P and heroin. If we legalise class A drugs, what will the cartels do then?
I’m not supporting prohibition btw, just saying that I don’t think it’s as straightforward as its presented. Having locally grown cannabis that is cheaper is good though.
I think we need to end prohibition.
It’s a health issue. And the lies over it are become more apparent. The big lie that it will increase drug usage is being killed, by Portugal, and all the US states which have legalised cannabis. Most credible research now believes the spike which occurs after legalisation, is people just being honest about their pot use, not new users. And if anything usage is going down.
The real gateway drugs are prescription drugs, we at least do have a medical profession who don’t cut people off from pain killers.
But with this government moving us towards a more corporate medical model, we may just follow the States fast than we think.
Yes, I agree with all of that, but my question was about what will the Mexican cartels do if they lose their illegal drugs trade? They’re not going to just retire. That video failed to take that into account yet was celebrating a victory that hasn’t actually happened.
True that.
In capitalism, they will follow the money. Like they did by moving towards P and heroin. If that gone, prostitution and gambling would be my guess. Just like the other gangs have done.
Human trafficiking too I’d guess.
What brought the Mexican cartels into existence?
The market for marijuana is much bigger than for harder drugs like P or heroin. When marijuana users have to buy from criminal suppliers, it puts them in contact with criminals that have an incentive to push other drugs. So legalising marijuana not only immediately eliminates much of the cartels’ business, it also eliminates their way to get new customers for their other lines. No, they won’t disappear in a puff of smoke, but they will shrivel to a small fraction of their current size. If there’s no customers. there’s no business. And many of their current suppliers will need to find something else to do.
Do you have any references for that? Because while I can see that some might disappear, I think that in general gangs just find other ways of making that money. People have to make a living. The actual people aren’t going to wither away.
“The most telling sign of the relationship between serious crime and Prohibition was the dramatic reversal in the rates for robbery, burglary, murder, and assault when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. That dramatic reversal has Marxist and business-cycle crime theorists puzzled to this day. For example, sociologist John Pandiani noted that “a major wave of crime appears to have begun as early as the mid 1920s [and] increased continually until 1933 . . . when it mysteriously reversed itself.”[50] Theodore Ferdinand also found a “mysterious” decline that began in 1933 and lasted throughout the 1930s.[51] How could they miss the significance of the fact that the crime rate dropped in 1933?”
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html
(yeah, yeah, Cato Institute, I know. But they’re not always wrong)
There’s plenty of evidence from the end of Prohibition. If you’re interested, google it yourself. Or substantiate your assertions that the cartels will be able to easily transition into other organised criminal activities.
I assume that’s in the US (and would the Depression be a factor as well?). Not sure if that applies to the situation with Mexico now though. As noted, I support prohibition, and I’d like to see my question answered. What will the people in the cartels do then?
I didn’t use the word easily.
You decapitate the senior leadership of the cartels.
Then give the remaining cartel members ways to economically and legally transition out of what they have been doing (including amnesties etc.).
The hard core remainder who insist on continuing on you get rid of out of society.
You do all of this while rooting out every corrupt official out of the government, military and police force.
Oh, easy then.
Glad you sorted that out for us.
Of course, if there were other forms of crime that criminal organisations were involved in (say kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, that sort of thing), it might not be so easy to persuade remaining members to “transition” away from crime into a 9-5 job somewhere.
Plus Mexico’s unemployment rate is 4.75%
I haven’t thought about Timor L’Este lately. It is chugging along with the help of its oil revenues. The fund built up from that has to be conserved and waste and too many little luxuries for the politicians and leaders says Dr Ramos-Horta on RADIONZ. They are still arguing with Australia over how to divide up the oil field – has been continuing for 30? years. Oz never changes does it.
Wallace commented on the news blackout of the country’s problems, the murders and mass killing unreported, and that he only heard about the country from a cake stall in Dunedin run by principled supporters.
10:32 Jose Ramos-Horta – Timor-Leste Today
From 1975 to 1999 Timor-Leste, (formerly known as East Timor), was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. Over the course of the 24 year occupation, one-third of the Timorese population perished. Dr Jose Ramos-Horta was in exile during that time, but lead a campaign that ultimately saw his country become an independent nation. He became its Prime Minister and then President, and received a Nobel Peace Prize. He is now the United Nations’ special representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau.
I haven’t thought about Timor L’Este lately. It is chugging along with the help of its oil revenues. The fund built up from that has to be conserved and waste and too many little luxuries for the politicians and leaders says Dr Ramos-Horta on RADIONZ. They are still arguing with Australia over how to divide up the oil field – has been continuing for 30? years. Oz never changes does it.
Wallace commented on the news blackout of the country’s problems, the murders and mass killing unreported, and that he only heard about the country from a cake stall in Dunedin run by principled supporters.
10:32 Jose Ramos-Horta – Timor-Leste Today
From 1975 to 1999 Timor-Leste, (formerly known as East Timor), was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. Over the course of the 24 year occupation, one-third of the Timorese population perished. Dr Jose Ramos-Horta was in exile during that time, but lead a campaign that ultimately saw his country become an independent nation. He became its Prime Minister and then President, and received a Nobel Peace Prize. He is now the United Nations’ special representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau. He mentioned with gratitude Helen Jansen in NZ.
Maire Leadbeater was involved as spokesperson for many years.
She was also involved in various other human rights groups including the Auckland East Timor Independence Committee, the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa and the Indonesia Human Rights Committee.[2][5] Her family’s left-wing activities made her the target of surveillance by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, the country’s main domestic intelligence agency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maire_Leadbeater
Note how her family were marked by the spy and security agencies for reminding people of the principles of human behaviour that were being broken in other countries that were being ignored by supposedly high principled countries like us and the USA.
Doubled up here. I will know how not to do this again. Sorry.
edited
Because…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHAMJZsehys
Farmers are resilient says National.
Is this (link below) the kind of growth National’s brighter future will result in?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/286358/farmer-suicides-up
Can’t see too many farmers voting for that.
“The figures show almost 200 farmers have committed suicide in the past eight years.”
That’s a shocking statistic. But then so is this,
“New figures show 564 people died by suicide in the last year – the highest number since records began eight years ago.”
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/286226/number-of-suicides-highest-since-records-began
Neither are suprising though.
I started taking a pretty serious interest in suicide when I found that 10% of the deepsea fishermen I knew had committed suicide. Someone ought to pay for that.
Stuart M
That is bad. Do you have thoughts on the general reason. There must be more than individual personal problems that have gone deep.
Well it was always an extreme profession – you give up normal social relationships, hobbies, sport, and time off – and then the companies bring in slave labour & throw you on the scrap heap? Very hard to take & you have weakened support networks to fall back on.
Nor is the skill set respected – but it takes several years to learn to mend net and splice wire fast enough to be useful in a modern context. Fishing, perhaps a bit like scrub cutting, used to attract people who found 9-5 conventional jobs soul destroying. Even some gang folk fitted in quite well – they had a culture of physical toughness, and there were an abundance of challenging physical tasks for them to excell at. We liked them.
But a bit like Fonterra, NZ companies were pretty good at getting bottom dollar for everything – and the great ongoing failure – they still have not developed the local market. They have much to learn.
‘ Someone ought to pay for that.
Fisherman Stuart? I see you were quoting a Gary Neave story the other day so you know all about them obviously.sarc.
Can you give me a link that substantiates your implication that 10% of Deep Sea fisherman commit suicide?
And then can you tell me who ‘should pay’, and why?
@TheLostSheep Fuck off troll “I found that 10% of the deepsea fishermen I knew” is what he said, so obviously anecdotal, ie:people he knew. Why would you want to pick a fight there?
Because he is implying there is an exceptionally high rate of suicide linked to Fishing employment, and that ‘someone should pay for that’.
As not a single one of the 100’s of fisherman i have known and consider good friends has committed suicide, I say he is talking utter shit.
Almost as much shit as you. Anyone thinks ‘fuck off troll’ is an intelligent lead in to an argument is brain dead moron.
you’ve had hundreds of good friends? Let alone all of whom happened to conveniently be in the one industry mentioned by Stuart M?
I doubt the former. The latter is just an outright lol.
Thanks Stuart M. that sounds a knowledgable background to it all. Rings a bell with what I keep hearing. Physical skills are downgraded – not flavour of the month with the IT obssessed (both of my kids are in IT) – very clever, useful, but doesn’t replace actual physical work.
And thinking that CAD? printing is going to do most of our physical stuff is not correct, and having robot worker factories just destroys the cement and inter-relationship of society and reduces customers, with so many dropping out from consumerism.
Though am reading Oliver James on Affluenza which I totally agree with, and he is not for consumerism as what we need in the long run.
So please keep writing here, it is good to read someone with experience that understands and communicates about our reality. We need to have ideas, people who get excited, and people who can balance ideas and assess them.
Most of all we need navigators and pilots of, and in the wide world.
“New figures show 564 people died by suicide in the last year”
That’s shocking.
As of March 1, 64 have died on our roads.
During a 10 year period there were 312 family violence deaths in New Zealand.
Which of the above statistics get the most attention and focus?
I was thinking about this the other day, of the cost to the economy of each of those lives. A fairly clinical way of looking at things however. But as money talks in pretty much anything we do and anything the Government is interested in, if it was put in pure economic terms that we’re losing so many million $ a year due to these deaths then maybe authorities might look for new solutions or work harder at it.
Money talks, but with this Government, it’s more about how can the private sector capitalize from Government intervention.
Rachel Madow on how Trump’s bloodlust has shifted violence from it’s place on the fringe to mainstream republican politics. Deliberately. She’s making a connection between the unrest in Black communities in cities where Black people have been shot by police and the places where Trump has been inciting violence in the lead up to what happened in Chicago yesterday,
http://egbertowillies.com/2016/03/12/rachel-maddow-exposes-donald-trump/
Working class, non-white, trans-national feminism in LA.
The film follows the Ovarian Psycos Brigade of Los Angeles, a group of women on bicycles who have been known to ride in and around the streets where women have recently been killed. The women, who call themselves Ovas, ride the streets at night together to let the community know they stand together without fear. Their motto is “ovaries so big we don’t need no balls.”
“We fight back against femicide, rape, the normalization of our disposability, [and] the war being played out upon our spaces,” said Xela de la X, the founder of the Ovarian Psycos.
…
Those that have seen the Ovas ride down a street together describe it as powerful sight—a “sea of women.” In Los Angeles less than 1 in 5 bicyclists is female so it’s even more powerful when you see a group of women of color cycling down the street. Many of the women cover their faces with bandanas that have white fallopian tubes printed on black fabric.
http://fusion.net/story/279260/ovarian-psycos-documentary-premiere/
Someone on Twitter says the NZ army are being used for security at the TPPA re-education meetings. Read the convo. Good chart outlining control of dissent too. I’m unrepentant about calling National proto-fascist.
https://mobile.twitter.com/nzreuben/status/708807227163877376
Terrific Flashmob Beethoven. Ode to Joy. A delight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJcQYVtZMo
thanks.Much appreciated.
pure joy, I even teared up both times, reminds me why we have to stop corporatisation, and support the arts
Did you notice that the first little girl who dropped a coin in the bass players had was till standing watching right the end. Grey jeans pink top. Entranced.
One of those inspiring moments, she will always remember, priceless (I mean that in the way we used to mean it before Visa corrupted it!)
Amazing acoustics.
Interesting goungs on at Wellington airport. A huge Islamic Republic of Iran airbus is parked up at the international terminal. Shortly after it arrived a US airforce lear jet arrived and was promprly towed into a hanger. Coincidence? Probably 🙂
Sanctions are off and surprise surprise, our former fifth largest trading partner shows up,
Would someone in here be able to tell me why … in Georges YourNZ “Recent Comments” section … Ben Rachingers username is highlighted in blue … and not black the same as most other folks … aside from Pete George and a small few other select people’s usernames?
Is this the way WordPress works?
I have asked this question before of Rachinger … and he was evasive … and told me to ask George.
Something ain’t right in the State of Texas.
It is likely that comments appear in blue because the user is logged in. You’ll notice that my comment here is blue because I am logged in (yes it’s a WordPress thing).
When you are logged in you don’t need to re-enter your details for every comment. If you look upthread you’ll see a few regular commenters are logged in.
Depends on what the theme does. But in this case we left the WordPress defaults intact.
It’s because they’ve got a web address written in the WEBSITE field, under email/name. It’s just a hyperlink to whatever they’ve written in there. Same as the blue names here, it’s nothing sinister at all. See if you click on Robs name you’ll go to the last page on the internet, lprent’s goes to the homepage here.
Great … so I can’t even mention the name “R_r” in here.
Says who? As long as you don’t put the site at legal risk, you’re pretty well free to comment on anything. But you know better than most which areas are sensitive at the moment, so stick to other subjects and you’ll get on fine.
@TeReoPutake
You do realise that I do not know exactly for sure what can and can’t be written in your blog that could put it at legal risk right ???
I know enough to figure out and fathom what makes sense from a logical point of view.
But I don’t have Extra Sensory Perception. LOL.
There’s Policy section where it gives you some advice. But generally speaking if it’s defamatory, lies or copyrighted then don’t post it.
Don’t worry too much. Just put yourself into my seat and think if I might decide it is worrisome bearing in mind I intensely dislike time wasted in court. And that I take draconian measures against anyone who tries to put me there. So I err on the side of caution. If I can’t figure out what you are talking about, because of opaque convolution, I assume the worst. It pays to be clear….
Then assess how much you want to continue commenting here.
We are adults. Determine how dangerously you want to get towards the edge. Besides, most of the commenters will try to warn you. But some consider watching banning to be entertaining…. 😈
If you are on a desktop. Use the advanced, and search “[lprent” and you will get an idea of what I and the moderators look for.
@TeReoPutake
Oh God … you are asking me to go out into “The Wilderness” in here.
I am a “Centre Right Voter”.
Are you trying to get me savaged to death?
Mind you … I have put up with so much shit and crap over in Georges Blog over the past six months … that I can probably cope with being outnumbered 100 to 1 by a bunch of Lefties. LOL.
So, you vote Labour then?
If you stop jibber jabbering and say something worth reading you’ll find the standard an interesting place.
That name is probably on auto-moderation because we want to tread carefully in the context of the ongoing legal issues. Reasonable comments will always be released (the delay depends on when moderators are about).
@r0b
When I belonged to Georges Blog … I was permanently logged in at least 90% of the time.
My username was never highlighted in blue as opposed to black at any stage throughout “My Tenure” there … and I checked often after I discovered the “Black and Blue” anomaly.
What is considered to be “Logged-In” … with regards to Word Press?
Mike C
No two blogs are alike. Every blog owner runs their site as they see fit. If you’re a newbie then do what most newbies do… spend some time reading The Standard and join in with when you feel you’ve got the hang of the way it operates. It’s a left-wing blog site ranging from centre Left (probably where most commenters sit) to the far Left. All of them have contributions to make.
Up the top of the page, on the right, are some green and blue buttons. If you click the one that says “Log in” you will find out how this works on WordPress.
no warming for 18 years /sarc
Feb was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth by 0.2 Degress C!
I think its time to get serious about limiting GHGs – and I don’t mean playing with a trashed and useless ETS.
But don’t worry folks – John and Paula will sort it out. Just don’t expect them to listen to any of the submissions we make – they are not listening to any on the TPPA either, and why change the habit of a lifetime?