“The sprawling political refugee camp that Labour is busily turning itself into will find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the “No Discussion of Beliefs Permitted” rule it is currently enforcing in order not to upset its National refugees, and a position which denies the importance of espousing coherent political beliefs altogether.”
Chris Trotter in a thought provoking mood in his Bowlalleyroad blog. Have a read. http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
Not really political but that shouldn’t stop a good moan. Who is sick of the media running their own trial with these high profile court cases? Every day we get the media version of the Guy/MacDonald saga; a days court proceedings condensed into a few column inches of ghoulish voyeurism. The media take a sick delight in parading the private lives of the participants, gorging on gossip, innuendo and rumour. There’s no justice in it, they’re neither judge nor jury, its all about ratings and they don’t care who they hurt in the process.
If it’s not that it is disgusting grief-porn. All cheap copy that sells newspapers and apparently that’s all that matters.
Speaking of the Guy case, I’ve been interested in the number of workers on that farm who were not being paid, and were doing some kind of “work experience”. More agrarian welfare for the rich.
Raises both hands! The second the latest gruesome details of the latest murder trial comes on TV
it is the OFF button for me. If everybody did the same thing they would soon stop. It is the victim’s families who must stand to be the most affected by this media obsession with murder and mayhem. What long term damage is being done to them I hate to think.
Another hazard that is often overlooked… I know there are many parents of young families who can no longer watch the 6pm news because they will not allow their children to be exposed to the daily diet of murder trials with all it’s attendant blood and gore.
Dh I agree. A brief mention of the progress of the Guy case would be satisfactory not all this background about what the farm worker said and thought, family feelings and on. One thing emerges – the emotional pull to farmland is strong here. There was a murder of a wife in a divorce who in wanting her half share of property was forcing the sale of a hard-built farm and the husband reacted against her.
My moan is about the extensive coverage, with money wasted on USA commentators, of the USA political circus. Let them ride their roundabouts there, with again, brief updates. But the fight for presidential candidates, the ridiculous manipulated party addresses and loud cries of approval from their fans, we don’t need this. It’s a waste of money. There are 172? countries in the world. When is there time to hear about the others with the USA crowding out other news?To get any airtime they have to have riots or disasters yet they lead very interesting and internationally important lives.
When is there time to hear about the others with the USA crowding out other news?To get any airtime they have to have riots or disasters yet they lead very interesting and internationally important lives.
Exactly! What really irks me is when a grinning Hil’ry Berry or Mike McRoberts, plays some trivial local American item, the sort of thing that would be a paragraph in a local newspaper.. it’s not as if there isn’t plenty else to discuss!
We gave this trial matter some thought recently; DYNASTY or DALLAS comes to mind.Having worked for and socialised with sectors of our glorious rural community over the decades can advise that the sorts of dynamics being revealed in this publicised expose are very common between family members, families, neighbors, managers etc. It is not so bucolic amongst the california thistles, mastitis and mongrels. ENVY and GREED reeks from a lot of these people, and yes, getting paid like getting blood out of pumice.
Emmerdale on steroidal hormones.
Well, with corporate farming expansion, falling commodity prices, reduced commodity orders, devaluation of the dollar likely, interest rate rises, increased regulation and environmental requirements, Trading in Fonterra shares, fuel price and ruc increases etc….
SamHall
Interesting comment which I understood this time. You sound as if you are well-versed in the healthy country lifestyle. By the way who are ‘we’? Do you arise from a think tank or is it the royal we? Haha.
Lets not forget it is always handy to a Government that is dealing with sensitive and/or volatile policies to have a juicy murder to distract the public with. This was highlighted for me this morning when National Radio had an interview about Australia and How The Dingo Did It. The commentator mentioned how the whole Azaria case came to light and began its protracted media prescence just as the Mabo land case was gaining traction.
Who is sick of the media running their own trial with these high profile court cases?
I absolutely agree! The Guy/McDonald saga is particularly boring/annoying… Said about Kylie Guy “she still wears her rings” – well, most widows do! What was their point?
With the increase of Road User Charges I assume we will have John Banks encouraging the roading industry to block Auckland Roads with trucks again in protest as he did when the Labour Party were in Government /sarc. He was so enthuisiastic over the protest then. Hypocrites.
We should start the discussion now. National may choose to stay out of it for now, but they will have to join at some stage.
Suggested progress:
– Involve all willing parties and any groups and organisations with an interest in the future of NZ Super in discussion and proposal of policies.
– Open it to wide public discussion.
– Gather as much information and opinion as possible.
– National and United Future have a Confidence and Supply commitment to public discussion on flexi-super – this can be used to develop the Super debate further.
– In time for next election campaign have a commitment from all (willing) parties on the future direction of NZ Super and a timeframe for dealing with it.
– Include NZ Super in parliamentary business early in the next term (first half of 2015)
– get the poodle to not vote for the next budget unless it addresses the Superannuation time bomb.
– get all the pollies to read the very interesting and comprehensive posts and comments in the Standard on the subject.
Your first point is either pathetic or woefully ignorant.
Your second point is very good – why don’t you make it happen? I could give you some practical advice if you like. If you can generate some positive and balanced discussion here I’d be happy to promote and support it. Cross-blog discussion on Super is something I’ve suggested.
What are you doing on your blog about Super? I’d be happy to link that in too.
Because C&S responsibilities don’t allow for the bringing down of the government at the request of some random blog commenter. This is a standard coalition provision, and will have protected the Clark government from first year collapse due to Redbaiter asking a party to break their agreement (similar to you he’s currently asking for banishment of the entire National contingent).
Perhaps you think any coalition between between Labour and Greens would be as flimsy and temporary as you seem to think the current one should be.
Apart from that it’s ridiculous to threaten a budget that’s eleven months away on an issue that could achieve significant progress in that time, but will probably take longer than that to resolve.
There are no C&S responsibilities that overide Dunne’s responsibilities to NZ, Pete. If he genuinely wants a debate on Super, then the power is in his hands to enforce one. Which he won’t do, because he is too worried about a single aspect of the super debate; his own pension pot.
If he genuinely wants a debate on Super, then the power is in his hands to enforce one.
Dunne has already used his (coalition) power to get a commitment with National to a public discussion paper on Super, which is more than anyone else has been able to achieve.
How effective that discussion will be will depend on how much effort a range of parties, organisations and individuals make to take advantage of the opportunity.
No he hasn’t. Key refuses to join in the debate and the ‘agreement’ you refer to is nothing to do with the wider issue of super. It’s just a sop, as you well know, Pete. Stop dissembling and start putting pressure on your leader. Poodles have teeth, you know. They just have to be trained to use them.
It is a sop; it’s a commitment in the C&S agreement to a (small ‘g’) government paper on a possible flexible retirement age, (ie. straight to Bin 13). Even if it ever makes the light of day, that’s a change which the PM rejected yet again as recently as yesterday.
So stop trying to blow smoke up our collective nether regions and get to work on Dunne. Tell him you’ll walk if he doesn’t threaten to do the same. Go on, mate, show some balls. You can cripple the media arm of UF just by refusing to blog for a day.
I’d rather work positively to see what can be done. Hissy fitting as you suggest doesn’t usually achieve anything.
The Prime Minister’s open to United Future’s flexi-super idea.
“If people want to choose to take more and retire slightly later, that’s their call. Whether it’s workable or not, there are lots of challenges in that but we’re happy to have that discussion.”
Other blogs are getting in on promoting good Super discussion and progress too:
Consensus in our times?
We welcome this move by David Shearer and Russel Norman to make superannuation non-political. And we reckon that John Key would be wise to accept the olive branch being offered to him; after all, failure to do so would leave him vulnerable to the two main parties of the Left.
John Key may well have made superannuation a die-in-a-ditch issue. But David Shearer and Russel Norman have thrown him a rope. We hope that he accepts it; superannuation is far too important an issue to continue to be a political football, and cross-party consensus now could indeed produce a solution that will endure regardless of who occupies the Treasury Benches.
My understanding is that break even today is closer to $75/barrel for new operations.
And that assumes the ongoing ability to use and pollute as much fresh ground water as you like in the process for free AND not clean any of the massive chemical ponds or pollution up afterwards.
Shell gave the $50 figure at the beginning of last year so that’s a long time in the oil business. You could be right on current costs.
The oil companies pretty much have free range in Alberta and from the Harper government. They are desperate to get a pipeline either East or West but are facing huge opposition. They have to give large discounts to the US as they buy 99% of the Albertan oil at the moment.
That $50 is just their assessment of when they make meaningful money. Oilcos have been working the sands for decades at lower prices. Production costs including a reasonable rate of return are much lower.
outsider mad hatters institute a right wing propaganda organisation with very deep pockets.
I smell Murdoch and other robber barons all over this!
No credibility looking after vested interests.
Another brilliant blog analysis by Giovanni Tiso, this time on the temporarily derailed education reforms. And apart from the content, Tiso writes so damn well.
…We aren’t always going to be so lucky. Attacks against public education, here and elsewhere, are going to continue, and they will be launched – against the backdrop of a permanent state of economic crisis – by driving a wedge between the aspirations of the middle class and the realities faced by the working class. Of course league tables and performance pay are damaging to public education understood as a universal good – and I’m going to explain why to John Roughan in a minute – but so long as you feel confident that you will be able to move to the area with the best school, and you have been correctly conditioned to view the education of your children as a form of competition, you might not mind this, or even learn to actively support the idea. And just in case you might harbour some nostalgia for old-fashioned egalitarian myths, we shall disguise the reforms as pious concern for the one in five whom the education system currently fails (never mind it’s more like one in twenty), and who hail in the main from the lower socio-economic classes. This will sway some of the liberals who most need to be made to feel altruistic in exchange for their class interests being served. …
Thanks just saying. You are right about Giovanni’s writing style. And he has captured the essence of dark days of Education that are to come. Larger classes are just the opening shots. Ughh!
I agree, Giovanni Tiso’s writing is lovely to read, and this is an excellent piece. But whichever way you look, the downward squeeze /upward flow gets more and more apparent. Everything works in the manner of a nasty franchise: the owner of the brand squeezes the margins so that the franchisee cannot get his head above water, and in turn squeezes the staff. Dollar-guys attack the Euro Zone through its weakest links, and the strong members squeeze the weaker ones in an attempt to regain their ground. Education is no different; the recent changes to tertiary education, in which interest-free student loans are kept but limits placed upon getting them, essentially means a near-free education for the wealthy (who can invest the loan amount, take the loan, and reduce the cost via the interest received), while the poor are gradually squeezed out. The mooted changes to primary/secondary education follow much the same pattern. Wake up, middle class! You are only a squeeze or two further away from ruin than the people you want to see sterilised.
There have been a few server structural shifts going on overnight. See this comment from yesterday.
Let me know if anyone spots anything outside of the current site flaws. I haven’t been seeing any of significiance apart from a markedly reduced overseas bandwidth.
On my screen, the layout is different, lists of blogs, media etc., is now running single-file down the length of the right side of the screen, and periodically it becomes blurred with the words on top of each other.
No it was there.. One part of it was to do some interesting things to javascripts. A bit too much as it turned out. Took a while for that to come through the system.
The UK, for the opening of the Olympics is setting up a picture of a country idyll with happy cows and people – must be like a glossy Midsomer Murders background. Very Marie Antoinette who used to have tableaus with her entourage dressed as rustics I understand.
And funny in a nightmarish way when one thinks of residential buildings in London having their roofs turned into sites for anti-missile etc surveillance. This will have to be set up earlier than the opening and people screened in and out. The people there will have this burden of suspicion and checking systems for months perhaps, and feel like targets for damage. Not an idyll.
lprent
I have struck a wee problem. I put an item on 12/6 open mike and then realised I wanted it in 13/6 so tried to delete it and that gave me a blank page with -1 at the top of it. I thought okay it’s been deleted, and put the item in 13/6 and then checked back on 12/6 but it was still there. Pressed delete again got the pink line that I wasn’t allowed to do this and blue Close. I pressed this and nothing happened. I couldn’t get reaction either from the return/refresh arrow at top so was locked there in Ajax and had to close out to get out.
Alert from Avaaz.org. An online petition re Asset Sales:
Tomorrow, John Key is planning to ram controversial asset sales legislation through parliament — despite thousands of citizens taking to the streets in protest. Let’s create a massive outcry and stop the sale of New Zealand’s key assets:
That’s the question most people who watched TV3 News last night were pondering, confused by Boag’s lurking appearance in political reporter Patrick Gower’s piece to camera.
[…]
She was there, then she wasn’t, then she peeked out in front of the pole once again.
Gower, on Twitter, called it “one of the truly great lurking incidents on the Parliamentary precinct”.
Turns out neither Boag nor Gower knew she was on camera – Boag only found out later in the evening when her husband asked her what she was doing.
“I happened to be walking down the stairs and I saw Paddy was about to go on and I wasn’t going to have the chance to watch what he said so I just hung around to listen,” she said.
[..]
A UK-based journalist with the same name – Patrick Gower – said he’d received “a slightly unnerving set of tweets about a woman behind me”.
secret taping lurking round parliament spying on reporters i smell a rat a natrat from the brat pack.
Boag will not be the flavour of the month in most Nact circles right now.
Helping undermine her leaders aspirations.
The Boag Con stictor. Sqeezing the life out of her prey.
Another Nactional meddling muddler
Well spotted Carol! Just what the hell was she doing there? Is this awful woman still an office-holder within National? I guess that she is another “asset” on the side, but one (unfortunately) they will never sell!
Bob Jones treads a shaky line in his column in the Herald:
Still, when one recalls his mincing catwalk performance a year back and given his hedging response to the homosexual marriage proposition, well who knows? Might we yet see an out-of-the-closet Prime Ministerial announcement, with a tearful Bronagh in the background?
Time for some predictions.
In the movie The Truman Show, Truman is talking to the woman who will later be his girlfriend. She is wearing a button saying “How’s it going to end?”
How’s our Truman Show going to end?
Around the world, elected and un-elected officials developing unworkable economic solutions to problems created by corporates and banks seeking profits that are now being paid for from austerity measures placed on the innocent.
The use of taxes earned off the backs of the workers to purchase worthless “assets” from private interests who manipulated, deluded and defrauded so they could use other people’s money to make personal profit.
Banks, corporations, executives, bankers escaping prosecution for the misery they created around to world in the form of job loses, mortgagee sales, business failures and all the attendant mental, emotional damage.
The development of a corporate aristocracy for whom the rules applied to lesser beings do not apply. Golden parachutes given to people who cause loss or harm to their company. Corporate boxes for politicians when public servants could be sacked for receiving such a gift. Horrendously large salaries and bonuses for jobs that, some times, could be done by a well trained chimp.
A worker goes to work knowing that a percentage of their labour and time will be exchanged for money that will fund a life of entitlement for politicians who do not undergo a performance review. An election every three years by an uninformed or indifferent populace is NOT a performance review.
Taxes used to fund corporate welfare projects based on flawed calculations of how many jobs it will create. Instead, private investors who have some degree of wealth profit from the sweat of those who don’t.
A world economic system that is soooo flawed that it needs radical reform but the lunatics are the ones running the asylum.
The list goes on…..
How’s it going to end? Are we all just a Truman Burbank? Content to live in a world where everything is a corporate product and nothing is real? Christof: If his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there’s no way we could prevent him.
Christof: “I’ve given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be.”
Financial systems are a constant mystery also those involved in them. On Radionz I think on Sunday afternoon there was a piece on auditors. There used to be 9 big ones, now there are only four. Consideration is being given to legislating for a change of auditor every 6 years to prevent client capture or moral hazard or whatever name for cosiness. The auditors spoken to were very confident that everything was fine as it is. Auditing relationships have been known to last 48 years. Of course that rarely applies now as businesses average about 10 years before fading.
Finance Minister Bill English admits rebalancing of NZ economy towards exporting yet to happen due to high NZ$ and quake; also sees tax switch benefits taking 5-7 years
However, “one way or another they will muddle through.
Only LPrent knows for sure, but it seems to me that there has been a steady increase in the number of women commenting on the Standard in the couple of years I’ve been coming here. I’m extrpolating to a certain extent from the pseudonyms people are using, and assuming can make an ass….
I don’t know for sure, I generally have to guess. And I frequently find I am wrong both ways. I’ve had people tell me that they deliberately pick opposite gender names…. The whole point about the site is that unless people choose to rely on parts of the life outside of pure argument and use those in the conversation, you can’t tell.
But I think that there has been a steadily increasing numbers of women commenting over the years and that they are commenting more than they used to.
Some do. Some make my cynical rants designed to perform experimental literay inguinal orchiectomy on trolls look relatively tame. You should see some of the compliments I get after each excision from our modestly polite but robust debate.
Personally I rather like that our other gender has a healthy dislike of idiots. Makes me more hopeful about the kids with that level of discrimination against the socially inept with a self assessed Priapus problem.
As I say, it is sometimes hard to tell. But very few act like trolls.
China is a kleptocracy of a scale never seen before in human history. This post aims to explain how this wave of theft is financed, what makes it sustainable and what will make it fail. There are several China experts I have chatted with – and many of the ideas are not original. The synthesis however is mine. Some sources do not want to be quoted.
The macroeconomic effects of the Chinese kleptocracy and the massive fixed-currency crisis in Europe are the dominant macroeconomic drivers of the global economy. As I am trying a comprehensive explanation for much of the world’s economy in less that two thousand words I expect some kick-back.
Foreign Minister Murray McChardonnay – receives todays ROTFL award for his outstanding comedy skit performed recently at the Institute of International Affairs in Wellington.
He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand with the seemly candid admission that the Security Council is a sham:
“That view holds that contested Security Council seats will always fall to the highest bidder of aid dollars, or to the holder of the most flexible positions on the controversial foreign policy issues of the day,”
And then came the punch line:
“The Prime Minister’s approach and my own approach is that we would rather lose with honour than trade overseas development assistance or policy positions for Security Council votes.”
I have had many doubts about Mr McCully, Mr Key and the National government, and those doubts of course remain, but now I think I finally understand them – they are actually a stealth comedy act, gone deep cover, their strategy – to kill off the opposition with the most potent of all weapons – uncontrollable laughter.
Our fishing is certainly under threat with ships like the Korean one in the case being tried in Court. But the Korean officers have left the country apparently. You would think we would have some legal means of stopping them leaving so they could answer to their wrongs.
The crew have been brutalised, the observer tried to intervene on some of the practices but got very curt responses and feared for her safety. Why should they be able to get away with bad practices like this major dump of fish worth I think a million dollars when apparently all they needed to do was bring the net up earlier. It’s such careless and wasteful and inefficient practice and our seas are the losers to these marauding sods.
So Paula Benefit is planning some “tough love” for teenagers likely to go on the unemployment benefit. This involves extra surveillance, advice on budgeting and parenting…… but apparently no jobs???!!!
Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett has reinforced her tough love approach to stopping the flow of young people getting the unemployment benefit after dropping out of school.
In Parliament today, while speaking during the second reading of the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill, Ms Bennett said “major reforms would stop an inter-generational cycle of dependence.”
[…]
Minister of Social Development Paula Bennett has reinforced her tough love approach to stopping the flow of young people getting the unemployment benefit after dropping out of school.
In Parliament today, while speaking during the second reading of the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill, Ms Bennett said “major reforms would stop an inter-generational cycle of dependence.”
[…]
The bill will allow the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to share information about school leavers, so that the MSD can identify youth before they sign up for a benefit.
“As Minister of Social Development I will continue to push, cajole, incentivise, obligate and at the end of the day put all my belief in those people on welfare,” she said.
So just a lot of additional harassment, surveillance and window-dressing, nothing useful like ACTUAL jobs …. and, the kicker!…. it’ll save the government $1billion!
In Parliament today, while speaking during the second reading of the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Focus) Amendment Bill, Ms Bennett said “major reforms would stop an inter-generational cycle of dependence.”
No they won’t, far more likely to entrench them.
“As Minister of Social Development I will continue to push, cajole, incentivise, obligate and at the end of the day put all my belief in those people on welfare,” she said.
What she means is that she’ll force more into poverty so that they’re forced to work to make some bludger richer for lower wages than they get already.
That is all rote stuff that Petulant Bean learned at USA University isn’t it. I think she did a pressure cooker course on how to cook the books? so as to make welfare beneficiaries seem to be a mix between vampires and the devil’s spawn. Was it at Wisconsin, a name that occurs when talking about meanness, and they would be big on using the terms welfare dependence also learned helplessness is another favourite.
Paula Bennett is a sick piece of work…so is this concept of ‘welfare dependency’ .
Its time we took back the word dependency and use it to vilify the rich.
Within the relationship between the rich and the poor, there is only one direction that dependency exists. The concept of dependency was made famous by the theorist andre gunder frank who exposed how under capitalism, on a world wide scale, the rich are dependent on the poor. Somehow this term has been highjacked and is used to stigmatise victims, and champion the abusers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_theory
Points about Gabriel Makhlouf, Secretary to the Treasury, NZ. He fits my prejudice about the hardening effect on children of absent parents sent to boarding schools at long distance from their parents, as in school in Britain while parents work for UN in various countries.
“his father pursued a career in the UN. From age 11, he was separated from his family to continue his education at a British boarding school.
After graduating with an honours degree in economics at the University of Exeter, he spent a year as a treasurer for a student union, then did a masters degree in industrial relations at the University of Bath. His thesis was on “intra-union relationships in academia” As a PhD beckoned, Makhlouf realised it was either a life in academia “or I had to get out”, and he landed his first job in 1984, as a tax inspector.”
About our teachers “However, Makhlouf doesn’t have backing from Hattie on the alleged failure of the New Zealand education system. In the book’s foreword Hattie says, “We have a nation of excellent teachers, as shown in the country’s ranking in the top half-dozen nations in reading, mathematics and science. http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/interview-gabriel-makhlouf/
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Buzz from the Beehive New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
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By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
Hi,Before we get to Hayden’s column — RIP to Millennials Killing Everything — a quick observation.There was a day last week where it had suddenly reached 10pm and I hadn’t eaten all day. Hunger had suddenly gripped me with a panicky all-consuming force, so I jumped onto Uber Eats and ...
We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
So the teachers are on strike, marching across Aotearoa today to press their demands for better pay and working conditions.Children remained in bed this brisk morning, many no doubt quite pleased about a day off school. Parents perhaps taking the day off to look after the kids, or working from ...
After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
Ouch: Hipkins’ policy bonfire has resulted in an expensive self-administered removal of a Budgetary foot with an explosive device. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Bonfires can be dangerous things when they get out of control. They also create a lot of smoke and heat and burn the grass. ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
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 ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. Speaking after ...
Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released its ‘synthesis report’, summarising six previous reports. Greenpeace says that the latest report confirms the industrial drivers of climate change, its dire planetary impacts, and ...
Phase One Ventures chief executive Mahesh Muralidhar has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Auckland Central for the 2023 General Election. “I want to thank our local party members for backing me to campaign for ...
On the holy terror and absolute love of parenting Picked up by Octavia outside the book shop, the kid and I clambered into the back, to the soundtrack of classic hits from what seemed to be a tape she was playing. We were thankful to get in. The sun ...
A new investigative series from RNZ reveals just how broken the government communications machine is, writes Duncan Greive.Investigative journalist Guyon Espiner is peeling back the lid on the world of external lobbyists and corporate affairs strategists employed by the public sector. His new series, being published on RNZ this ...
Fresh from a Melbourne rally that attracted neo-Nazi supporters, British anti-transgender rights speaker Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is scheduled to appear at two events in Aotearoa. So what’s the lowdown? Another controversial international speaker wants to visit New Zealand, and, as expected, reaction has covered the full spectrum from outrage to support. ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme was always a neoliberal, market-based, get-out-of-jail-free plan. Time to lead the way with Tradable Energy Quotas insteadOpinion: The old saying about news – that it’s always bad or it wouldn’t be news – is distressingly true for the climate, both in terms of this summer’s weather ...
The Detail finds out why a law change in 2017 has led to a proliferation of independent taxi drivers – and why they're leaving some passengers feeling ripped off Not all taxis are created equal. RNZ newsreader Evie Ashton found this out the hard way, after Dave Chapelle's recent show at Auckland's ...
Companies have tended to be louder in lobbying politicians against climate change mitigation rather than in favour of it. This election, that needs to change ...
H5N1 only sporadically infects humans - but it kills half of those who catch it. As the largest ever outbreak of the virus continues to rage, is New Zealand prepared?Special report: Kiwi scientist Robert Webster knew two things about the avian flu virus he dripped into his nose one day ...
The hat-trick hero of the Black Ferns’ 2017 World Cup win, Toka Natua is back in rugby – discovering the pros and cons of playing as a mum. And the double international is ready for her next chapter in France. There are the odd moments at training where Toka Natua’s mind goes blank ...
With a number of events planned down the length of the country, the scene at this weekend’s ‘Stop Co-Governance’ rally in Orewa could be just the first of many Social media erupted with pictures of distorted faces, pulled into expressions of anger or yelling gleefully into the camera. The mugshots ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
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 Dan Himbrechts/Paul Braven/AAP The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday. I had a preview of both ...
Whether the anti-trans campaigner can enter the country without a visa is now up in the air. Controversy surrounds the upcoming visit by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner on a global tour who is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. During an appearance in Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images The controversial 2021 decision by the government drug-buying agency Pharmac to prioritise Māori and Pacific patients in its funding of two game-changing new diabetes drugs appears to have paid ...
The idea of the Greens flirting with National gets an airing before almost every election. It remains as much of a nonstarter as ever, writes Henry Cooke.This article was first published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. It’s far more reliable than clockwork. Every election cycle – often several ...
With half the value of all Lotto, Powerball and Strike tickets going to cyclone relief, the "Must-be-won" draw for $15.5 million on Saturday went to a Canterbury player. ...
Auckland’s mayor has taken aim at road closures and traffic disruption around the super city, revealing a plan to reduce road cones. Wayne Brown had previously pledged to clean up the city of road cones and set it out as an “immediate priority” for the council’s transport agency. Now, he’s ...
The name's Bond – unhedged Treasury bond. Jonathan Milne argues that bond traders have again become sexy, for all the wrong reasons.Analysis: Giant Swiss bank UBS has agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.23 billion) and to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a shotgun ...
‘Don’t fucking come and talk to me, write a submission,’ reckons Mayor Wayne Brown. So how do you do that?Let’s be honest, most people don’t understand local politics. We know that we vote for a mayor and councillors every couple of years, and that’s about it. But local politics ...
The link between Napier and Taupō has reopened this week for the first time since it was damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. State highway five will be open to all traffic between 7am and 7pm, with overnight closure points at Kaimata Road, Glengarry Road and Matea Road. Kiri Allan, the associate ...
Analysis by By Geoffrey Miller. Political Roundup: NZ’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq ...
If you find yourself stressing about the cost of living crisis and how it will impact your home loan, talking to your bank as soon as possible is important. If you are experiencing financial challenges or think you might in the future, it’s important to reach out to your bank ...
Despite being entrenched practice in New Zealand schools, the practice of academic streaming in schools might not be around much longer. A plan launched today sets out a pathway to achieve this.If you went to school in Aotearoa, odds are that streaming was part of your experience. The numerically-inclined ...
The Paediatric Society of New Zealand/Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa are very concerned about the high number of tamariki injured by dogs in Aotearoa. Auckland emergency doctor Natasha Duncan-Sutherland says, “Over 2800 dog-related injuries ...
MP Ibrahim Omer will replace Grant Robertson as Labour’s candidate in the Wellington Central electorate after beating former party president Claire Szabo in the candidate selection race. Omer arrived in New Zealand as a refugee and worked as a cleaner before enrolling at Victoria University in 2014. “As someone who has ...
A new report from Australia highlights the significant community exposure to alcohol advertising through social media platforms. Over a one-year period researchers observed nearly 40,000 advertisements from a subset of alcohol-related accounts on Meta platforms ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of Melbourne pexels/tara winstead, CC BY-SA You’ve probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Shutterstock You’ve probably heard about the medication Ozempic, used to manage type 2 diabetes and as a weight loss drug. Ozempic (and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Menna Elizabeth Jones, Associate Professor in Zoology, University of Tasmania Human life on Earth is utterly dependent on biodiversity but our activities are driving an increase in extinctions. Yet some extinct species continue to hold our fascination. New methods in genetics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Kidson, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Australian schools have been under huge pressures in recent years. On top of concerns about academic progress and staff shortages, schools have faced significant, ongoing disruptions due to ...
The Green Party has made it clear it’s frustrated after being shafted by Labour during last week’s so-called policy bonfire. The prime minister recently ditched a number of policies announced during Jacinda Ardern’s tenure, many of which were backed strongly by the Greens. In a state of the nation address ...
The US banking crisis may help force a rethink by the Reserve Bank here, 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.Did last week’s turmoil stop interest rate hikes in their tracks? ...
The Greens have laid down a challenge to potential coalition partners: come to the table with faster and stronger climate action if you want our support. ...
The early days of Māori Television were chaotic. After the founding CE was fired and imprisoned for fraud, Dr. Jim Mather was tapped to lead the fledging broadcaster. An account with no previous media experience, he was an unlikely choice for the role, but ended up leading the channel through ...
Regional public transport is where money can do the most good in the shortest time. So why is the government giving the regions’ funding to the main centres? I used to think of public transport mainly as a way to reduce our environmental impact. It was only when I started ...
The most recent piece of research on actual menstrual blood volume was conducted in 1964, which has left many people without key health information, writes researcher Claire Badenhorst. Last month, after being in the office for only half a day, I headed home early for the sole reason that I ...
Does it pay to be a great novelist in New Zealand? The Detail talks to two authors about how they make a living spinning a good yarn.Catherine Chidgey Catherine Chidgey has been writing novels for almost 30 years - and she's one of our most celebrated writers on the scene ...
“The sprawling political refugee camp that Labour is busily turning itself into will find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the “No Discussion of Beliefs Permitted” rule it is currently enforcing in order not to upset its National refugees, and a position which denies the importance of espousing coherent political beliefs altogether.”
Chris Trotter in a thought provoking mood in his Bowlalleyroad blog. Have a read.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/
I’d rather rub ground glass into my eyes than read Trotter’s “dudes only!11!!” centred bullshit.
I like it! Thanks BillODrees…
Not really political but that shouldn’t stop a good moan. Who is sick of the media running their own trial with these high profile court cases? Every day we get the media version of the Guy/MacDonald saga; a days court proceedings condensed into a few column inches of ghoulish voyeurism. The media take a sick delight in parading the private lives of the participants, gorging on gossip, innuendo and rumour. There’s no justice in it, they’re neither judge nor jury, its all about ratings and they don’t care who they hurt in the process.
If it’s not that it is disgusting grief-porn. All cheap copy that sells newspapers and apparently that’s all that matters.
Speaking of the Guy case, I’ve been interested in the number of workers on that farm who were not being paid, and were doing some kind of “work experience”. More agrarian welfare for the rich.
Who is sick of the media running their own trial with these high profile court cases?
*Raises hand*
Raises both hands! The second the latest gruesome details of the latest murder trial comes on TV
it is the OFF button for me. If everybody did the same thing they would soon stop. It is the victim’s families who must stand to be the most affected by this media obsession with murder and mayhem. What long term damage is being done to them I hate to think.
Another hazard that is often overlooked… I know there are many parents of young families who can no longer watch the 6pm news because they will not allow their children to be exposed to the daily diet of murder trials with all it’s attendant blood and gore.
Dh I agree. A brief mention of the progress of the Guy case would be satisfactory not all this background about what the farm worker said and thought, family feelings and on. One thing emerges – the emotional pull to farmland is strong here. There was a murder of a wife in a divorce who in wanting her half share of property was forcing the sale of a hard-built farm and the husband reacted against her.
My moan is about the extensive coverage, with money wasted on USA commentators, of the USA political circus. Let them ride their roundabouts there, with again, brief updates. But the fight for presidential candidates, the ridiculous manipulated party addresses and loud cries of approval from their fans, we don’t need this. It’s a waste of money. There are 172? countries in the world. When is there time to hear about the others with the USA crowding out other news?To get any airtime they have to have riots or disasters yet they lead very interesting and internationally important lives.
Exactly! What really irks me is when a grinning Hil’ry Berry or Mike McRoberts, plays some trivial local American item, the sort of thing that would be a paragraph in a local newspaper.. it’s not as if there isn’t plenty else to discuss!
We gave this trial matter some thought recently; DYNASTY or DALLAS comes to mind.Having worked for and socialised with sectors of our glorious rural community over the decades can advise that the sorts of dynamics being revealed in this publicised expose are very common between family members, families, neighbors, managers etc. It is not so bucolic amongst the california thistles, mastitis and mongrels. ENVY and GREED reeks from a lot of these people, and yes, getting paid like getting blood out of pumice.
Emmerdale on steroidal hormones.
Well, with corporate farming expansion, falling commodity prices, reduced commodity orders, devaluation of the dollar likely, interest rate rises, increased regulation and environmental requirements, Trading in Fonterra shares, fuel price and ruc increases etc….
Good Luck to Them. NOT.
SamHall
Interesting comment which I understood this time. You sound as if you are well-versed in the healthy country lifestyle. By the way who are ‘we’? Do you arise from a think tank or is it the royal we? Haha.
Seems to suffer from multiple personality disorder.
Lets not forget it is always handy to a Government that is dealing with sensitive and/or volatile policies to have a juicy murder to distract the public with. This was highlighted for me this morning when National Radio had an interview about Australia and How The Dingo Did It. The commentator mentioned how the whole Azaria case came to light and began its protracted media prescence just as the Mabo land case was gaining traction.
I absolutely agree! The Guy/McDonald saga is particularly boring/annoying… Said about Kylie Guy “she still wears her rings” – well, most widows do! What was their point?
With the increase of Road User Charges I assume we will have John Banks encouraging the roading industry to block Auckland Roads with trucks again in protest as he did when the Labour Party were in Government /sarc. He was so enthuisiastic over the protest then. Hypocrites.
Sorting out Super – what now?
We should start the discussion now. National may choose to stay out of it for now, but they will have to join at some stage.
Suggested progress:
– Involve all willing parties and any groups and organisations with an interest in the future of NZ Super in discussion and proposal of policies.
– Open it to wide public discussion.
– Gather as much information and opinion as possible.
– National and United Future have a Confidence and Supply commitment to public discussion on flexi-super – this can be used to develop the Super debate further.
– In time for next election campaign have a commitment from all (willing) parties on the future direction of NZ Super and a timeframe for dealing with it.
– Include NZ Super in parliamentary business early in the next term (first half of 2015)
Let’s make it happen. Starting now.
Suggested progress:
– get the poodle to not vote for the next budget unless it addresses the Superannuation time bomb.
– get all the pollies to read the very interesting and comprehensive posts and comments in the Standard on the subject.
Lets really make it happen. Starting now.
Your first point is either pathetic or woefully ignorant.
Your second point is very good – why don’t you make it happen? I could give you some practical advice if you like. If you can generate some positive and balanced discussion here I’d be happy to promote and support it. Cross-blog discussion on Super is something I’ve suggested.
What are you doing on your blog about Super? I’d be happy to link that in too.
Your first point is either pathetic or woefully ignorant.
Why is that Petey?
Sounds like ignorance.
Why doesn’t the poodle withhold his vote on next year’s budget if the Government refuses to confront the baby boomer bulge now?
Because C&S responsibilities don’t allow for the bringing down of the government at the request of some random blog commenter. This is a standard coalition provision, and will have protected the Clark government from first year collapse due to Redbaiter asking a party to break their agreement (similar to you he’s currently asking for banishment of the entire National contingent).
Perhaps you think any coalition between between Labour and Greens would be as flimsy and temporary as you seem to think the current one should be.
Apart from that it’s ridiculous to threaten a budget that’s eleven months away on an issue that could achieve significant progress in that time, but will probably take longer than that to resolve.
There are no C&S responsibilities that overide Dunne’s responsibilities to NZ, Pete. If he genuinely wants a debate on Super, then the power is in his hands to enforce one. Which he won’t do, because he is too worried about a single aspect of the super debate; his own pension pot.
Dunne has already used his (coalition) power to get a commitment with National to a public discussion paper on Super, which is more than anyone else has been able to achieve.
How effective that discussion will be will depend on how much effort a range of parties, organisations and individuals make to take advantage of the opportunity.
No he hasn’t. Key refuses to join in the debate and the ‘agreement’ you refer to is nothing to do with the wider issue of super. It’s just a sop, as you well know, Pete. Stop dissembling and start putting pressure on your leader. Poodles have teeth, you know. They just have to be trained to use them.
It’s just a sop
I’m certain you have no idea what it will be yet.
Au conraire, Pompous George.
It is a sop; it’s a commitment in the C&S agreement to a (small ‘g’) government paper on a possible flexible retirement age, (ie. straight to Bin 13). Even if it ever makes the light of day, that’s a change which the PM rejected yet again as recently as yesterday.
So stop trying to blow smoke up our collective nether regions and get to work on Dunne. Tell him you’ll walk if he doesn’t threaten to do the same. Go on, mate, show some balls. You can cripple the media arm of UF just by refusing to blog for a day.
I’d rather work positively to see what can be done. Hissy fitting as you suggest doesn’t usually achieve anything.
And…
So that’s where the only common ground is at the moment, so it’s worth doing as much as possible with it.
Other blogs are getting in on promoting good Super discussion and progress too:
From: http://keepingstock.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/consensus-in-our-times.html
Canadian tar sands break even between $50-$75 per barrel http://awe.sm/aKsc Price is currently $40 http://awe.sm/aKsX #peakoil
My understanding is that break even today is closer to $75/barrel for new operations.
And that assumes the ongoing ability to use and pollute as much fresh ground water as you like in the process for free AND not clean any of the massive chemical ponds or pollution up afterwards.
Shell gave the $50 figure at the beginning of last year so that’s a long time in the oil business. You could be right on current costs.
The oil companies pretty much have free range in Alberta and from the Harper government. They are desperate to get a pipeline either East or West but are facing huge opposition. They have to give large discounts to the US as they buy 99% of the Albertan oil at the moment.
That $50 is just their assessment of when they make meaningful money. Oilcos have been working the sands for decades at lower prices. Production costs including a reasonable rate of return are much lower.
For established conventional fields in the prime of production, I agree.
But for new deep sea wells and other unconventional sources, financial break even is not far off US$75/bb.
As for energy break even (EROEI) that’s another matter again.
Break even in terms of raw production costs. Not break even in terms of CO2 and environmental destruction.
A few years back lifting costs were only about $15
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-oil_oil.htm
outsider mad hatters institute a right wing propaganda organisation with very deep pockets.
I smell Murdoch and other robber barons all over this!
No credibility looking after vested interests.
Another brilliant blog analysis by Giovanni Tiso, this time on the temporarily derailed education reforms. And apart from the content, Tiso writes so damn well.
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/
…We aren’t always going to be so lucky. Attacks against public education, here and elsewhere, are going to continue, and they will be launched – against the backdrop of a permanent state of economic crisis – by driving a wedge between the aspirations of the middle class and the realities faced by the working class. Of course league tables and performance pay are damaging to public education understood as a universal good – and I’m going to explain why to John Roughan in a minute – but so long as you feel confident that you will be able to move to the area with the best school, and you have been correctly conditioned to view the education of your children as a form of competition, you might not mind this, or even learn to actively support the idea. And just in case you might harbour some nostalgia for old-fashioned egalitarian myths, we shall disguise the reforms as pious concern for the one in five whom the education system currently fails (never mind it’s more like one in twenty), and who hail in the main from the lower socio-economic classes. This will sway some of the liberals who most need to be made to feel altruistic in exchange for their class interests being served. …
embolding mine.
Thanks just saying. You are right about Giovanni’s writing style. And he has captured the essence of dark days of Education that are to come. Larger classes are just the opening shots. Ughh!
I agree, Giovanni Tiso’s writing is lovely to read, and this is an excellent piece. But whichever way you look, the downward squeeze /upward flow gets more and more apparent. Everything works in the manner of a nasty franchise: the owner of the brand squeezes the margins so that the franchisee cannot get his head above water, and in turn squeezes the staff. Dollar-guys attack the Euro Zone through its weakest links, and the strong members squeeze the weaker ones in an attempt to regain their ground. Education is no different; the recent changes to tertiary education, in which interest-free student loans are kept but limits placed upon getting them, essentially means a near-free education for the wealthy (who can invest the loan amount, take the loan, and reduce the cost via the interest received), while the poor are gradually squeezed out. The mooted changes to primary/secondary education follow much the same pattern. Wake up, middle class! You are only a squeeze or two further away from ruin than the people you want to see sterilised.
Well-said, Olwyn!
Hallelujah Olwyn!
+1
There have been a few server structural shifts going on overnight. See this comment from yesterday.
Let me know if anyone spots anything outside of the current site flaws. I haven’t been seeing any of significiance apart from a markedly reduced overseas bandwidth.
On my screen, the layout is different, lists of blogs, media etc., is now running single-file down the length of the right side of the screen, and periodically it becomes blurred with the words on top of each other.
All clear on my screen.
I sometimes suspect my computer of being a bit of a hypochondriac.
No it was there.. One part of it was to do some interesting things to javascripts. A bit too much as it turned out. Took a while for that to come through the system.
Should be fixed now.
It is 🙂
The UK, for the opening of the Olympics is setting up a picture of a country idyll with happy cows and people – must be like a glossy Midsomer Murders background. Very Marie Antoinette who used to have tableaus with her entourage dressed as rustics I understand.
And funny in a nightmarish way when one thinks of residential buildings in London having their roofs turned into sites for anti-missile etc surveillance. This will have to be set up earlier than the opening and people screened in and out. The people there will have this burden of suspicion and checking systems for months perhaps, and feel like targets for damage. Not an idyll.
lprent
I have struck a wee problem. I put an item on 12/6 open mike and then realised I wanted it in 13/6 so tried to delete it and that gave me a blank page with -1 at the top of it. I thought okay it’s been deleted, and put the item in 13/6 and then checked back on 12/6 but it was still there. Pressed delete again got the pink line that I wasn’t allowed to do this and blue Close. I pressed this and nothing happened. I couldn’t get reaction either from the return/refresh arrow at top so was locked there in Ajax and had to close out to get out.
That’s been happening for a while.
Alert from Avaaz.org. An online petition re Asset Sales:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Oppose_NZ_Asset_Sales/?boNMXab&v=15125
You said it ianmac! New Zealand’s “Key” assets, indeed!! He must have at least 3 people supporting him, I guess.
Lurker Boag goes viral:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/7094218/Boag-keeps-eagle-eye-on-ACC-story
“What was Michelle Boag doing?”
Tee hee.
From accounts about a decade ago, the Lady does not do “demure” (please correct this if this is not accurate). “It was that simple.”
Btw, being “short” (courtesy from Crushless) does not preclude having bionic ears.
secret taping lurking round parliament spying on reporters i smell a rat a natrat from the brat pack.
Boag will not be the flavour of the month in most Nact circles right now.
Helping undermine her leaders aspirations.
The Boag Con stictor. Sqeezing the life out of her prey.
Another Nactional meddling muddler
Well spotted Carol! Just what the hell was she doing there? Is this awful woman still an office-holder within National? I guess that she is another “asset” on the side, but one (unfortunately) they will never sell!
Bob Jones treads a shaky line in his column in the Herald:
shonkey might be buysexual
BJ is a lout.
And: BREAKING NEWS
ACC CEO Ralph Stewart to leave… details soon
Even worse for National, Speaker Roy has allowed an urgent debate on ACC with him chairing. It is going to be a blood bath …
Time for some predictions.
In the movie The Truman Show, Truman is talking to the woman who will later be his girlfriend. She is wearing a button saying “How’s it going to end?”
How’s our Truman Show going to end?
Around the world, elected and un-elected officials developing unworkable economic solutions to problems created by corporates and banks seeking profits that are now being paid for from austerity measures placed on the innocent.
The use of taxes earned off the backs of the workers to purchase worthless “assets” from private interests who manipulated, deluded and defrauded so they could use other people’s money to make personal profit.
Banks, corporations, executives, bankers escaping prosecution for the misery they created around to world in the form of job loses, mortgagee sales, business failures and all the attendant mental, emotional damage.
The development of a corporate aristocracy for whom the rules applied to lesser beings do not apply. Golden parachutes given to people who cause loss or harm to their company. Corporate boxes for politicians when public servants could be sacked for receiving such a gift. Horrendously large salaries and bonuses for jobs that, some times, could be done by a well trained chimp.
A worker goes to work knowing that a percentage of their labour and time will be exchanged for money that will fund a life of entitlement for politicians who do not undergo a performance review. An election every three years by an uninformed or indifferent populace is NOT a performance review.
Taxes used to fund corporate welfare projects based on flawed calculations of how many jobs it will create. Instead, private investors who have some degree of wealth profit from the sweat of those who don’t.
A world economic system that is soooo flawed that it needs radical reform but the lunatics are the ones running the asylum.
The list goes on…..
How’s it going to end? Are we all just a Truman Burbank? Content to live in a world where everything is a corporate product and nothing is real?
Christof: If his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there’s no way we could prevent him.
Christof: “I’ve given Truman the chance to lead a normal life. The world, the place you live in is the sick place. Seahaven is the way the world should be.”
How do you think it will end?
Financial systems are a constant mystery also those involved in them. On Radionz I think on Sunday afternoon there was a piece on auditors. There used to be 9 big ones, now there are only four. Consideration is being given to legislating for a change of auditor every 6 years to prevent client capture or moral hazard or whatever name for cosiness. The auditors spoken to were very confident that everything was fine as it is. Auditing relationships have been known to last 48 years. Of course that rarely applies now as businesses average about 10 years before fading.
What we need is another Australian with a socialist background to lead this country out of recession…
http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/06/lessons-in-history.html
Oops
Finance Minister Bill English admits rebalancing of NZ economy towards exporting yet to happen due to high NZ$ and quake; also sees tax switch benefits taking 5-7 years
However, “one way or another they will muddle through.
http://www.interest.co.nz/
Actual Link
Thanks Draco
Muldooms light at the end of the tunnel con.Austerity and think big robs vision.
Austerity and motorways brighter future Pure spin nosubstance.
I was recently half listening to an interview with author on King Dick Seddon. He sounded like an able politician who achieved a lot.
Only LPrent knows for sure, but it seems to me that there has been a steady increase in the number of women commenting on the Standard in the couple of years I’ve been coming here. I’m extrpolating to a certain extent from the pseudonyms people are using, and assuming can make an ass….
I don’t know for sure, I generally have to guess. And I frequently find I am wrong both ways. I’ve had people tell me that they deliberately pick opposite gender names…. The whole point about the site is that unless people choose to rely on parts of the life outside of pure argument and use those in the conversation, you can’t tell.
But I think that there has been a steadily increasing numbers of women commenting over the years and that they are commenting more than they used to.
And making the most sensible and sensitive comments too.
Some do. Some make my cynical rants designed to perform experimental literay inguinal orchiectomy on trolls look relatively tame. You should see some of the compliments I get after each excision from our modestly polite but robust debate.
Personally I rather like that our other gender has a healthy dislike of idiots. Makes me more hopeful about the kids with that level of discrimination against the socially inept with a self assessed Priapus problem.
As I say, it is sometimes hard to tell. But very few act like trolls.
Hmm, this.
China is a kleptocracy of a scale never seen before in human history. This post aims to explain how this wave of theft is financed, what makes it sustainable and what will make it fail. There are several China experts I have chatted with – and many of the ideas are not original. The synthesis however is mine. Some sources do not want to be quoted.
The macroeconomic effects of the Chinese kleptocracy and the massive fixed-currency crisis in Europe are the dominant macroeconomic drivers of the global economy. As I am trying a comprehensive explanation for much of the world’s economy in less that two thousand words I expect some kick-back.
Foreign Minister Murray McChardonnay – receives todays ROTFL award for his outstanding comedy skit performed recently at the Institute of International Affairs in Wellington.
He had the audience eating out of the palm of his hand with the seemly candid admission that the Security Council is a sham:
“That view holds that contested Security Council seats will always fall to the highest bidder of aid dollars, or to the holder of the most flexible positions on the controversial foreign policy issues of the day,”
And then came the punch line:
“The Prime Minister’s approach and my own approach is that we would rather lose with honour than trade overseas development assistance or policy positions for Security Council votes.”
I have had many doubts about Mr McCully, Mr Key and the National government, and those doubts of course remain, but now I think I finally understand them – they are actually a stealth comedy act, gone deep cover, their strategy – to kill off the opposition with the most potent of all weapons – uncontrollable laughter.
At last some common sense – just not from NZ.
http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/falling-dollar-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-says-stevens-20120613-20946.html
grumpy more BS from a neo con. Australias savings are among the best in the world/
Nup, normal RWNJ scaremongering about high prices.
Our fishing is certainly under threat with ships like the Korean one in the case being tried in Court. But the Korean officers have left the country apparently. You would think we would have some legal means of stopping them leaving so they could answer to their wrongs.
The crew have been brutalised, the observer tried to intervene on some of the practices but got very curt responses and feared for her safety. Why should they be able to get away with bad practices like this major dump of fish worth I think a million dollars when apparently all they needed to do was bring the net up earlier. It’s such careless and wasteful and inefficient practice and our seas are the losers to these marauding sods.
So Paula Benefit is planning some “tough love” for teenagers likely to go on the unemployment benefit. This involves extra surveillance, advice on budgeting and parenting…… but apparently no jobs???!!!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10812818
So just a lot of additional harassment, surveillance and window-dressing, nothing useful like ACTUAL jobs …. and, the kicker!…. it’ll save the government $1billion!
Vampire lurve!
No they won’t, far more likely to entrench them.
What she means is that she’ll force more into poverty so that they’re forced to work to make some bludger richer for lower wages than they get already.
That is all rote stuff that Petulant Bean learned at USA University isn’t it. I think she did a pressure cooker course on how to cook the books? so as to make welfare beneficiaries seem to be a mix between vampires and the devil’s spawn. Was it at Wisconsin, a name that occurs when talking about meanness, and they would be big on using the terms welfare dependence also learned helplessness is another favourite.
Learned helplessness has a specific meaning in educational psychology, and should never be used outside that specific discipline!
Paula Bennett is a sick piece of work…so is this concept of ‘welfare dependency’ .
Its time we took back the word dependency and use it to vilify the rich.
Within the relationship between the rich and the poor, there is only one direction that dependency exists. The concept of dependency was made famous by the theorist andre gunder frank who exposed how under capitalism, on a world wide scale, the rich are dependent on the poor. Somehow this term has been highjacked and is used to stigmatise victims, and champion the abusers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dependency_theory
Points about Gabriel Makhlouf, Secretary to the Treasury, NZ. He fits my prejudice about the hardening effect on children of absent parents sent to boarding schools at long distance from their parents, as in school in Britain while parents work for UN in various countries.
“his father pursued a career in the UN. From age 11, he was separated from his family to continue his education at a British boarding school.
After graduating with an honours degree in economics at the University of Exeter, he spent a year as a treasurer for a student union, then did a masters degree in industrial relations at the University of Bath. His thesis was on “intra-union relationships in academia” As a PhD beckoned, Makhlouf realised it was either a life in academia “or I had to get out”, and he landed his first job in 1984, as a tax inspector.”
About our teachers “However, Makhlouf doesn’t have backing from Hattie on the alleged failure of the New Zealand education system. In the book’s foreword Hattie says, “We have a nation of excellent teachers, as shown in the country’s ranking in the top half-dozen nations in reading, mathematics and science. http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/interview-gabriel-makhlouf/