Last time the Colmar Brunton – Reid Research sampling period significantly overlapped (late August) = CB had Labour 4 points higher & the Nats 2 points lower than RR
It’s generally accepted though that the swing to Labour that won that election was its late pitch to students and their families with interest free student loans. Will Labour be able to do something similar this time round?
swordfish
That’s good to know; CB certainly seem to be a lot more frequent during the election. Would I be right in supposing that the Roy Morgan is likely on Friday too (sampling 26/8 – 10/9)?
It began with an interview on RNZ (which was revealing, exposing their support for the TPP with a housing carve out and their preference of maintaining a surplus over spending more on addressing child poverty). Ardern also said neoliberalism has failed, yet largely ruled out overturning its underpinning of the economy.
While I’m willing to make concessions as there is no perfect party, it’s become clear from our discussions I’m not willing to lower the bar as far as you.
As for Labour’s headlining promises, they’re a little misleading. For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term. And as I’ve often pointed out, a number of others also fall short.
And how is this for contradictory? Jacinda said “Any expectation that we just simply allow that the market to dictate our outcomes for people is where I would want to make sure that we were more interventionist.” Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Are you now going to make excuses and accept this form of double speak?
“The term ‘neoliberal’ is often said to be excessively vague, but its value in this context was in fact to give specificity to Espiner’s line of questioning. Most obviously: would Ardern consider revisiting the Reserve Bank Act, the Public Finance Act or any of the other legislative instruments that have allowed the last four governments to put neoliberal reforms into practice?
The answer – need I say it – was no. And in the process of the fairly gentle interrogation that followed, the much-vaunted boldness of the Ardern project evaporated. She thinks that climate change is the ‘nuclear-free’ issue of our time, but wouldn’t commit to divesting from coal or even ceasing to issue new licenses for deep-sea oil exploration. She wants to end child poverty, but wouldn’t resile from her predecessor’s foolish commitment to contain spending to 30% of GDP and keep guaranteeing operating surpluses – one of the main causes of the staggering, crippling rise of our household debt – nor does she think that the government needs to seek more revenue through taxation. ”
and…..
” For there really was a window. An opportunity. Instead of playing her part in the political assassination of Metiria Turei, Ardern could have used her new position and her extraordinary popularity to stand by her side. Together, she and Turei could have broken the siege that has prevented beneficiaries – which is to say, a significant portion of the working class – from leading a dignified life and participating in society. Such a decision would have carried its own risks, naturally. But then this is what defines political courage, and it’s nothing if not courage that we desperately need. ”
I too am struggling with having to limbo low to vote Labour.
For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term.
And builds up over time as they can afford it while maintaining the same failed economic system…
Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Yep. We actually need to drop out of FTAs so that we can start to take back our sovereignty rather than signing up to more of them.
Labour doesn’t want to scare business by actually promising to do what needs to be done. But, of course, they actually think that the failed ideology of the 19th century works.
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce, (I have assessed) there is no way to confirm accuracy .
We contacted some of these polling companies last year after we looked into the methods used by requesting details from them.
Results of several polling companies was disturbing.
We found, it is all based on trust that they are accurate nothing else.
They confirmed there is no ability for them to conduct any rechecks of voters stated choices on any with these ‘polls’ they told us.
The same applies to the general election, the electoral commission sent us an email confirming “there no no way we can confirm voters choice was recorded accurately.
Overseas now many countries are using a ‘Voter Verified Audit Paper Trail’ (VVPAT) voting systems (even with the manual paper voting system we still use) as they use electronic counting of paper votes after we surrender our paper vote at the polling centre, and we have confirmed that is where false recording of votes can take place.
Here in NZ they only do a sample manual rechecking of a fraction of all votes taken during our General Election System, so there are many flaws left inside our voting system today.
So we asked the NZ Electoral Commission to switch to VVPAT and they refused so we are left to take their word for any poll conducted, so we must be wary of this lack of verification from any poll conducted now.
James Shaw today on TV one said their ‘internal’ polling showed the election will be very tight and every vote will count for them, so they will re-double their door knocking if able.
Bill English says some farmers may have to pay 50K for water if Labour win.
According to a chap on Natrad, if he did, that farmer would be using the same amount of water as 38,000 people. Or to put it another way, 50 such farmers would use more water than the entire city of Auckland.
Apparently, some dairy farmers on the dry plains of Canterbury use over three million litres of water per annum.
In total, agriculture uses 80% of all fresh water consumed in New Zealand. TIME TO PAY UP FARMER BROWN.
I thought the figure on Nat Radio this morning was an extra $70,000 for a farm (or was it $350,000?)- and he was concerned that the reduction in income would reduce the amount of purchasing in the local community. Imagine the positive effect of increasing the minimum wage!
If you want to see why not to do it, have a look at the last 50 60 years of fallow farming subsidies in the US.
Probably the longest blackmail experience that I have ever read about and one that has been distorting their agricultural practices without changing them in the intended manner significantly.
The only link I have was the history book I was reading about it in
On that recent Polluted Paradise Al Jazeera documentary they showed one typical dairy farmer in Canterbury who they calculate uses 12% of the total water Wellington does each year. Jaw dropping.
If a cow drinks 30 litres a day (about avg) and you have a herd of 350 cows, that is 10,500 litres a day just on drinking. Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
So? What is your point? Apart from merely spinning a meaningless pile of cowshit.
For just myself and my partner I personally spend more than $1200 per year on getting drinking water and dealing with waste water. It is a resource that we use and for which we pay for.
The business that I work for pays for their water and sewerage for nearly 200 employees at a similar rate. Their bill would be heading up towards half a million dollars annually.
My point is that farmers should do the same. They should pay for the use of the common property of NZ.
If your business model and processes aren’t sustainable without a ‘free’ resource that you don’t care for properly and that others wind up having to pay for, then you should shut down the business. We aren’t prepared to give you that charity anymore bearing in mind the state you have been leaving the waterways and aquifers in.
If nothing else, putting price on your ‘free’ resource should cause you to start treating it like any other business input. Figuring out ways to use it more efficiently and without causing problems to those downstream.
Updated: And I missed the 3 orders of magnitude of cost that blackops lied about…..
I thought the proposed figure for water charges was to be per cubic metre which would be 2 cents per 1000 litres, not per litre, so about 7,600 dollars not 76,000 dollars.
It’s even more stupid – at $1 for 50,000 litres, you’d be looking at $76 per year for 3.8 mil litres of water. The fact is that farming is using so much water that such a nominal charge still adds up to plenty of money for improving water quality.
Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
Yeah, that would be ridiculous, right?
Howver, Labour is talking 1 to 2 cents per thousand litres, not per litre. It would be nice if the media made it a bit clearer that we’re talking about $76 per year, not $76,000. You’ve been reading too much National bullshit.
It is intended that the tax will only be on people who are taking for irrigation so the average farmer who isn’t doing this is going to be just fine. It is the people farming in a way that is unsuited to the local environment and therefore creating a burden on that environment that will finally have to pay a small amount for something that they have polluted in the name of profit for far too long.
Water will be the new oil. We must do all we can to protect our clean water and take the maximum benefit as a country not as individuals for it’s use.
Another canard from the same right-wing stable as “This country used to have great race relations until the left started encouraging Maori to complain” and “Employment relations would be great if the unions weren’t instigating trouble.”
Well, that was over quickly. I feel like I won the lottery on Friday only to piss it all against a wall by Monday to be back where I started.
A forth term for National will break a lot of people. If you don’t own a mortgage-free house or farm or earn more than $60000 a year, then expect your living standards to slide, as National lowers wages and social spending.
A fourth term for National won’t be so bad, even Jacinda said NZ is doing pretty good, but theres still plenty of twists and turns still to come in this election I fel
Always nice to find a dumbarse troll who can’t quote properly and can’t link to the source of their quote. The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically.
And I’d argue even that – I think that she is being charitable.
Because it looks to me like it is currently being sustained artificially on levels of nett inwards migration and inwards debt to pay for excessive property prices rather than on anything of sustainable use. Essentially my business trained sensors are detecting a ponzi scheme perpetuated by National to produce good figures without any particular substance.
And yet as she also points out we have a rapidly growing homeless problem, an epidemic of suicides, pollution, a massive sustained under investment in critical infrastructure and housing, inequality, and a large number of other issues that will cause the economy to tank in the medium term.
None of which National has shown ANY real inclination to change. Instead we just get the spewing of lies from Nick Smith or Steven Joyce, ineffectually supported by their mate Bill.
If you want to comment here, then I suggest you do better. We aren’t a place for stupid astroturfing parrots.
People do place a lot of stock of how well the country Is going economically and, not withstanding your business acumen, theres a lot of people who believe NZ is doing well
Is it enough for a fourth term though? I don’t know, this election has been very topsy-turvy so far
A lot of people taken in by Nationals propaganda. Even in right wing terms such as per capita GDP, balance of trade and productivity New Zealand is going downhill. Propped up only by the reserve banks excessive interest rates , immigration and natural disasters.
I would just like to know whether there is a difference in undecided between their last few polls and I find it odd that they are refusing to provide that information.
I like Tauraga the people are nice and friendly you can grow vegetables all year round its nice and warm being close to the sea and located were it’s.
Tauranga is a jewel in our beautiful country.
But I remember seeing sand on the road in the Mount and flooding was just about to happen the residents of Tauranga did not get flooded out this time.
But with OUR ocean warming up and the fact that heat is energy in the near future there will be major flooding and damage to the residents property’s.
This scenario is a when and not a if so WE must plan for the worst weather that could hit Tauranga and if WE don’t plan for climate change the residents of Tauranga will be in the shit.
Now I no most Tauranga residents adore
Winston Peters but I say that because cause Winston doesn’t have a plan to mitigate climate change that you people of Tauranga will be up a creek with out a paddle when the next BIG storm or BIG hurricane strikes as a lot of Tauranga is just above sea level and the sea has a huge and powerful force.
I did Not speak against Winston until he showed that he would side with national and if national and Winston get into parliament there will be no planning for climate change and no plans to protect you the residents of Tauranga or your properties.
I am not letting you no this out of malice for Winston as this is not the way I work I’m letting you people no out of concern for your future and your safety. So I plead for your safety don’t vote Winston in or national because national is hiding the climate report they don’t care for your safety. So vote for the anyone but the two party’s that are ignoring climate change it is your future and your grandchildren future your voting for.
Yes I did – sorry if I wasn’t clear – I meant I think they will still vote National – they are quite a conservative ‘head-in-the-sand’ society like a lot of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region
Thinking of business and why we have to keep on doing things to nurse our businesses along as they are always doing it hard, can’t find workers etc. Then we can’t afford to pay ordinary workers much while the people at the top live on the fat of the land for just doing a job that requires extra skills.
How about this for wage progression -Bottom under $40,000, few extra skills $60,000 (50% more), advanced experience $80,000, top managers $110,000 and Chief executive $150,000. But someone I know who I think is in human resources is getting $140,000 and is probably smart but just at keeping up with the others. So we are going backwards in NZ with he middle class going up or some getting lost and going down, the middle class is under pressure in western countries. The lower class is increasingly the precariat. Social mobility is now hard-won, not encouraged. Mainly to keep inflation low. To satisfy those with money to invest?
Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?
If we are going to go backwards let’s try to put money into the regions’ pockets that stays there. Go back to where we encouraged small domestic industries which then branched out into export of excellent products. Let’s build a basecourse of solid small initiative ‘pop ups’ all over the country shouting look at us New Zealanders come and visit your own, and try us out. Nurture regional areas of excellence in what they do best. Ricardo economics within a domestic framework not over-extended as under free market machinations hand in hand with nasty neolib.
In an economic model, agents have a comparative advantage over others in producing a particular good if they can produce that good at a lower relative opportunity cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior to trade.[2] One does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production.
Instead, one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across countries.[3] The closely related law or principle of comparative advantage holds that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a good for which they have a comparative advantage.[4]
David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country’s workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries.
He demonstrated that if two countries capable of producing two commodities engage in the free market, then each country will increase its overall consumption by exporting the good for which it has a comparative advantage while importing the other good, provided that there exist differences in labor productivity between both countries.[5][6] Widely regarded as one of the most powerful[7] yet counter-intuitive[8] insights in economics, Ricardo’s theory implies that comparative advantage rather than absolute advantage is responsible for much of international trade.
David Ricardo – Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/david-ricardo.asp
David Ricardo was a classical economist known for his Iron Law of Wages, labor theory of value, theory of comparative advantage and theory of rents. David Ricardo and several other economists also simultaneously and independently discovered the law of diminishing marginal returns.
“Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?”
And yet we still see the relentless promotion of Kiwisaver… Not to mention the eternal damnation of pension-age ‘Boomers’ whose little bits of money add to the income of shops and services.
Unless successive governments can protect the investments made by the citizens – what’s the use of saving for your retirement, eh? You’ll end up like Don Brash’s pa after he’d sold the farm and the inflation rate took off. A comfortable nest egg turned into less than an average year’s pay.
National has presided over the death of kids’ learning in New Zealand being important.
Real learning, proper learning, according to who and what the children are themselves , and capable of, have given way to checklists, targets and percentages.
What the kids could be and the type people we need in the world are incidental to charts and graphs.
When the teacher force is completely dumbed down to play the dumb game, and those who should be the leaders in the profession are singing from the Tolley/Parata/Kaye song sheet, we are totally stuffed. We are well on the way to that already.
Education in that sense is not an issue in the election yet that to me that is the real issue of the times. Are we to give Kaye the hammer and nails again to drive into the coffin they have fashioned? Also are we to give henchman Seymour a nail gun again?
Clearly committed to regional rail & restoring the regions.
September 13, 2017
gisborneherald.co.nz
On the hustings in Gisborne with Winston Peters
by Wynsley Wrigley Published: September 13, 2017 10:33AM
ON THE ATTACK: New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claims Gisborne does not have the ear of Wellington and “the old parties”. In Gisborne yesterday, Mr Peters said New Zealand First would provide financial support to regional airports, including Gisborne’s, and support reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line.
NEW Zealand First supports reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line and state funding of regional airports such as Gisborne’s, said party leader Winston Peters when he was in Gisborne yesterday.
He told the Herald that Land Transport funding of Railways of National Importance, such as the Gisborne line, had long been party policy, but was disappointed that many Gisborne people would not know that.
“We will provide much-needed funding for regional airports owned by local authorities to help pay for infrastructure improvements and to meet safety and amenity standards,” he said.
“Unlike big airports they don’t have large revenues to help pay for the things they need. Every OECD country subsidises regional airports and air services, except New Zealand.
“Even the USA, home of the market, knows and does that. These countries know airports are crucial for communications, business development, air ambulances, and tourism, and must be supported by central government.”
Mr Peters said the sky around Gisborne was “darkening” because of the “old parties”.
“Politicians come here and say what they want to do for you. I’ve seen years of them doing stuff all for you. I see Gisborne and what it’s become.
“It still has the same people, resources and assets. It has everything, but it does not have the ear of Wellington.”
Mr Peters said nothing could be more compelling in his argument than closure of Gisborne’s rail line.
New Zealand First supported it from beginning
“No one put their hand up to defend it other than one party: New Zealand First. Not now, not last month, not last year, but when it happened and since then.
“You give us a chance in this campaign, we are going to open it.”
He said no treasury analysis was required. No transport infrastructure was efficient everywhere. There could be both inefficient and efficient sectors, which together made a successful operation.
If inefficient areas were wound back, efficient areas were affected because overall numbers diminished.
He said regional airports were part of the national grid.
“If the United States and other OECD countries understand that, why not New Zealand?”
Mr Peters said other regional airports to benefit from the policy included Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Chatham Islands, Hokitika, Masterton, Taupo, Timaru, Westport, Whakatane and Whanganui.
“Eleven airports are being told to put up or shut up. This is astonishing. Who do they think goes through Auckland Airport? A lot of them are going to places like Gisborne, they all add up.”
Public pronouncements
At a public meeting at the Cosmopolitan Club Mr Peters said:
• New Zealand First would ensure continuity of forestry supply for local processors, and keep forestry sustainable.
• The New Zealand Forestry Service would be reinstated. “This plan is so good the Labour Party swiped it a few days ago.”
• New Zealand First is committed to a massive campaign to seal rural roads, improve road quality and double-lane bridges where sensible. “We want Gisborne to have a fully co-ordinated transportation strategy with road, rail and coastal shipping.”
• New Zealand First would return the GST paid by international tourists in this region for tourism infrastructure and roads, and to stimulate job training and opportunities.
• Any water rights for exports in this region would pay serious royalties, which would return to Gisborne.
• New Zealand First will help exporters, farmers and others by fixing the Reserve Bank Act.
• Devaluation of the dollar would help export-orientated provinces like Gisborne.
I no I’m of topic but I have to say this.
The only way we are going to get the state to heal is not a commission’s investigation. We need someone to champion the issue of the harm done to those people in state care and use people power and start the court process and sue the state for the injustices that happened to those people
It could be. I think it has been done in other countries. This bunch don’t see treating all people with care and hopefully with respect as part of their core duties.
The job of pollies is wheeling and dealing for their class, which they have established over the last 30 years since the idea of equality was set aside as an impediment to business.
I have spoken to some of the wealthy and there mind set is totally different to mine.
They don’t want to shear there lollies they don’t care about our poor and vulnerable people they don’t agree with my thoughts which are that these people are OURS they are part of our SOCIETY we are all kiwis we are all humans .
So we have the responsibility to care for these people and we have the responsibility to make sure that the government that gets elected will care for these peoples future even if they are brown white or yellow they are our people to care for.
Now these people that don’t care about there neighbors or the environment well 99 % of these people will vote and in my view they are about 20 % of the population and the elderly will be about 20 % and 99 % of these people will vote. Now the elderly care about our poor but they don’t like change as they will be worried that change means hardship for them. So these two groups of our people will vote national and NZ first if only 60 % of the total population vote . Then these two groups of people are going to decide our whole country fate which will be shit. So every one that has left leaning principals
please do your duty to yourself the poor vulnerable and your children and go and vote for any party except national and NZ first This is our country and we must vote to clean up nationals MESS.
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Dr Tim Chambers, Prof Nick Wilson, Jayne Richards, A/Prof Simon Hales, Dr Mike Joy, Prof Michael Baker (author affiliations*)Increasing water-related health threats, notably the waterborne campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North, have highlighted failings in NZ’s regulatory system for drinking water. In this blog we consider how the new Water ...
Yes, an election is in the offing – and we all know that elections can be polarising, as parties of the left and right square off against each other. But we should not allow our party and political allegiances to obscure the fact that, in a properly functioning democracy like ...
Dr Sommer Kapitan, Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Patrick van Esch, Auckland University of TechnologyThe Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill will limit vape sales at dairies and service stations to only three flavours, and make vaping illegal in smokefree areas. Vaping laws will be more ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Aug 2, 2020 through Sat, Aug 8, 2020Editor's ChoiceFive Years After Speaking Out on Climate Change, Pope Francis Sounds an Urgent AlarmThe encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ motivated many people ...
From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...
National Party leader - Judith CollinsElections often bring out the best and worst in politicians. Some rise to the occasion and provide us with a clear vision for the future. While others wallow in resentment and controversy, over-relying on attack politics to try to attain the interest of voters.That’s been ...
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true:I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...
Good day to everyone. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come here and talk to you all about my concerns regarding the government response to Covid-19. We’ve been living through this pandemic for, what seems like, years. Years and years and years. Why else would the National Party have ...
‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ should be on your reading list. New Zealand does not have a Minister of Labour. It has Ministers of Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety but there is no minister with responsibility for the labour market. That responsibility was abolished in 2012 when ...
Back in the Kyoto era, the international climate change regime included a Clean Development Mechanism to fund emissions reduction projects in developing nations. Essentially someone would certify that a project - e.g. building a windfarm, or installing energy-efficient lightbulbs - would reduce emissions over and above "business-as-usual". The project would ...
Claire Breen, University of WaikatoWith COVID-19 vaccine developers reporting promising results, it is probable we will one day face a major public health question: can the government compel New Zealanders to be vaccinated? Just as inevitably, some people will refuse a vaccine. As we have seen overseas with debates ...
As the classic MMP cartoon goes, just look at who is against it. Yesterday, the Hamilton City Council voted to use STV for its next two local body elections. The move was initially opposed by deputy mayor Geoff Taylor. The reason? Because a voting system which provided accurate representation and ...
On Wednesday evening (which in Parliament’s weird world technically was still Tuesday because urgency had been taken and so time stood still), MPs united to remove a pretty terrible piece of law from our statute books. No real fanfare or fireworks accompanied this action. Indeed, I didn’t even know about it ...
By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as ...
Hello all. Judith here to talk about how National are going to take the election in September. The National Party prides itself its unity and cohesion. We are working together to deliver for New Zealanders. First of all, ee are a strong team. We are a very strong team. Our ...
Parliament has just begun the adjournment debate, signalling the effective end of this Parliament. So it seems like an appropriate time to assess Labour's term in office. Unfortunately, its a pretty dismal assessment. Labour campaigned on one thing: change. Not just a change in who got the top jobs and ...
Our climate change policies are insufficient to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, according to independent assessor Climate Action Tracker: New Zealand won’t be carbon neutral by 2050 without much stronger policies, says an independent analysis by Climate Action Tracker. The non-profit highlighted a lack of active ...
That was clearly a huge explosion. Just after the explosion, we see a cloud of ‘fog’ moving outwards at high speed. This is a shockwave, rather similar to that which causes a sonic boom. The ‘fog’ is caused by water condensing from the atmosphere in areas of intense low pressure ...
Can we postpone this year’s election? Quite frankly, the political parties don’t seem ready for it, and aren’t about to offer voters the necessary policy choices for the unprecedented times we’re in. We’ve ended up with a campaign focused on scandal, personality and leadership, with a policy void that’s worse ...
It is the last sitting day of Parliament, and the last question time before the House is dissolved. So, are there any questions about the damning findings of the Hit and Run inquiry, and how the government plans to bring the military back under democratic control? Of course not. ...
Property speculator - John KeyThe National Party must be in dire straits to have to rely on John Key to campaign on their behalf. Not only has the former PM been in the news claiming the recently released unemployment figures aren’t accurate, the fool has also been promoting the opening ...
Nothing Too Drastic: Few would dispute that the Left, today, are few in number. Is their failure to make the public aware of and act upon the manifest failures of the present system attributable to their lack of active energy and intelligence? Or, is it simply because the Left’s ideas ...
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...
After I noticed that my name had been taken yet again in vain by my friendly antagonist Tom Hunter over at No Minister, I went over to see what the fuss was about. Nothing much, but then I discovered a post about the Operation Burnham Inquiry by Psycho Milt. I ...
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 was extended today, until December 1st or the tenth sitting day following the resumption of Parliament after the election. It seems like a necessary extension. While we currently have eradicated the virus in New Zealand, it is still banging at the door, and ...
One of the government's key policies - extracted by NZ First as part of its coalition agreement - is the "Provincial Growth Fund": $1 billion a year spent on creating jobs in rural New Zealand. Yesterday the Auditor-General issued a report on the fund, finding that it lacks transparency, and ...
The Warehouse, one of New Zealand's biggest retailers, has decided to stop selling coal. Good. Coal is a dirty, polluting fossil fuel, and the less of it we have out there, the better. Retailers choosing not to sell it sends a clear message that this is not a fuel we ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and they show that unemployment actually dropped last quarter. All told, there are 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when the government took office. But before anyone thinks that the pandemic hasn't put people out of work, remember that this is for ...
Judy KavanaghI’m OK with wearing a CovidCard. But are you? There’s no point me doing it alone.The author modelling a (fake) CovidCard. I didn’t know much about the CovidCard proposal until I read Dave’s latest blog post. You would wear the card visibly on your person. It ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy can’t I use the battery from my electric car ...
As many good things come in threes (as the saying goes), we are happy to announce a third partnership between Skeptical Science and other websites. Fakebook.eco in Brazil is joining Klimafakten.de in Germany and Nauka o Klimacie in Poland to leverage translated rebuttal material and to make the information readily available in other ...
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw is awaiting the result of a precautionary COVID-19 test after travelling to the South Auckland area over the weekend. ...
The Auckland region moved to Alert Level 3 on 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August. The rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2. Visit covid19.govt.nz for the latest information on alert levels, including an overview of restrictions in your area. ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
We've announced that we will expand the Flexi-wage programme to support up to 40,000 more people into work, or to help them start their own business. It's yet another way we're helping keep our economy moving by getting people into work and training. Read on to find out more ...
Business subsidy of on average $7500, and up to $22,000, to hire unemployed New ZealandersUp to 40,000 jobs to be supported by $311 million investment in keeping New Zealanders off the unemployment benefitRing-fenced fund to help unemployed start their own business ...
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...
Kia orana and kia ora koutou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak in this adjournment debate and to mark and acknowledge the fact that we are now two years and 10 months into the conclusion of a parliamentary term that has been extraordinary in so many ...
On 1 August, we marked the anniversary of Jacinda Ardern becoming the Leader of the Labour Party. On that day in 2017, Leader Andrew Little nominated Jacinda Ardern to succeed him and lead the party to victory.Now, three years on, we look back at some of the key moments ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Government is stepping up action to deal with environmentally harmful products – including plastic packaging, tyres and e-waste – before they become waste. ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Graduation of Wing 340 2pm, 13 August 2020, The Royal New Zealand Police College [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege to be here today to celebrate the graduation of Wing 340. Let us begin by acknowledging the presence of Coalition Government colleague, Police Minister the ...
Transitional housing provides much needed support for Taumarunui whānau New emergency and transitional homes will help ease a housing shortage in Taumarunui and provide whānau with much needed support, say Māori Development Minister, Nanaia Mahuta and Whānau Ora Minister, Peeni Henare. The Ministers officially opened five two-bedroom units ...
Following the success of the phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags, the Government now has plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment announced Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage. The proposals are to phase-out: some hard-to-recycle PVC and polystyrene ...
After 102 days we have our first cases of Covid-19 outside of a Managed Isolation or Quarantine facility in New Zealand. Shortly I will ask Dr Bloomfield to set out the details of the case. While we have all worked incredibly hard to prevent this scenario, we have also planned ...
An iwi-Crown approach programme to restore the Raukūmara forest on the East Coast of the North Island and boost employment opportunities for whānau, particularly rangatahi/young people, will receive $34 million funding, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced. “Raukūmara Pae Maunga is a partnership with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and ...
Government agencies and partners are working closer together to provide more Māori Housing through the Te MAIHI o te Whare Māori – the Māori and Iwi Housing Innovation Framework for Action (MAIHI). MAIHI is a kaupapa Māori approach that drives a system change to give effect and impact on Māori ...
Site work is soon to begin on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway, the project to replace the former SH3 route through the Manawatū Gorge, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Phil Twyford was today in Woodville at the signing of a formal agreement by members of the Alliance ...
The Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) begins today and will focus on the major economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on the Pacific. FEMM is an important congregation of Economic Ministers and senior officials from around the region, and for the first time, the annual meeting will be ...
Cabinet has approved a formal apology and ex gratia payment to former soldier George Nepata, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. This payment is to recognise the New Zealand Defence Force’s failure to provide Mr Nepata with a safe system of work in April 1989 when, as a result of an ...
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...
Managed isolation charges for returnees will come into force from 12.01am Tuesday 11th August, after they passed their last cabinet milestone today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. “The new charging system balances the rights of New Zealanders to return home and helps reduce pressure on the managed isolation and quarantine ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island. Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel ...
The Government has launched a new online, phone and onsite service to help New Zealanders connect to a range of employment support and products for workers and businesses affected by COVID-19, announced Minister of Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. Connected.govt.nz is a one-stop-shop for jobseekers, ...
Security guards contracted to the Ministry of Social Development will be paid at least the Living Wage from next month supporting the Government’s commitment towards fair pay and employment conditions, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “MSD was among the first government agencies to pay its employees the living ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today launched Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy - a way forward that envisions Aotearoa New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. “Many of New Zealand’s plants and wildlife species ...
“Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. The strength and resilience of Pacific Aotearoa is not only vital to their own prosperity but integral to the prosperity of all New Zealanders, and is particularly ...
· $38 million to help schools cover unexpected costs related to COVID-19 · $69 million upgrade for online learning · $107 million contingency funding to support school construction suppliers facing additional costs due to the lockdown. The Government is releasing $214 million from the COVID-19 response and recovery fund to ...
Despite the Government installing safety upgrades around the country, people should still take care around rail crossings, said Transport Minister Phil Twyford launching Rail Safety Week. Phil Twyford said installing safety infrastructure is crucial, but we are encouraging people to be more careful around trains too. “We’re making good progress ...
The Government is providing a cash injection to help Palmerston North City Council complete a programme to provide 78 social housing units for vulnerable tenants. The $4.7 million to build 28 units in the Papaioea Place redevelopment comes from the $3 billion set aside for infrastructure in the Government’s COVID-19 ...
A pest free Banks Peninsula/Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū is one step closer with a $5.11 million boost to accelerate this project and create jobs, announced Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage in Canterbury today. “This is a game changer for this ambitious project to restore the native wildlife and plants on Ōtautahi/Christchurch’s doorstep ...
A Government grant of $6.4 million will expand the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale with new indoor courts of national standard. “The project is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed through the process,” Grant Robertson said. “The expansion will increase the indoor court space up to 11 ...
The Far North tourist destination of Mangonui is to receive Government funding to improve waterfront infrastructure, open up access to the harbour and improve water quality, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. A total of $6.5 million from the $3 billion set aside in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ...
The Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting the hosting of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which the ICC has delayed from 2021 to 2022. “This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world and for the White Ferns and their supporters here at ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
On 25 July 2020 several hundred people attended a seminar at Pipitea Marae in Poneke/Wellington, and several thousand more joined the discussion online, in the wake of Covid-19 and the lead-up to the general election to imagine an Alternative Aotearoa to that which ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zoe Loh, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO COVID-19 has curtailed the activities of millions of people across the world and with it, greenhouse gas emissions. As climate scientists at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, we are routinely asked: does this mean ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago As New Zealand enters its second day at heightened alert levels to contain a community outbreak of COVID-19, we expect that it should only be a temporary setback. Four cases with no direct ...
Greens co-leader James Shaw has accused National of calling for the election to be delayed out of concern for their own self-interest, not democracy. ...
Māori are particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories – especially ones that relate to the eradication of people – because that has been the reality for indigenous people. But if we’re going to protect our whānau from Covid-19, we need to engage, not block.If you’re Māori and on Facebook, chances are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bain Munro Attwood, Professor of History, Monash University The Conversation is running a series of explainers on key figures in Australian political history, looking at the way they changed the nature of debate, its impact then, and it relevance to politics today. ...
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 will now be sent straight to a managed quarantine facility by order of the Director-General of Health Thirteen new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been identified - all linked to the four cases of community transmission that triggered a lockdown of Auckland this week. Under a new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas McGee, PhD researcher, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, University of Melbourne No child should be denied her rights because her parents are LGBTIQ+, and no family should have to endure the indignity we did. These are the words of ...
The Minister of Conservation has appointed five new councillors and a new Chair to the New Zealand Game Animal Council. “Grant Dodson has been appointed Chair of the Game Animal Council and takes over from Don Hammond who has been Chair since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Varela, Research Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many economists think that earnings in super funds should be taxed at a relatively low rate, compared to labour earnings and other types of earnings ...
What the deputy leader of the opposition has been implying lately is more than “nonsense” – it represents a threat to one of New Zealand’s most powerful and undervalued assets, writes Duncan Greive.Things started getting interesting last Friday. National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee appeared on RNZ’s Morning Report to discuss ...
Latest from the Beehive We drew a blank, when we paid our morning visit to the Beehive website. Nothing had been posted since Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced the Government’s plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment. Hmm. Let’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago As New Zealand enters its second day at heightened alert levels to contain a community outbreak of COVID-19, we expect that it should only be a temporary setback. Four cases with no direct ...
By Patricia Kamo in Port Moresby A bus driver in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby says it is hard to force passengers to wear masks when they walk in. It is one of the measures put in place after the lifting of the country’s 14-day restrictions. Driver Mark Duma, ...
By RNZ News Senior Labour MP Grant Robertson has rejected opposition National’s suggestion that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern step back from announcements on covid-19 alert levels so close to a New Zealand election. National Party leader Judith Collins says it should be health officials, not the Labour leader, announcing changes ...
In the second episode of Alice Snedden’s Bad News, Alice goes to an event at parliament to try to talk with a group of ‘gender critical’ feminists – but things don’t go quite as planned.You’ve probably heard the term used in relation to high-profile people like JK Rowling, but what ...
Evening Report Video: This week in A View from Afar with Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning, we continue with our debate of how leaders around the world are embracing authoritarianism, isolationism, and in some cases, an abandonment of the rule of international law. A View from Afar is ...
The government has failed to meet its target of increasing the total number of police by 1800 officers in three years. But there are 1280 more officers than this time three years ago. ...
Greens co-leader James Shaw is isolating at home after a Covid-19 test following a campaign trip to the location of New Zealand's latest community cases Climate Change Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw has undergone a precautionary Covid-19 test after developing "minor cold symptoms" following a trip to South Auckland ...
A new New Zealand-made drama about life in lockdown was dropped from Prime’s schedule, just days before it was due to start. What’s going on? Peter Salmon reckons the perfect time to watch a New Zealand drama about a second-wave Covid lockdown is during a second-wave Covid lockdown. Prime disagrees, having ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin Jacinda Ardern is Prime Minister for a good reason. She is an excellent communicator. She got the message about mask-wearing almost bang-on in her speech yesterday. She was correctly reported as saying:Aucklanders should use a mask if they leave the house to access essential ...
In this Herald Premium article, the NZ Herald’s Matt Nippert and Keith Ng pick through forecasts and data to find an economy doing better than anyone predicted. As Auckland confronts a second round of community transmission, the gap between predictions and reality might hold clues which can help government and ...
Labour's Grant Robertson has called National's claims on Covid-19 "ridiculous nonsense" while its leader Judith Collins tells Morning Report his accusations are "outrageous". ...
Epidemiologist Simon Thornley says the new virus outbreaks and lockdown responses are proof that New Zealand must, as the WHO has recently said, learn to live with the virus. “An outbreak was inevitable, and therefore lockdowns were never a viable ...
The return to lockdowns is devastating news, on a variety of fronts. From the health perspective there must now be the deep worry that despite all the steps taken during the earlier lockdowns and the border restrictions and quarantines, there is community ...
Coronavirus is back in our community, bringing with it anxiety, fear and uncertainty. If you’re feeling like you can’t face going through it all over again, here are some coping strategies. Aucklanders are once again being asked to dig deep, emotionally speaking, in preparation for another lockdown and the accompanying uncertainty. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Turney, Professor, Earth Science and Climate Change, UNSW Geological and archaeological records offer important insights into what seems to be an increasingly uncertain future. The better we understand what conditions Earth has already experienced, the better we can predict (and potentially ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor for the School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University If we can do our grocery shopping under lockdown, we can vote under lockdown too. As much as supermarkets and pharmacies, the general election is an essential service ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Indonesia is still struggling to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Its fatalities are the worst in Southeast Asia, but so far ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Marschner, Professor of Biostatistics, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney It’s hard to recall a time when we didn’t nervously await the announcement of Victoria’s daily COVID-19 case numbers each morning. It was certainly disconcerting when the state recorded more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Marshall, Academic, Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, University of Melbourne Volcanic plains stretching from Melbourne’s west to the South Australian border were once home to native grasslands strewn with wildflowers and a vast diversity of animals. Today, this grassland ecosystem is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Larsen, PhD candidate, Education & Psychology, University of New England Whether to hold a child back from starting school when they are first eligible is a question faced by many parents in Australia each year. If you start a child at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Morris, Professor, Institute of Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney Many international students in private rental housing in Sydney and Melbourne were struggling before COVID-19 hit. Our surveys of these students before and during the pandemic show it has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dallas Rogers, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney Public housing estate redevelopments that displace residents to other suburbs are highly disruptive whereas projects that allow them to remain are suggested to be better. We tested this assumption through two ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bell, Executive Director, The Conexus Institute; Associate Investigator, CEPAR, UNSW The past financial year has been one of the most volatile on record for stock markets, yet almost every Australian super fund has delivered similar returns. This not only demonstrates that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Suddendorf, Professor, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland Today, bags are everywhere — from cheap canvas ones at the supermarket to designer handbags costing up to US$2,000,000. But archaeological evidence shows we have been using mobile containers — bags and ...
Overly cautious politicians and bankers are forcing the Reserve Bank to look at even more extreme ways to stimulate our Covid-hit economy and revive inflation ...
Ardern: Newsroom social. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's warm and informal use of Facebook Live has helped convey vital COVID-19 messages in a clear and relatable way, according to a new academic study. Communication experts claim the honesty and ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 13, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ level two. More details here. Official information here. Get ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins calls for a delay in the election, an update on community transmission and testing, and businesses fearing the fallout of another lockdown.At this stage, the election is still scheduled to take place on September 19. But with the country’s largest ...
More than 50 people are in managed isolation at New Zealand's border facilities so they can attend the sentencing of the Christchurch gunman in person. ...
Criticism of the Government's Covid-19 response is far from new, and has often had merit. But the new National leadership's dark mutterings of a cover-up are taking New Zealand politics in a dangerous direction, Sam Sachdeva writes."We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, ...
Legendary press gallery doyen Ian Templeton assesses two new studies of former Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Mike Moore As the 2020 election looms, Fridays with Jim by Wellington writer David Cohen is a timely book. Three-time Prime Minister Jim Bolger's reflections on leadership are insightful. More controversial may be those ...
An announcement on wage subsidies might be needed to avoid job losses - but not everybody agrees the Government should signal its intentions sooner rather than later, writes Dileepa Fonseka Crowds of people spilled out onto the street in Mangere East as the midday deadline for Auckland's entry into Level 3 ...
What’s the science behind the changed position on mask use? Farah Hancock reports. Auckland’s Level 3 lockdown will look different to the last lockdown. This time there will be masks. They’re mandatory for people on domestic flights leaving Auckland and “strongly urged” for everyone else when in public. The Government ...
In the first of a series on Muslim girls and women in sport in New Zealand, Ashley Stanley speaks to Noha Nasef, an ocean swimmer comfortable competing under full cover, who wants women wearing a hijab to be a normal sight in sport. Noha Nasef chose to take up open water swimming because ...
It looks like the dream finale of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season before a sellout Eden Park crowd will be off-limits for fans this Sunday, leaving Jim Kayes unfulfilled. It’s not the news a bunch of middle aged, success-starved Blues fans were hoping for. “Hi Richard,” began the note from the ...
The health workers and contact tracers are out on the front lines, but in the backrooms teams of mathematicians are running scenarios to figure out exactly what needs to be done, and how bad things could get. In big picture terms, fighting a pandemic is a numbers game, but with real ...
Yesterday’s announcement by the Reserve Bank that it will increase its money creation by an extra $40 billion dollars up to $100 billion over the next two years to buy government IOU’s off banks and rich investors sets an all-time record for money ...
The peerless Policy tool returns for its third edition, and it’s better than ever – fully geared to easily compare both parties and candidates across all the important issues.Campaigning might have been suspended for the rest of the week, along with much of normal life, but don’t let that stop ...
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another.As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, ...
Ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability are three key indicators for stress, and Aucklanders in particular are going through all of those right now The late-night announcement by the Prime Minister was a blow to the pit of the stomach of many. We thought we had this, and maybe some of ...
Wellington company EightyOne has been banned from Twitter for its 'Trumbers' campaign criticising Donald Trump. To date more than 600,000 people have viewed 'Trumbers' on Twitter and it has been shared with the Republican Party and Donald Trump. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Royal Commission into Aged Care put the Secretary of the Federal Health Department, Brendan Murphy, firmly in his place when he tried to make an opening statement to attack claims by the senior counsel ...
“Your post goes against our community standards on nudity or sexual activity” was the terse message that Professor David Robie, director of the Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre, RSF’s Oceania partner, received from Facebook whenever he tried to share an article about press freedom in Melanesia, especially the Indonesian provinces of ...
And is he about to launch a coup against Judith Collins? Just asking questions here.Jacindamania was meek by comparison. Just as Ardern captured a nation from the role of deputy leader of the opposition in 2017, so it is with Gerry Brownlee in 2020. Relentless grouchy, Gerrymania is in full ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin announced Russia was the first country to register a vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Developed by the Gamaleya Research ...
Power Play - Warnings another outbreak was bound to happen were not enough to prepare New Zealanders for the shock of seeing the country's largest city put back into level 3 lockdown. ...
Power Play - Warnings another outbreak was bound to happen were not enough to prepare New Zealanders for the shock of seeing the country's largest city put back into level 3 lockdown. ...
At lunchtime yesterday, Jacinda Ardern was easing into full campaign mode on the main street of Whanganui. Just a few hours later, news from Auckland turned her plans, and an election campaign, on its head. Justin Giovannetti reports from Whanganui and Wellington.Jacinda Ardern’s first day on the campaign trail outside ...
One bright spot amid the grimness of the Covid resurgence: the return of our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations of the pandemic by Chris McDowall.Over one hundred days, Covid-19 slowly slipped from my attention. I was aware of new cases reaching Aotearoa’s border, managed isolation breaches, relapses in ...
By RNZ News QR app codes are now mandatory for businesses and services, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have revealed, as they announced new covid-19 cases in New Zealand. Dr Bloomfield said there was just one new confirmed case in managed isolation recorded today, ...
Justin Latif takes the temperature of his community in South Auckland, ground zero for the latest Covid-19 outbreak.Following the prime minister’s announcement on Tuesday evening, my messenger app began pinging with pictures and videos of people at the supermarket. But it wasn’t panic buying that I was seeing, rather there ...
Odessa To’o on Selina Tusitala Marsh’s picture book Mophead, which was just named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. I almost didn’t read this book because of the title. Mophead. Instantly recognisable as an insult for anyone with big hair, even though I’ve never been called it myself. The kids ...
Announcing the winners of the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The supreme prize of the night, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, goes to Selina Tusitala Marsh for her super-personal picture book, Mophead.Mophead is memoir and clapback and wild doodle; it’s the story of ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman says the Indonesian government has asked her to return scholarship money amounting to 773 million rupiah (about US$70,000) which she received to undergo her master’s degree in Australia in 2016, reports CNN Indonesia. According to Vero – as she ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW With mask wearing in public compulsory in Victoria and recommended in New South Wales, many Australians are buying, wearing or making face masks for the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Webber, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Scientists have been interested in the flora of New Guinea since the 17th century, but formal knowledge of the tropical island’s diversity has remained limited. To solve this mystery, our global team of 99 scientists from ...
Photographers John Sefton, in Auckland, and Lynn Grieveson in Wellington watched the return of Level 3 lockdown and Level 2 restrictions on Wednesday, a day of masks, businesses shutting or setting themselves up for limited access, supermarket queues and people exercising their relative freedoms. As the clock ticked down, Bunnings ...
Open Mike 13/09/2017 
And sooner or later, the National Party will simply have to own up to the fact that the reason she was never chosen as Leader prior to her rolling Todd Muller a little less than a month ago was for very solid ones: the display of some truly ugly behaviour ...17 mins ago
The Waikato Regional Council is actually enforcing the RMA for once: Three Waikato farmers have been fined a total of $116,100 for illegally discharging farm effluent. [...] Gerard Wolvers from South Waikato, who has farmed for nearly 50 years, was convicted on three charges after an unknown amount of ...3 hours ago
The return of COVID-19 community transmission, with Auckland back in a level 3 lockdown and the rest of New Zealand at level 2, raises real questions about New Zealand’s upcoming general election.Polling day is scheduled for September 19 but the planned election process would actually start far earlier. All candidates were to be ...4 hours ago
Conspiracy theorist - Gerry BrownleeWhat on earth is going on with the National Party? Now that Crusher Collins is in charge, it seems like it’s their policy to say really dumb things just to get attention. Unfortunately it’s working, with most of the mainstream media bending over backwards to provide ...5 hours ago
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another. As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley ...6 hours ago
INT: ILAM ELECTORATE OFFICES – TUESDAY GERRY: Morning everybody. ADVISORS 1, 2, AND 3: Morning Gerry. GERRY: Now… this is a bit of a crisis meeting. Several rogue polls have come out putting the National Party on or around 40% ADVISOR 2: 26? ADVISOR 1: 12? ADVISOR 3: 29? GERRY: ...22 hours ago
Respecting the journal editorial process Each week we scan between 450 and 650 articles for relevance to Skeptical Science's remit: communication of the science of climate change itself the many affected branches of scientific inquiry by climate change. The 100+ journals we cover encompass a galaxy of expertise we cannot ...22 hours ago
Today’s content Community transmission Ben Thomas (Spinoff): What the Covid resurgence means for the election campaign Luke Malpass (Stuff): In this new lockdown, Labour competence will be key Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ’s bubble bursts as Covid returns Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Extremely disappointed’: National Party leader Judith Collins blasts Govt; says it let Covid-19 back ...1 day ago
What to do to improve the public perception of the newly elected National party leader, when her performance so far has no doubt disappointed the expectations of her supporters? The answer is to get a National-supporting newspaper (the Herald) to organise a poll that could be guaranteed to provide an ...2 days ago
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...3 days ago
...5 days ago
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From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...5 days ago
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true: I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...5 days ago
1 week ago
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...1 week ago
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw is awaiting the result of a precautionary COVID-19 test after travelling to the South Auckland area over the weekend. ...4 hours ago
The Auckland region moved to Alert Level 3 on 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August. The rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2. Visit covid19.govt.nz for the latest information on alert levels, including an overview of restrictions in your area. ...1 day ago
Graduation of Wing 340 2pm, 13 August 2020, The Royal New Zealand Police College [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege to be here today to celebrate the graduation of Wing 340. Let us begin by acknowledging the presence of Coalition Government colleague, Police Minister the ...1 hour ago
On 25 July 2020 several hundred people attended a seminar at Pipitea Marae in Poneke/Wellington, and several thousand more joined the discussion online, in the wake of Covid-19 and the lead-up to the general election to imagine an Alternative Aotearoa to that which ...28 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zoe Loh, Senior Research Scientist, CSIRO COVID-19 has curtailed the activities of millions of people across the world and with it, greenhouse gas emissions. As climate scientists at the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, we are routinely asked: does this mean ...41 mins ago
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Confirmed cases of Covid-19 will now be sent straight to a managed quarantine facility by order of the Director-General of Health Thirteen new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been identified - all linked to the four cases of community transmission that triggered a lockdown of Auckland this week. Under a new ...1 hour ago
Latest from the Beehive We drew a blank, when we paid our morning visit to the Beehive website. Nothing had been posted since Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced the Government’s plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment. Hmm. Let’s ...3 hours ago
Greens co-leader James Shaw is isolating at home after a Covid-19 test following a campaign trip to the location of New Zealand's latest community cases Climate Change Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw has undergone a precautionary Covid-19 test after developing "minor cold symptoms" following a trip to South Auckland ...4 hours ago
Overly cautious politicians and bankers are forcing the Reserve Bank to look at even more extreme ways to stimulate our Covid-hit economy and revive inflation ...7 hours ago
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Criticism of the Government's Covid-19 response is far from new, and has often had merit. But the new National leadership's dark mutterings of a cover-up are taking New Zealand politics in a dangerous direction, Sam Sachdeva writes. "We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, ...10 hours ago
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Legendary press gallery doyen Ian Templeton assesses two new studies of former Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Mike Moore As the 2020 election looms, Fridays with Jim by Wellington writer David Cohen is a timely book. Three-time Prime Minister Jim Bolger's reflections on leadership are insightful. More controversial may be those ...10 hours ago
An announcement on wage subsidies might be needed to avoid job losses - but not everybody agrees the Government should signal its intentions sooner rather than later, writes Dileepa Fonseka Crowds of people spilled out onto the street in Mangere East as the midday deadline for Auckland's entry into Level 3 ...10 hours ago
What’s the science behind the changed position on mask use? Farah Hancock reports. Auckland’s Level 3 lockdown will look different to the last lockdown. This time there will be masks. They’re mandatory for people on domestic flights leaving Auckland and “strongly urged” for everyone else when in public. The Government ...10 hours ago
In the first of a series on Muslim girls and women in sport in New Zealand, Ashley Stanley speaks to Noha Nasef, an ocean swimmer comfortable competing under full cover, who wants women wearing a hijab to be a normal sight in sport. Noha Nasef chose to take up open water swimming because ...10 hours ago
It looks like the dream finale of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season before a sellout Eden Park crowd will be off-limits for fans this Sunday, leaving Jim Kayes unfulfilled. It’s not the news a bunch of middle aged, success-starved Blues fans were hoping for. “Hi Richard,” began the note from the ...10 hours ago
Ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability are three key indicators for stress, and Aucklanders in particular are going through all of those right now The late-night announcement by the Prime Minister was a blow to the pit of the stomach of many. We thought we had this, and maybe some of ...10 hours ago
Photographers John Sefton, in Auckland, and Lynn Grieveson in Wellington watched the return of Level 3 lockdown and Level 2 restrictions on Wednesday, a day of masks, businesses shutting or setting themselves up for limited access, supermarket queues and people exercising their relative freedoms. As the clock ticked down, Bunnings ...22 hours ago
Colmar Brunton Poll due tomorrow
Last time the Colmar Brunton – Reid Research sampling period significantly overlapped (late August) = CB had Labour 4 points higher & the Nats 2 points lower than RR
Michael Appleton looks to polls during last close NZ election – 2005.
It’s generally accepted though that the swing to Labour that won that election was its late pitch to students and their families with interest free student loans. Will Labour be able to do something similar this time round?
swordfish
That’s good to know; CB certainly seem to be a lot more frequent during the election. Would I be right in supposing that the Roy Morgan is likely on Friday too (sampling 26/8 – 10/9)?
Another glorious rant from the god of swivel-eyed loons.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ahem-alex-jones-now-says-donald-trump-is-being-covertly-drugged_us_59b7d93de4b031cc65cca681?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
And in news we all already knew deep down but never really cared about, Ted Cruz’s twitter account gets honest.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-porn-like_us_59b76b91e4b031cc65cc1be4?section=us_politics
What’s the chance of a thread on one or all of the following?
A. Rachel Stewart’s article ‘Dont feel sorry for farmers.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11921404
B. Al Jazeera’s documentary ‘ Polluted Paradise.’
C. Bryan Bruce’s documentary ‘Who owns New Zealand?’
https://www.threenow.co.nz/shows/who-owns-new-zealand-now/S1344-012
Bryan Bruce’s documentary (‘Who owns New Zealand now?’) was great and is a must see.
I think there’s a post about the doco later the morning.
Very good.
Oooooou, I like all three
The effects of Irma, as seen from space.
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/11/16290234/hurricane-irma-2017-power-outages-florida-miami-naples-keys-space
The kind of fucked-up development that makes coastal region damage so expensive.
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/09/irma_made_marco_island_a_symbol.html
Twas a bad day for Labour yesterday.
It began with an interview on RNZ (which was revealing, exposing their support for the TPP with a housing carve out and their preference of maintaining a surplus over spending more on addressing child poverty). Ardern also said neoliberalism has failed, yet largely ruled out overturning its underpinning of the economy.
The day ended with a drop in the polls.
I beg your pardon they never promised you a rose garden, along with the sunshine there’s got to be a little rain sometimes…
😀
I never expected a “rose garden”, Marty.
While I’m willing to make concessions as there is no perfect party, it’s become clear from our discussions I’m not willing to lower the bar as far as you.
As for Labour’s headlining promises, they’re a little misleading. For example, take the headline free education, it equates to only 1 year free in their first term. And as I’ve often pointed out, a number of others also fall short.
And how is this for contradictory? Jacinda said “Any expectation that we just simply allow that the market to dictate our outcomes for people is where I would want to make sure that we were more interventionist.” Yet, entering into the TPP with only a housing carve out will curtail the Governments ability to intervene in the wider market.
Are you now going to make excuses and accept this form of double speak?
If you’re alone and life is making you lonely you can always go downtown…
;-D
sometimes all I need is the air that I breathe…
Giovanni Tiso has hit nail squarely on head….https://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/the-neoliberalism-question-notes-on.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BatBeanBeam-AWeblogOnMemoryAndTechnology+(Bat,+Bean,+Beam+-+A+Weblog+on+Memory+and+Technology)
“The term ‘neoliberal’ is often said to be excessively vague, but its value in this context was in fact to give specificity to Espiner’s line of questioning. Most obviously: would Ardern consider revisiting the Reserve Bank Act, the Public Finance Act or any of the other legislative instruments that have allowed the last four governments to put neoliberal reforms into practice?
The answer – need I say it – was no. And in the process of the fairly gentle interrogation that followed, the much-vaunted boldness of the Ardern project evaporated. She thinks that climate change is the ‘nuclear-free’ issue of our time, but wouldn’t commit to divesting from coal or even ceasing to issue new licenses for deep-sea oil exploration. She wants to end child poverty, but wouldn’t resile from her predecessor’s foolish commitment to contain spending to 30% of GDP and keep guaranteeing operating surpluses – one of the main causes of the staggering, crippling rise of our household debt – nor does she think that the government needs to seek more revenue through taxation. ”
and…..
” For there really was a window. An opportunity. Instead of playing her part in the political assassination of Metiria Turei, Ardern could have used her new position and her extraordinary popularity to stand by her side. Together, she and Turei could have broken the siege that has prevented beneficiaries – which is to say, a significant portion of the working class – from leading a dignified life and participating in society. Such a decision would have carried its own risks, naturally. But then this is what defines political courage, and it’s nothing if not courage that we desperately need. ”
I too am struggling with having to limbo low to vote Labour.
Looking like Two Ticks Green for me….
And builds up over time as they can afford it while maintaining the same failed economic system…
Yep. We actually need to drop out of FTAs so that we can start to take back our sovereignty rather than signing up to more of them.
Labour doesn’t want to scare business by actually promising to do what needs to be done. But, of course, they actually think that the failed ideology of the 19th century works.
Horse manure is supposed to be good for roses too isn’t it?
Doesn’t get rid of the pricks though ☺
marty mars
Vote now while your brain is at its sharpest!
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce, (I have assessed) there is no way to confirm accuracy .
We contacted some of these polling companies last year after we looked into the methods used by requesting details from them.
Results of several polling companies was disturbing.
We found, it is all based on trust that they are accurate nothing else.
They confirmed there is no ability for them to conduct any rechecks of voters stated choices on any with these ‘polls’ they told us.
The same applies to the general election, the electoral commission sent us an email confirming “there no no way we can confirm voters choice was recorded accurately.
Overseas now many countries are using a ‘Voter Verified Audit Paper Trail’ (VVPAT) voting systems (even with the manual paper voting system we still use) as they use electronic counting of paper votes after we surrender our paper vote at the polling centre, and we have confirmed that is where false recording of votes can take place.
Here in NZ they only do a sample manual rechecking of a fraction of all votes taken during our General Election System, so there are many flaws left inside our voting system today.
https://www.verifiedvoting.org/resources/vvpr-legislation/
So we asked the NZ Electoral Commission to switch to VVPAT and they refused so we are left to take their word for any poll conducted, so we must be wary of this lack of verification from any poll conducted now.
James Shaw today on TV one said their ‘internal’ polling showed the election will be very tight and every vote will count for them, so they will re-double their door knocking if able.
If this ‘Reid’ poll was ‘doctored’ by Joyce…
No! Joyce is a mere puppet of the Lizard People! The poll was in fact doctored by the Illuminati.
The Illuminatui?
I thought it was the Blocklayers that did that.
If it is a National win = ‘we wind up with more poisoned water to drink and swim in’ and ‘truck gridlocked roads’ we will die on.
If National win, more people die cold and poor on the streets.
LOL Ed
Bill English says some farmers may have to pay 50K for water if Labour win.
According to a chap on Natrad, if he did, that farmer would be using the same amount of water as 38,000 people. Or to put it another way, 50 such farmers would use more water than the entire city of Auckland.
Apparently, some dairy farmers on the dry plains of Canterbury use over three million litres of water per annum.
In total, agriculture uses 80% of all fresh water consumed in New Zealand. TIME TO PAY UP FARMER BROWN.
I thought the figure on Nat Radio this morning was an extra $70,000 for a farm (or was it $350,000?)- and he was concerned that the reduction in income would reduce the amount of purchasing in the local community. Imagine the positive effect of increasing the minimum wage!
The answer is to stop farming and get a credit in cash for the water you could have used.
Smart, being paid for not using, or farming even. A useful subsidy. Didn’t they do this in Britain at one time?
If you want to see why not to do it, have a look at the last
5060 years of fallow farming subsidies in the US.Probably the longest blackmail experience that I have ever read about and one that has been distorting their agricultural practices without changing them in the intended manner significantly.
The only link I have was the history book I was reading about it in
It might be a practical way of easing the b…s out of using more than rationed water, and overstocking! Or shorten their pipes surgically.
Ed in a morning report on RNZ an expert said in ‘real terms’ now all these farms that use water ‘irrigation’ use 80% of our total water in NZ.
I am betting we will not hear this staggering fact on any other MSM today and anytime till after election time.
On that recent Polluted Paradise Al Jazeera documentary they showed one typical dairy farmer in Canterbury who they calculate uses 12% of the total water Wellington does each year. Jaw dropping.
My dairy farming neighbour reckons 200 litres a day the cows can drink.
Plus watering crops, plus hose out of shed, plus rinsing milking gear….
If a cow drinks 30 litres a day (about avg) and you have a herd of 350 cows, that is 10,500 litres a day just on drinking. Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
This is excluding all other water.
So? What is your point? Apart from merely spinning a meaningless pile of cowshit.
For just myself and my partner I personally spend more than $1200 per year on getting drinking water and dealing with waste water. It is a resource that we use and for which we pay for.
The business that I work for pays for their water and sewerage for nearly 200 employees at a similar rate. Their bill would be heading up towards half a million dollars annually.
My point is that farmers should do the same. They should pay for the use of the common property of NZ.
If your business model and processes aren’t sustainable without a ‘free’ resource that you don’t care for properly and that others wind up having to pay for, then you should shut down the business. We aren’t prepared to give you that charity anymore bearing in mind the state you have been leaving the waterways and aquifers in.
If nothing else, putting price on your ‘free’ resource should cause you to start treating it like any other business input. Figuring out ways to use it more efficiently and without causing problems to those downstream.
Updated: And I missed the 3 orders of magnitude of cost that blackops lied about…..
Brilliant comment lprent
I suggest we each keep a copy of it and remind ourselves of the basis of the argument regularly.
I thought the proposed figure for water charges was to be per cubic metre which would be 2 cents per 1000 litres, not per litre, so about 7,600 dollars not 76,000 dollars.
It’s even more stupid – at $1 for 50,000 litres, you’d be looking at $76 per year for 3.8 mil litres of water. The fact is that farming is using so much water that such a nominal charge still adds up to plenty of money for improving water quality.
Per annum that is 3.8 million litres. That at a 2 cent per litre levy would cost a farmer $76,000 per year extra.
Yeah, that would be ridiculous, right?
Howver, Labour is talking 1 to 2 cents per thousand litres, not per litre. It would be nice if the media made it a bit clearer that we’re talking about $76 per year, not $76,000. You’ve been reading too much National bullshit.
http://www.labour.org.nz/fact_check_water_royalty
Thanks Psycho M – my glasses got misted when the spraying arm went past.
C’mon blackcap, that’s not cricket.
It is intended that the tax will only be on people who are taking for irrigation so the average farmer who isn’t doing this is going to be just fine. It is the people farming in a way that is unsuited to the local environment and therefore creating a burden on that environment that will finally have to pay a small amount for something that they have polluted in the name of profit for far too long.
Water will be the new oil. We must do all we can to protect our clean water and take the maximum benefit as a country not as individuals for it’s use.
English often laments the urban rural divide. Yet who exactly is creating and promoting the divide? English is and it is a cynical ploy.
Another canard from the same right-wing stable as “This country used to have great race relations until the left started encouraging Maori to complain” and “Employment relations would be great if the unions weren’t instigating trouble.”
Well, that was over quickly. I feel like I won the lottery on Friday only to piss it all against a wall by Monday to be back where I started.
A forth term for National will break a lot of people. If you don’t own a mortgage-free house or farm or earn more than $60000 a year, then expect your living standards to slide, as National lowers wages and social spending.
Yep whoever makes body bags is in for a killing.
A fourth term for National won’t be so bad, even Jacinda said NZ is doing pretty good, but theres still plenty of twists and turns still to come in this election I fel
Always nice to find a dumbarse troll who can’t quote properly and can’t link to the source of their quote. The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically.
And I’d argue even that – I think that she is being charitable.
Because it looks to me like it is currently being sustained artificially on levels of nett inwards migration and inwards debt to pay for excessive property prices rather than on anything of sustainable use. Essentially my business trained sensors are detecting a ponzi scheme perpetuated by National to produce good figures without any particular substance.
And yet as she also points out we have a rapidly growing homeless problem, an epidemic of suicides, pollution, a massive sustained under investment in critical infrastructure and housing, inequality, and a large number of other issues that will cause the economy to tank in the medium term.
None of which National has shown ANY real inclination to change. Instead we just get the spewing of lies from Nick Smith or Steven Joyce, ineffectually supported by their mate Bill.
If you want to comment here, then I suggest you do better. We aren’t a place for stupid astroturfing parrots.
Hear Hear!! Iprent you said what I was thinking.
Ok then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_the_economy,_stupid
“The key word that you missed out as you lied by omission was economically. ”
NZ is doing well economically:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_New_Zealand
NZ is improving the pay gap:
http://www.globalwomen.org.nz/news-and-events/blog/2017-women-in-work-index-places-nz-pay-gap-at-6/
People do place a lot of stock of how well the country Is going economically and, not withstanding your business acumen, theres a lot of people who believe NZ is doing well
Is it enough for a fourth term though? I don’t know, this election has been very topsy-turvy so far
A lot of people taken in by Nationals propaganda. Even in right wing terms such as per capita GDP, balance of trade and productivity New Zealand is going downhill. Propped up only by the reserve banks excessive interest rates , immigration and natural disasters.
Numerous people have asked Newshub to provide the figures for undecided voters from their poll last night. They are ignoring all requests. Why?
Boonman @boonman 30m30 minutes ago
“Still waiting for @patrickgowernz OR @NewshubNZ OR @NewshubPolitics to tell us the number of undecided voters from the poll last night”
Newshub RR have always been the least methodologically transparent of Pollsters
In stark contrast to Colmar Brunton
Nevertheless this obsession with Undecided voters = clutching at straws
(Like weka’s
)
I would just like to know whether there is a difference in undecided between their last few polls and I find it odd that they are refusing to provide that information.
By my reckoning New Zealand’s most militant “union” by a good margin would be Federated Farmers. Any chance of them having their wings clipped …
I like Tauraga the people are nice and friendly you can grow vegetables all year round its nice and warm being close to the sea and located were it’s.
Tauranga is a jewel in our beautiful country.
But I remember seeing sand on the road in the Mount and flooding was just about to happen the residents of Tauranga did not get flooded out this time.
But with OUR ocean warming up and the fact that heat is energy in the near future there will be major flooding and damage to the residents property’s.
This scenario is a when and not a if so WE must plan for the worst weather that could hit Tauranga and if WE don’t plan for climate change the residents of Tauranga will be in the shit.
Now I no most Tauranga residents adore
Winston Peters but I say that because cause Winston doesn’t have a plan to mitigate climate change that you people of Tauranga will be up a creek with out a paddle when the next BIG storm or BIG hurricane strikes as a lot of Tauranga is just above sea level and the sea has a huge and powerful force.
I did Not speak against Winston until he showed that he would side with national and if national and Winston get into parliament there will be no planning for climate change and no plans to protect you the residents of Tauranga or your properties.
I am not letting you no this out of malice for Winston as this is not the way I work I’m letting you people no out of concern for your future and your safety. So I plead for your safety don’t vote Winston in or national because national is hiding the climate report they don’t care for your safety. So vote for the anyone but the two party’s that are ignoring climate change it is your future and your grandchildren future your voting for.
Tauranga may be a jewel, Eco maori, but it still votes National 🙁
Did you not read right through JanM?
Yes I did – sorry if I wasn’t clear – I meant I think they will still vote National – they are quite a conservative ‘head-in-the-sand’ society like a lot of the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region
Thinking of business and why we have to keep on doing things to nurse our businesses along as they are always doing it hard, can’t find workers etc. Then we can’t afford to pay ordinary workers much while the people at the top live on the fat of the land for just doing a job that requires extra skills.
How about this for wage progression -Bottom under $40,000, few extra skills $60,000 (50% more), advanced experience $80,000, top managers $110,000 and Chief executive $150,000. But someone I know who I think is in human resources is getting $140,000 and is probably smart but just at keeping up with the others. So we are going backwards in NZ with he middle class going up or some getting lost and going down, the middle class is under pressure in western countries. The lower class is increasingly the precariat. Social mobility is now hard-won, not encouraged. Mainly to keep inflation low. To satisfy those with money to invest?
Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?
If we are going to go backwards let’s try to put money into the regions’ pockets that stays there. Go back to where we encouraged small domestic industries which then branched out into export of excellent products. Let’s build a basecourse of solid small initiative ‘pop ups’ all over the country shouting look at us New Zealanders come and visit your own, and try us out. Nurture regional areas of excellence in what they do best. Ricardo economics within a domestic framework not over-extended as under free market machinations hand in hand with nasty neolib.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
The theory of comparative advantage is an economic theory about the work gains from trade for individuals, firms, or nations that arise from differences in their factor endowments or technological progress.[1]
In an economic model, agents have a comparative advantage over others in producing a particular good if they can produce that good at a lower relative opportunity cost or autarky price, i.e. at a lower relative marginal cost prior to trade.[2] One does not compare the monetary costs of production or even the resource costs (labor needed per unit of output) of production.
Instead, one must compare the opportunity costs of producing goods across countries.[3] The closely related law or principle of comparative advantage holds that under free trade, an agent will produce more of and consume less of a good for which they have a comparative advantage.[4]
David Ricardo developed the classical theory of comparative advantage in 1817 to explain why countries engage in international trade even when one country’s workers are more efficient at producing every single good than workers in other countries.
He demonstrated that if two countries capable of producing two commodities engage in the free market, then each country will increase its overall consumption by exporting the good for which it has a comparative advantage while importing the other good, provided that there exist differences in labor productivity between both countries.[5][6] Widely regarded as one of the most powerful[7] yet counter-intuitive[8] insights in economics, Ricardo’s theory implies that comparative advantage rather than absolute advantage is responsible for much of international trade.
David Ricardo – Investopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/david-ricardo.asp
David Ricardo was a classical economist known for his Iron Law of Wages, labor theory of value, theory of comparative advantage and theory of rents. David Ricardo and several other economists also simultaneously and independently discovered the law of diminishing marginal returns.
“Hardly, how does low inflation, low interest help old age pensioners who were counting on interest to provide extras to the benefit?”
And yet we still see the relentless promotion of Kiwisaver… Not to mention the eternal damnation of pension-age ‘Boomers’ whose little bits of money add to the income of shops and services.
Unless successive governments can protect the investments made by the citizens – what’s the use of saving for your retirement, eh? You’ll end up like Don Brash’s pa after he’d sold the farm and the inflation rate took off. A comfortable nest egg turned into less than an average year’s pay.
Doesn’t pay to be prudent or thrifty.
National has presided over the death of kids’ learning in New Zealand being important.
Real learning, proper learning, according to who and what the children are themselves , and capable of, have given way to checklists, targets and percentages.
What the kids could be and the type people we need in the world are incidental to charts and graphs.
When the teacher force is completely dumbed down to play the dumb game, and those who should be the leaders in the profession are singing from the Tolley/Parata/Kaye song sheet, we are totally stuffed. We are well on the way to that already.
Education in that sense is not an issue in the election yet that to me that is the real issue of the times. Are we to give Kaye the hammer and nails again to drive into the coffin they have fashioned? Also are we to give henchman Seymour a nail gun again?
As a retired ece teacher, I spend time as a volunteer in my grandson’s new entrant classroom. It breaks my heart (and that of the experienced teacher)
Press cover of Winston in Gisborne yesterday.
http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/2990284-135/on-the-hustings-in-gisborne-with
Clearly committed to regional rail & restoring the regions.
September 13, 2017
gisborneherald.co.nz
On the hustings in Gisborne with Winston Peters
by Wynsley Wrigley Published: September 13, 2017 10:33AM
ON THE ATTACK: New Zealand First leader Winston Peters claims Gisborne does not have the ear of Wellington and “the old parties”. In Gisborne yesterday, Mr Peters said New Zealand First would provide financial support to regional airports, including Gisborne’s, and support reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line.
NEW Zealand First supports reinstatement of the Gisborne to Napier rail line and state funding of regional airports such as Gisborne’s, said party leader Winston Peters when he was in Gisborne yesterday.
He told the Herald that Land Transport funding of Railways of National Importance, such as the Gisborne line, had long been party policy, but was disappointed that many Gisborne people would not know that.
“We will provide much-needed funding for regional airports owned by local authorities to help pay for infrastructure improvements and to meet safety and amenity standards,” he said.
“Unlike big airports they don’t have large revenues to help pay for the things they need. Every OECD country subsidises regional airports and air services, except New Zealand.
“Even the USA, home of the market, knows and does that. These countries know airports are crucial for communications, business development, air ambulances, and tourism, and must be supported by central government.”
Mr Peters said the sky around Gisborne was “darkening” because of the “old parties”.
“Politicians come here and say what they want to do for you. I’ve seen years of them doing stuff all for you. I see Gisborne and what it’s become.
“It still has the same people, resources and assets. It has everything, but it does not have the ear of Wellington.”
Mr Peters said nothing could be more compelling in his argument than closure of Gisborne’s rail line.
New Zealand First supported it from beginning
“No one put their hand up to defend it other than one party: New Zealand First. Not now, not last month, not last year, but when it happened and since then.
“You give us a chance in this campaign, we are going to open it.”
He said no treasury analysis was required. No transport infrastructure was efficient everywhere. There could be both inefficient and efficient sectors, which together made a successful operation.
If inefficient areas were wound back, efficient areas were affected because overall numbers diminished.
He said regional airports were part of the national grid.
“If the United States and other OECD countries understand that, why not New Zealand?”
Mr Peters said other regional airports to benefit from the policy included Kaitaia, Kerikeri, Whangarei, Kaitaia, Chatham Islands, Hokitika, Masterton, Taupo, Timaru, Westport, Whakatane and Whanganui.
“Eleven airports are being told to put up or shut up. This is astonishing. Who do they think goes through Auckland Airport? A lot of them are going to places like Gisborne, they all add up.”
Public pronouncements
At a public meeting at the Cosmopolitan Club Mr Peters said:
• New Zealand First would ensure continuity of forestry supply for local processors, and keep forestry sustainable.
• The New Zealand Forestry Service would be reinstated. “This plan is so good the Labour Party swiped it a few days ago.”
• New Zealand First is committed to a massive campaign to seal rural roads, improve road quality and double-lane bridges where sensible. “We want Gisborne to have a fully co-ordinated transportation strategy with road, rail and coastal shipping.”
• New Zealand First would return the GST paid by international tourists in this region for tourism infrastructure and roads, and to stimulate job training and opportunities.
• Any water rights for exports in this region would pay serious royalties, which would return to Gisborne.
• New Zealand First will help exporters, farmers and others by fixing the Reserve Bank Act.
• Devaluation of the dollar would help export-orientated provinces like Gisborne.
I no I’m of topic but I have to say this.
The only way we are going to get the state to heal is not a commission’s investigation. We need someone to champion the issue of the harm done to those people in state care and use people power and start the court process and sue the state for the injustices that happened to those people
It could be. I think it has been done in other countries. This bunch don’t see treating all people with care and hopefully with respect as part of their core duties.
The job of pollies is wheeling and dealing for their class, which they have established over the last 30 years since the idea of equality was set aside as an impediment to business.
I have spoken to some of the wealthy and there mind set is totally different to mine.
They don’t want to shear there lollies they don’t care about our poor and vulnerable people they don’t agree with my thoughts which are that these people are OURS they are part of our SOCIETY we are all kiwis we are all humans .
So we have the responsibility to care for these people and we have the responsibility to make sure that the government that gets elected will care for these peoples future even if they are brown white or yellow they are our people to care for.
Now these people that don’t care about there neighbors or the environment well 99 % of these people will vote and in my view they are about 20 % of the population and the elderly will be about 20 % and 99 % of these people will vote. Now the elderly care about our poor but they don’t like change as they will be worried that change means hardship for them. So these two groups of our people will vote national and NZ first if only 60 % of the total population vote . Then these two groups of people are going to decide our whole country fate which will be shit. So every one that has left leaning principals
please do your duty to yourself the poor vulnerable and your children and go and vote for any party except national and NZ first This is our country and we must vote to clean up nationals MESS.