Nice work if you can get it. What a joke. Why do they not get the minimum wage like so many others? It’s not as if they add value to the economy or anything.
Nice work if you can get it. What a joke. Why do they not get minimum wage like so many others? It’s not as if they add value to the economy or anything. Plus they claim that work is drying up……. wtf? Nobody in our circle has had their house repaired, replaced or settled in any form yet and our area was smashed so how can they claim the work is finishing. I am gobsmacked. Useless shits.
It is no wonder that resentment burns and smoulders in our lands and random people get killed by the disenfranchised in Wellington.
CV, face it we would all do it if we had the necessary “expertise”. In this case supply and demand for “experts” has pushed the price up HOWEVER..
* with the recession we should make the laws of supply and demand push down the rate severely.
* we should be questioning the “cult” of expertise much harder and deploying experts to only “expert” work, as opposed to functionalistic paper pushing at the same rate.
A little bit of business savvy would go a long way, remember EQC grew overnight from 30 people to 3000 (figures open to question but to illustrate a point). They have to be praised for the “just do it” growth, but it is now time to bring some governance to bear.
Ouch! Wow, that was too close to the bone I guess. Stability? Bollocks!! Sounds like shit to me, and you’re going to have to suck it in. National = Stability…. you’ve been reading too much of granny or corporate press- get a grip!
Sprat, you are going to find your concept of stability waxes then wanes really fast. Banksters like Shonkey and his Nact mates (and their injternational ilk) are about to deliver to you the mother of all financial crashes and subsequent ill tempered responses in an attempt to save their mates money. They wont be able to save their hides however. Enjoy “stability” while you can before the mob comes looking for you.
spratwax, yep we do get snappy down these parts – especially when our builders who are sitting on their arses doing nothing waiting for EQC to rubber stamp about a million pieces of paper, all the while getting $75/hour while the builders get $25-45 /hour for dong the actual work. And then they have the cheek to say that their work is almost finished!!! WTF? Of all the people we know with damaged homes dealing with EQC, I would guess maybe 1 in 10 have got somewhere concrete and 1 in 20 have work started. Fact. (we ourselves have been seen once in 15 months. yep. once.)
It riles.
Then when you see a constant parade of headlines like the one mentioned about the amount being paid to people who are effectively just cleaners at South Canterbury Finance, after our family alone shelled out approx. $400 for each and every one of us, through the taxpayer guarantee scheme rort to bail this shitheap of a company out…..
Maybe we are just still on edge – but all the above sits out of plumb and sparks ignite.
As for the national vote in Chch – my point was that the swing was to the encumbent not the national party. If labour had been the encumbent the same thing would have happenned. Whether or not they are stable isn’t the issue – the perception of stable government (i.e. not changed) was the driver.
And finally, lprent, try shortdrop and you will get the picture…..
Do you know why your builders are sitting around on their arses? Because the Government gave Fletchers the exclusive contract for the rebuild- and guess who has shares in the owners of Fletcher building- John Key (and probably Bill English).
I met a an elderly couple up here in AK visiting friends for a 2 week break from the misery and they have a son who is a builder in Chch and has no work apart from some demolition scraps- struggling to put food on his family’s table, apparently. The woman was in tears. That’s why I’m surprised Chch voted National- WTF!
And now all this shit about EQC hiring the kids of EQC managers to assess at $75 an hr- I’m sure some of the out of work Chch builders would like some of that work! My son who is 19 had a classmate out of 7th form at his school in AK who is also down in Chch this year doing ‘assessing’- his father works at one of the banks.
Rampant corrupt practices going on in the rebuild by the sounds of things.
Fletchers probably got it also because they are the only ones with the scale and systems to manage and bill/pay thousands of subbies. The Govt really doesn’t want to have to do that directly.
Fletchers probably got it also because they are the only ones with the scale and systems to manage and bill/pay thousands of subbies.
In other words, all they’re doing is clipping the ticket as it goes past. You don’t need a single group to hire thousands of subbies to do thousands of jobs. In fact, one of the supposed advantages of the “free-market” is that monopolies are removed.
Speaking on Breakfast TV this morning Cameron Slater was going on about getting a couple of things wrong this year and posting an apology or retraction…
Breakfast TV has got to be a worry, hosts like the cretinous Paul Henry and ill educated dimwits like Petra the skinny person. Then the need to have “guests” like the blubbery one. Whole thing is vomit worthy.
Recently I visited relatives and their complaint was that Petra talked like an express train. I watched Breakfast for the first time and had to agree. They actually can’t understand what she is saying. Is that how young people act when they’re on Speed? Television is all hokum these days it seems, Maori Tv seems to be the real deal though. And remember Bored that the cretinous Paul Henry has gone to Australia and got himself a good job on tv there.
Uh ah. Ominous from Minister of Ed Parata: “She intended to pursue National Standards “unambiguously” saying they were a significant part of dealing with the one fifth of children who were not achieving at school.”
Still wonder about the disconnect between NS and failing kids. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10772883
The argument draws the analogy that entrepreneurs and investors are the seeds of the tree, but just as important is the environment that the seed falls into – soil vs rocky ground, bog vs desert, etc. The key piece of the commercial environment is the ability of customers to purchase the growing company’s products – so if you want lots of businesses to grow and employ people, you need to ensure that the middle-class customer base is big and “fertile”.
Â
I might have to look at my emails more closely from now on đ
([Trickle down economics is] like saying that a seed creates a tree. The seed does not create the tree. The seed starts the tree. But what creates the tree is the combination of the DNA in the seed and the soil, sunshine, water, atmosphere, nutrients, and other factors that nuture it. Plant the seed in an inhospitable environment, and it won’t create anything. It will die.)
So, then, if what creates the jobs in our economy is, in part, “customers,” who are these customers? And what can government policy do to make sure these customers have more money to spend to create demand and, thus, jobs?
The customers of most companies, Hanauer points out, are ultimately the gigantic middle class â the hundreds of millions of Americans who currently take home a much smaller share of the national income than they did 30 years ago, before tax policy aimed at helping rich people get richer created an extreme of income and wealth inequality not seen since the 1920s.
The middle class has been pummeled, in part, by tax policies that reward “the 1%” at the expense of everyone else.
This analysis revealed a lot of surprising conclusions, including the following:
Today’s government spending levels are indeed too high, at least relative to the average level of tax revenue the government has generated over the past 60 years. Unless Americans are willing to radically increase the amount of taxes they pay relative to GDP, government spending must be cut.
Today’s income tax rates are strikingly low relative to the rates of the past century, especially for rich people. For most of the century, including some boom times, top-bracket income tax rates were much higher than they are today.
Contrary to what Republicans would have you believe, super-high tax rates on rich people do not appear to hurt the economy or make people lazy: During the 1950s and early 1960s, the top bracket income tax rate was over 90%–and the economy, middle-class, and stock market boomed.
Super-low tax rates on rich people also appear to be correlated with unsustainable sugar highs in the economy–brief, enjoyable booms followed by protracted busts. They also appear to be correlated with very high inequality. (For example, see the 1920s and now).
Periods of very low tax rates have been followed by periods with very high tax rates, and vice versa. So history suggests that tax rates will soon start going up.
After all the Labour leadership nonsense I decided that some humour was in order so I trawled the Daily Mash and saw this line, “ The modern world has forgotten that masturbation can be an aspirational activity.” which instantly reminded me of an epithet I often apply to those aspirational types who vote National. http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/opinion/columnists/stylish-masturbator%2c-with-dermot-jaye-201112124664/
Word association. I will never be able to hear the word “aspiration” again without thinking “******s…..
Enjoy.
Now we’ve got even more problems with a global climate change treaty eventuating as the greedy morons keep their heads in the sand over the rather real future costs of climate change, whilst yelling constantly about the compliance costs.
And we can blame it people preferring to stick to the cognitive short cuts evolution equipped us with* instead of actually thinking critically. Especially when there’s big fat lobbyist payouts and donations involved.
Oh, and the whole “it the Liberal’s fault!” excuse is oh so cute, given Harper’s government has had two terms to come to grips with Canada’s Kyoto obligations and chose not to, creating the situation.
________________
*in terms of the environment we evolved in, if you didn’t make use of a limited resource asap, it probably wasn’t going to be there in future, unless you hid or cached it away. Unfortunately it’s so useful today, where it’s exploited to make you get yourself in debt and buy shiny things just because they’re on sale (hello steam sale…).
Harper’s turned Canada into a petrostate where the wealthy are rewarded with oil dollars either directly (contracts) or indirectly (tax cuts), we can hardly expect anything different.
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriots love in all shale oil demand.
With slowing hearts we see demise,
The True North melting, wildlife free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we see no ice on thee.
God keep our land glorious dead sea!
O Canada, we want money for thee.
O Canada, we want money for thee.
Britain’s press are fighting a class war, defending the elite they belong to
Â
and
Crime and antisocial behaviour are represented as the predations of the poor on each other, or on the middle and upper classes. “Blonde millionaire’s wife raped in luxury home by asylum-seeking benefits cheat” is the transcendental form of a thousand tabloid headlines, alongside “Pippa Middleton’s bottom gets ÂŁ1m makeover from top designer”. Though benefit fraud deprives the exchequer of ÂŁ1.1bn a year while tax avoidance and evasion deprive it of between ÂŁ40bn and ÂŁ120bn, the tabloids relentlessly pursue the petty crooks, while leaving the capos alone.
OMG – these people really do think they are a class apart!
Trevor Allan Ludlow [A former director of National Finance] entered his pleas in the High Court in Auckland on Tuesday relating to charges brought against him by the Financial Markets Authority.
The related to making false statements and mistatements in a registered prospectus.
He is already serving a near-six-year jail sentence for defrauding investors of about $3.5 million.
Earlier in the hearing, Ludlow asked the court to sentence him this week so he could get out of Mt Eden Prison to study, saying that it is a horrible environment.
Justice Priestley denied the request to sentence this week, saying it will occur in January.
– Source
Perhaps we should all be ashamed that we, as a nation, are putting this poor man through so much. The food is insufferable and the view sucks. Oh the inhumanity!
Next minute he’ll be running for prime Minister!
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of Historyâs clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.ITâS A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Actâs and NZ Firstâs extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country heâs described as âfragileâ, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of MÄori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz  from the Beehive The governmentâs official website â which Point of Order monitors daily â not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winterâs night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfatherâs house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of MÄori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary â including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal â that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealandâs media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been Nationalâs media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but heâs not ...
Chris Trotter writes –Â New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Keyâs flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMPâs five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as âits largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliffâ. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the countryâs leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that âcorruptâ the nationâs ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. Itâs important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes –Â The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that âthe first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.â When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECDâs second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commissionâs 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the governmentâs official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:Â we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition  NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamarikiâs statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. âThere are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a âfirst strikeâ (that is, a âstage-1 convictionâ under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a âsecond strikeâ. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesnât normally happen in politics. Thatâs refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to âsaveâ the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Governmentâs official website – arrived in Point of Orderâs email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive  Melissa Lee â as may be discerned from the screenshot above â has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Governmentâs focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes –Â Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu â often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
This afternoonâs interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour childrenâs spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te PÄti MÄori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veteransâ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veteransâ affairs spokesperson Greg OâConnor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxonâs management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonightâs court decision to overturn the summons of the Childrenâs Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about MÄori without evidence, says Te PÄti MÄori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. âThe judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last yearâs severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labourâs environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our countryâs most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Governmentâs Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a âget out of jail freeâ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te PÄti MÄori Justice Spokesperson, TÄkuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, MÄori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealandâs good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National governmentâs lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te PÄti MÄori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. âThis act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.â Said Te PÄti MÄori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for TÄmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te PÄti MÄori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mĆ TÄmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with MÄori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Governmentâs democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Governmentâs proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change thatâs great for the planet and great for consumers after her memberâs bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
The return of the historic Ć-RÄkau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mĆ Ć-RÄkau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ć-RÄkau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Governmentâs plan to supercharge New Zealandâs EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four â and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Governmentâs plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. âI have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People â Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Governmentâs plan to restore law and order. âSpeaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). âNew Zealandâs goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. âIâm putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure âone stop shopâ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. âThe NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
WhÄnau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. âGiving these whÄnau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Governmentâs goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave OâSullivan (OBE). âOur sympathies are with the OâSullivan family with the sad news of Dave OâSullivanâs recent passing,â Mr Peters says. âHis contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmacâs largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff.  âAccess to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwisâ lives. Weâve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,â says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. âWe know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,â Dr Reti says. âEvery day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikoheâs new $14.7 million sports complex. âThe completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,â Mr Jones says. âThis facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Petersâ engagements in TĂŒrkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges.  âReturning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,â Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen â good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood â a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - Â It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Â Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Â Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. âOur Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealandâs hydrogen future, with the opening of the countryâs first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. âI want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealandâs own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealandâs energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. âThe report shows that New Zealandâs emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,â Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where heâll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Governmentâs work to restore law and order. âAttending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealandâs human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the worldâs largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. âThe reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealandâs wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin  NgÄ mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho  Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today.  I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. âOur Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealandâs overseas missions.  âOur diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealandâs interests around the world,â Mr Peters says.  âI am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. Â âOver 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. âIt is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. âOur coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
âChina remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,â Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says.  Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. âRecently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachersâ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on âmaintaining the status quoâ and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australiaâs strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealandâs economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawaiâiâs House of Representatives has joined the stateâs Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israelâs war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24â1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today â and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders â the military-led border security operation that has âclosed Australiaâs borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
Publisher Chris Holdaway reflects on the unique project of collecting the work of the late, terrific poet Schaeffer Lemalu. One of the nice things you can do as a truly independent publisher is to make the books that writers want to make, whatever they happen to be. Thatâs how Iâve ...
Those profiled in the stamp series served on overseas deployments from 1995 onwards, and all have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. ...
Last nightâs dismal poll result for the coalition government shows the limits of trying to govern as an opposition, argues Joel MacManus. Thereâs a quote from the American political activist Barbara Deming: âVengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most peopleâs minds, the thought ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shireen Morris, Associate Professor and Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab at Macquarie University Law School, Macquarie University Leonid Andronov/Shutterstock Foreign interference in Australian democracy poses a growing risk to our national sovereignty. It refers to coercive, corrupt or ...
A defendant charged by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has pleaded guilty to four charges of obtaining by deception in relation to a mortgage fraud scheme. Sentencing has been scheduled for 14 August 2024. ...
What to say when pesky journalists ask gotcha questions like âcan you name a single book youâve ever read?â and âdid you read it, or did you just see the movie?âThis week, Act Party arts spokesperson Todd Stephenson foolishly agreed to an interview with Newsroomâs Steve Braunias regarding his ...
Explainer - What will a ban on cellphones in schools achieve? Can students use them during lunch breaks? And what happens if you need to contact your child? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, Australian Museum, UNSW Sydney Jodi Rowley, CC BY-NC-ND In winter 2021, Australiaâs frogs started dropping dead. People began posting images of dead frogs on social media. Unable to travel to investigate the deaths ...
In the year ended March 2024, 0.4 percent of home transfers were to people who didnât hold New Zealand citizenship or a resident visa, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wasay Majid, Research Assistant , University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau New Zealandâs accommodation supplement scheme is facing scrutiny, with Social Development Minister Louise Upston recently saying âthere is merit in considering whether the current settings are fair and sustainable long-termâ. The ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The first prime ministerial candidate has been announced in Solomon Islands and it is not Manasseh Sogavare. The man of the hour is Jeremiah Manele, the MP for Hograno/Kia/Havulei constituency in Isabel Province, who served as minister of foreign affairs in the last government. ...
Protesting the removal of bins by leaving piles of your dogâs shit for others to deal with doesnât make you a hero â itâs precious and entitled behaviour. You havenât truly lived until youâve stood on the shoreline of Aucklandâs Cheltenham beach, desperately trying to scoop increasingly liquid dog shit ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon will be alert to the factors driving the dire polling, but won't be waving the white flag just yet, RNZ political editor Jo Moir writes. ...
Writer, teacher and academic Vincent OâSullivan died on Sunday 28 April. Here we gather tributes from friends, colleagues, and students who remember his extraordinary contributions. I went down to the garage tonight. There was a bird shrieking out in the bush, in the dark, maybe a kÄkÄ. Miraculously, through the ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a burnt-out corporate escapee explains how she gets by âworking as little as possibleâ. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 31 Ethnicity: PÄkehÄ Role: Contractor in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Schmidt, Professor of Chemistry, UNSW Sydney Albert Russ / Shutterstock The icebreaker of many a barbeque conversation is something like âwhat do you do for a crust?â âI teach chemistry at university,â is what we usually reply. Then silence. Our ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asher Flynn, Associate Professor of Criminology, Monash University Shutterstock Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one ...
A petition signed by more than 16,500 people, demanding the government take stronger action to halt the genocide of Palestinians by the State of Israel, is being presented to the House of Representatives today by Hon Phil Twyford. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Burnett, Honorary Associate Professor, ANU College of Law, Australian National University jenmartin/Shutterstock April has been a bad month for the Australian environment. The Great Barrier Reef was hit, yet again, by intense coral bleaching. And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek delayed ...
Winston Peters might not give a âratâs derriereâ about last nightâs poll, but it revealed the unusual absence of a honeymoon period and little payoff for the governmentâs action plan approach, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoffâs morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco de Jong, Lecturer, Law School, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Details released by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet under the Official Information Act reveal New Zealand officials have been considering involvement in AUKUS from the outset. ...
The government's treatment of MÄori raised eyebrows, with countries saying New Zealand needed to do more to reduce health, education and justice inequities. ...
The age of criminal responsibility was one of numerous human rights issues raised during Aotearoa New Zealandâs UPR. Other key themes were racism and discrimination, the disproportionate representation of MÄori in prison, and to uphold the UN Declaration ...
In a sitdown interview ahead of his final day at Parliament this week, the former Green Party co-leader tells RNZ about his lowest point during 2017's rough election campaign. ...
Is the fringe radio station really in a financial crisis, or is it just running a hyped-up donation drive? Fringe internet radio station Reality Check Radio was launched by the anti-vaccine mandates group Voices for Freedom in March 2023. For the next year, it undertook probably the most aggressive promotional ...
Above the Fold: On Monday, the biggest MÄori screen production company faced down the biggest funder of MÄori content at the High Court. It was an incredibly tense moment â then, just as quickly, it resolved. Duncan Greive breaks down a strange day in the screen sector.Yesterday morning, MÄori ...
When it comes to talking about the Government’s controversial fast-track consenting process, political scientist Richard Shaw refers to the famous Chinese sci-fi novel Three-Body Problem, while RNZ’s In Depth journalist Farah Hancock talks about zombie projects. Shaw is referring to the three-party coalition Government and how the proposed legislation is ...
Opinion: The debate over single gender versus co-educational schooling has long been controversial. I went to a co-ed school and was inspired by a remarkable woman who was my maths teacher, and because of her deep knowledge and passion for the subject, I knew that maths was definitely an option ...
He won everything and he earned a knighthood and he was a senior literary figure to the point that he was a living monument to himself until his death in the weekend at 86, but there was something about Vincent O’Sullivan that flew under the radar, that was independent and ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 30 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Itâs a ride thatâs lasted almost 30 years for mother and daughter BMX riders Nancy and Toni James, and the next stop is the World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Almost 27 years ago, Nancy and her husband Gerrard took their oldest child, Daniel, to the WaitÄkere BMX Club. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia The rate of women killed by their partners in Australia grew by 28% from 2021â22 to 2022â23, according to new statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Criminology ...
Ministry of Disabled People employees were promised a permanent role, but were told to start packing three weeks before their fixed term contract finished, says a former employee. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Blakers, Professor of Engineering, Australian National University Clean Energy Council / Neoen As Australiaâs rapid renewable energy rollout continues, so too does debate over land use. Nationals Leader David Littleproud, for example, claimed regional areas had reached âsaturation pointâ and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan C. Walsh, Sessional Academic, The University of Queensland Arrest for witchcraft (1866) by John PettieNGV, CC BY-NC In recent decades, governments the world over have increasingly taken action to address the dark history of witch-hunting. In western Europe, memorials to ...
By Mark Rabago, RNZ Pacific Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas correspondent The US Department of Justice is being urged to condemn and cease its reliance on the âInsular Casesâ â a series of US Supreme Court opinions on US territories, which have been labelled racist. Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kara Dadswell, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Victoria University Ask your son or daughter, niece, or nephew to draw you a picture of a sport coach. They will most probably draw a man. Why? Our latest research published in the Psychology of Sport ...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/6128874/Hubbard-managers-cost-51-000-a-week
Nice work if you can get it. What a joke. Why do they not get the minimum wage like so many others? It’s not as if they add value to the economy or anything.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/rebuilding-christchurch/6129528/EQC-staff-get-early-holiday-bonus
Nice work if you can get it. What a joke. Why do they not get minimum wage like so many others? It’s not as if they add value to the economy or anything. Plus they claim that work is drying up……. wtf? Nobody in our circle has had their house repaired, replaced or settled in any form yet and our area was smashed so how can they claim the work is finishing. I am gobsmacked. Useless shits.
It is no wonder that resentment burns and smoulders in our lands and random people get killed by the disenfranchised in Wellington.
What do people expect?
Crony cartel kleptocracy has now blotted this fine land.
CV, face it we would all do it if we had the necessary “expertise”. In this case supply and demand for “experts” has pushed the price up HOWEVER..
* with the recession we should make the laws of supply and demand push down the rate severely.
* we should be questioning the “cult” of expertise much harder and deploying experts to only “expert” work, as opposed to functionalistic paper pushing at the same rate.
A little bit of business savvy would go a long way, remember EQC grew overnight from 30 people to 3000 (figures open to question but to illustrate a point). They have to be praised for the “just do it” growth, but it is now time to bring some governance to bear.
Stop whining! Canterbury people have been very happy with Wellingtons performance since the quake- just look at the election day results.
go shit in your own shit spratwax.
The swing to national was nothing to do with national and everything to do with stability – any sort of stability.
Best you keep your gate locked and drawbridge pulled.
[lprent: what I want to know is what you have against long drops? đ ]
Ouch! Wow, that was too close to the bone I guess. Stability? Bollocks!! Sounds like shit to me, and you’re going to have to suck it in. National = Stability…. you’ve been reading too much of granny or corporate press- get a grip!
Sprat, you are going to find your concept of stability waxes then wanes really fast. Banksters like Shonkey and his Nact mates (and their injternational ilk) are about to deliver to you the mother of all financial crashes and subsequent ill tempered responses in an attempt to save their mates money. They wont be able to save their hides however. Enjoy “stability” while you can before the mob comes looking for you.
I was actually mocking National providing stability, in response to previous vto reply
Apologies, hope the mob miss you and kill them (metaphorically of course)…will buy glasses for Christmas.
Sarcasm doesn’t do well in black & white.
spratwax, yep we do get snappy down these parts – especially when our builders who are sitting on their arses doing nothing waiting for EQC to rubber stamp about a million pieces of paper, all the while getting $75/hour while the builders get $25-45 /hour for dong the actual work. And then they have the cheek to say that their work is almost finished!!! WTF? Of all the people we know with damaged homes dealing with EQC, I would guess maybe 1 in 10 have got somewhere concrete and 1 in 20 have work started. Fact. (we ourselves have been seen once in 15 months. yep. once.)
It riles.
Then when you see a constant parade of headlines like the one mentioned about the amount being paid to people who are effectively just cleaners at South Canterbury Finance, after our family alone shelled out approx. $400 for each and every one of us, through the taxpayer guarantee scheme rort to bail this shitheap of a company out…..
Maybe we are just still on edge – but all the above sits out of plumb and sparks ignite.
As for the national vote in Chch – my point was that the swing was to the encumbent not the national party. If labour had been the encumbent the same thing would have happenned. Whether or not they are stable isn’t the issue – the perception of stable government (i.e. not changed) was the driver.
And finally, lprent, try shortdrop and you will get the picture…..
Do you know why your builders are sitting around on their arses? Because the Government gave Fletchers the exclusive contract for the rebuild- and guess who has shares in the owners of Fletcher building- John Key (and probably Bill English).
I met a an elderly couple up here in AK visiting friends for a 2 week break from the misery and they have a son who is a builder in Chch and has no work apart from some demolition scraps- struggling to put food on his family’s table, apparently. The woman was in tears. That’s why I’m surprised Chch voted National- WTF!
And now all this shit about EQC hiring the kids of EQC managers to assess at $75 an hr- I’m sure some of the out of work Chch builders would like some of that work! My son who is 19 had a classmate out of 7th form at his school in AK who is also down in Chch this year doing ‘assessing’- his father works at one of the banks.
Rampant corrupt practices going on in the rebuild by the sounds of things.
Fletchers probably got it also because they are the only ones with the scale and systems to manage and bill/pay thousands of subbies. The Govt really doesn’t want to have to do that directly.
In other words, all they’re doing is clipping the ticket as it goes past. You don’t need a single group to hire thousands of subbies to do thousands of jobs. In fact, one of the supposed advantages of the “free-market” is that monopolies are removed.
Blinking Slater
Speaking on Breakfast TV this morning Cameron Slater was going on about getting a couple of things wrong this year and posting an apology or retraction…
Breakfast TV has got to be a worry, hosts like the cretinous Paul Henry and ill educated dimwits like Petra the skinny person. Then the need to have “guests” like the blubbery one. Whole thing is vomit worthy.
Ha ha, those are lying Tranzrail eyes! Why is he even on TV?
My guess, because he’s a National Party insider (well, his dad is anyway).
Why watch it then. Stupid!!
I don’t watch it, which does not mean I don’t know who is on. We are constantly blitzed by ads for the program (which just about sums up its vacuity).
PS Are you an aspirational type? See below.
Recently I visited relatives and their complaint was that Petra talked like an express train. I watched Breakfast for the first time and had to agree. They actually can’t understand what she is saying. Is that how young people act when they’re on Speed? Television is all hokum these days it seems, Maori Tv seems to be the real deal though. And remember Bored that the cretinous Paul Henry has gone to Australia and got himself a good job on tv there.
Who even watches Breakfast TV? What a bizarre concept…
Uh ah. Ominous from Minister of Ed Parata:
“She intended to pursue National Standards “unambiguously” saying they were a significant part of dealing with the one fifth of children who were not achieving at school.”
Still wonder about the disconnect between NS and failing kids.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10772883
She will be the new enthousiastic female stooge for Key- just like Paula Bennett was last term.
Teachers (and particularly their unions PPTA, NZEI ) and schools are in for a rough ride- what
with Charter Schools and other secret plans.
it may look like blubber to you but it looks more like whale shit to me!
and I see heka paratai is now minister of edimacation. she gonna teech the kidz to lurn proper and acheave and how to make 1 +1 = 3.
Nice article arrived in my regular linkedn spam today – “Finally, A Rich American Destroys The Fiction That Rich People Create The Jobs”.
The argument draws the analogy that entrepreneurs and investors are the seeds of the tree, but just as important is the environment that the seed falls into – soil vs rocky ground, bog vs desert, etc. The key piece of the commercial environment is the ability of customers to purchase the growing company’s products – so if you want lots of businesses to grow and employ people, you need to ensure that the middle-class customer base is big and “fertile”.
Â
I might have to look at my emails more closely from now on đ
got that one too. great article. deserves another plug
http://www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-do-not-create-jobs-2011-12
That’s it in a nutshell.
Of course, jobs aren’t actually the problem – over consumption and massive misallocation of resources is.
And this one which was linked through the others.
snap
After all the Labour leadership nonsense I decided that some humour was in order so I trawled the Daily Mash and saw this line, “ The modern world has forgotten that masturbation can be an aspirational activity.” which instantly reminded me of an epithet I often apply to those aspirational types who vote National.
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/opinion/columnists/stylish-masturbator%2c-with-dermot-jaye-201112124664/
Word association. I will never be able to hear the word “aspiration” again without thinking “******s…..
Enjoy.
And it appears Canada’s going to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
Thanks a fucking lot Harper.
Now we’ve got even more problems with a global climate change treaty eventuating as the greedy morons keep their heads in the sand over the rather real future costs of climate change, whilst yelling constantly about the compliance costs.
And we can blame it people preferring to stick to the cognitive short cuts evolution equipped us with* instead of actually thinking critically. Especially when there’s big fat lobbyist payouts and donations involved.
Oh, and the whole “it the Liberal’s fault!” excuse is oh so cute, given Harper’s government has had two terms to come to grips with Canada’s Kyoto obligations and chose not to, creating the situation.
________________
*in terms of the environment we evolved in, if you didn’t make use of a limited resource asap, it probably wasn’t going to be there in future, unless you hid or cached it away. Unfortunately it’s so useful today, where it’s exploited to make you get yourself in debt and buy shiny things just because they’re on sale (hello steam sale…).
Harper’s turned Canada into a petrostate where the wealthy are rewarded with oil dollars either directly (contracts) or indirectly (tax cuts), we can hardly expect anything different.
Is that Harper bizarre?
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriots love in all shale oil demand.
With slowing hearts we see demise,
The True North melting, wildlife free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we see no ice on thee.
God keep our land glorious dead sea!
O Canada, we want money for thee.
O Canada, we want money for thee.
Meanwhile in a far away land http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/12/britain-press-fighting-class-war
Â
and
OMG – these people really do think they are a class apart!
Perhaps we should all be ashamed that we, as a nation, are putting this poor man through so much. The food is insufferable and the view sucks. Oh the inhumanity!
Next minute he’ll be running for prime Minister!
I’m moderately surprised that garth mcvictim and senseless-sentencing haven’t taken up his cause as a gross injustice.
A blighted future
Is this what John Key meant by a brighter future… children getting third world diseases in what used to be a first world country? It’s shameful!
“Chinaâs Deserted âFake Disneylandâ; Shanghai Prices Down 40% from Peak, Inventory Clogs”
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/12/chinas-deserted-fake-disneyland.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis+%28Mish%27s+Global+Economic+Trend+Analysis%29
And surreal pics of deserted Disneyland from link in article, Mickey reclaimed by corn farmers..
http://blogs.reuters.com/photographers-blog/2011/12/12/chinas-deserted-fake-disneyland/
More on that brighter future.. investigative piece on Charter Schools in the States.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/19/2541051/florida-charter-schools-big-money.html
Why does this remind me of the privatisation of care for the elderly and infirm?
More bad news on charter schools.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/11-3