Open mike 14/03/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 14th, 2019 - 194 comments
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194 comments on “Open mike 14/03/2019 ”

  1. Jenny - How to get there? 1

    Children Of The Poor

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111176996/kidscan-pilot-provides-help-to-the-most-vulnerable-teacher-says

    ‘Where are we staying tonight, mummy?’….

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111176996/kidscan-pilot-provides-help-to-the-most-vulnerable-teacher-says

    Being at kindergarten for six hours a day was the most stable thing in her life. She needed lots of cuddles. Some days she’d say, “I don’t like me”. It was her way of expressing how unhappy she was, not feeling the love she was used to. Because children feel loved through being cared for, tucked into their own bed at night, by parents who aren’t stressed because they can’t provide. 

    It’s an increasingly common situation. I’ve been teaching in this community for 25 years, and this is the toughest I have seen things. There’s not enough housing, and the minimum wage is no longer enough to pay rent. So we have no fees…..

    ….We had one family living in transitional housing in a motel – they had jobs but no house. They had one car and dad started work at 4.30am, so they had to get everyone up, take him to work, come back to their unit and the child would fall asleep again. When mum started work later on, she’d often bring the child in still asleep in her pyjamas. They were incredible parents, facing all that and still keeping their child’s routine, and the security of being at kindy going – no doubt utterly exhausted themselves….

    These are the families that the Government need to be poviding houses for. Not the middle class, not for private landlords.

    Working family, good parents, both working slave like hours, trying to do their best, but unable to rent. Warehoused by the last government in a motel.

    This is the real scandal. This is where the real need is..

    Forget building houses for the middle class and landlords to own. 

    Why are the homeless being ignored for the dreams of the middle class to become home owners?

    Kiwi build: The poor can’t afford them and the Middle class don’t want them. And the government are selling them off to private landlords, when they should be state rentals.

    John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee, John A. Lee  

     
     

    • Rosemary McDonald 1.1

      “Kiwi build: The poor can’t afford them and the Middle class don’t want them. And the government are selling them off to private landlords, when they should be state rentals.”

      Blindingly obvious innit?

      Some were fooled into believing that this government would be different from the last.

      • Herodotus 1.1.1

        Promise to have no uni fees for the first year kept and to be extended for a 2nd year coming soon, once a degree has been obtained these grads have now have Kiwibuild. Yet many struggling families are left doing their best but sinking.
        From a macro level Labour is very much the same as national. Only difference is how well the PR companies package the respective leaders.
        IMO forget budget responsibility and invest in HNZ, like the real Labour Party once did, fix housing and many other issues will be solved. 😇

        • Molly 1.1.1.1

          The uni fee scheme is not well thought out. The offer should have been made to existing students, particularly those in the last year of their degree or course that would already be burdened by the high cost of previous years.

          It would have still remained a financial motivation for higher levels of education.

          And there is already a high degree of drop out or change in first years due to the transition from secondary to tertiary, and the move into a more independent mode of living.

          The decision to make only fees free for the first year students would also understandably, be frustrating for those already studying who are saving or borrowing to keep doing so. Politically, that decision will be remembered by all who just missed out – quite a large number I would think.

          • Rosemary McDonald 1.1.1.1.1

            “Politically, that decision will be remembered by all who just missed out – quite a large number I would think.”

            I was in the group who ‘lost’ the Family Benefit payment…and more importantly the facility to capitalise and use the $$$ as a deposit on a house. Between that, and the death of Housing Corp loans….we can just about pin point when the less than well paid were forced out of home ownership.

            Wind the clock back I say!

          • greywarshark 1.1.1.1.2

            Right Molly. It seemed like a knee-jerk reaction; a sweet that turned sour once thought about. Pretty blatant really.

            If the students get through and want a house they may find that mortgages are more difficult to arrange.
            https://www.interest.co.nz/banking/98533/government-warned-bank-backlash-wake-surprise-reserve-bank-capital-proposals-going

            The RB released a discussion document – increase tier one rate to 16% from present 11%. (The minimum common equity tier one capital ratio.)

            The amount of extra money they would be required to have on hand is equal to 70% of the banking sector’s expected profits over the next five years.

            (I don’t think banks would leave rates unchanged with that sort of drain.)

          • feijoa 1.1.1.1.3

            Molly – what you have outlined- that was NZ Firsts policy last election wasn’t it??

    • Blazer 1.2

      Well you know the answer Jenny-the poor don’t vote…the middle decide…elections.

  2. WeTheBleeple 2

    Why is the Central Interceptor (sewage pipe in Auckland) announced as if it is headline news today. I thought it was already a done deal.

    What sewage needs to be distracted from that a previously approved sewer pipe is the headline?

    • WeTheBleeple 2.1

      Hosking leads the charge in detraction that doesn’t work 101:

      “Is Simon Bridges on the come back path?”

      LOL.

      How relevant is that aye! Spokesperson for the multitudes!

      “And the fact they’ve kept Michael Cullen on at a grand a day is an outrage.”

      I’m outraged, how about you. Time to write a terse email about all this skulduggery.

      P.S. SFO investigation. SFO investigation. SFO investigation. SFO investigation…

      • Ankerrawshark 2.1.1

        We the bleeple……

        “Is Simon on the comeback path”. Hoskins. Oh yes please #lets keep Simon ha ha ha

  3. Rosemary McDonald 3

    Wobbly wheels at Pike River?

    Bernie Monk refuses to be gagged by confidentiality agreement.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018686471/bernie-monk-says-he-won-t-be-muzzled-over-pike-re-entry

    He in the interview he referenced the Key days….clearly, after listening to the families not on the reference group…he has decided, quite rightly, to make a stand for openness and transparency.

    Respect, Bernie.

  4. Rosemary McDonald 4

    Same shit different day with disability supports as well.

    Who would have thunk it?

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12212304

    ” Support for the disabled is being quietly cut person by person after the Ministry of Health backed down on sector-wide funding changes, advocates say.

    Multiple providers across New Zealand said they had noticed a trend of delayed referrals, reduced support hours, and growing waiting lists in recent months.

    They estimated that Disability Support Services, which is run by the ministry, was heading for a $100 million deficit and that it was attempting to find savings before the end of the financial year.

    The ministry confirmed that an overspend was likely this year, but said no decisions had been made about funding.”

    Now, hang on just a tiny wee minute.

    This seems to be a boost to an article a few months ago in which the misleadingly named New Zealand Disability Support Network was (again) crying poverty and predicting (even more) dire outcomes for disabled Kiwis if more $$$ are not given to the businesses providing much of the disability supports.

    http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1812/S00091/disabled-nzers-at-risk-due-to-underfunding-new-report-shows.htm

    And I vaguely remember an email dropping in the old inbox from Action Station or the like with a’ sign the petition’ plea on behalf of the NZDSN.

    In my fervent bid to find cause for less pessimism at the direction this government is taking I’m wondering if perhaps the NZDSN are finding less of a sympathetic ear at the moment.

  5. esoteric pineapples 5

    Venezuela helped poor Americans in their time of need:

    “In 2005, a pair of devastating hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, led to dwindling oil supplies and skyrocketing fuel costs. Some of the poorest and most vulnerable Americans, including many elderly people on fixed incomes, found themselves having to choose between heating their homes or providing food, clothing or medicine for themselves and their families. Since that first winter, CITGO has provided 227 million gallons of free heating oil worth an estimated $465 million to an average of 153,000 US households each year. Some 252 Native American communities and 245 homeless shelters have also benefited from the program.”

    https://www.globalresearch.ca/venezuela-donated-free-heating-oil-to-100000-needy-us-households-2005-2013/5667418

    • WeTheBleeple 5.1

      Amazing. Thanks for sharing.

    • WeekendWarrior 5.2

      From what I’ve read, there is some aid for those in need in Venezuela sitting at the border. And so what is the point you are trying to make?

      • Skunk Weed 5.2.1

        US weapons more likely bud

        • WeekendWarrior 5.2.1.1

          And the Russians are providing aid in the form of food and medical supplies? You are having a laugh bud.

          • arkie 5.2.1.1.1

            “We will not be participating in what is, for us, not humanitarian aid,” stated Colombia’s International Red Cross (ICRC) spokesperson, Christoph Harnisch.

            The assistance, which is being coordinated by Venezuela’s self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaido, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is reportedly comprised of US $20 million worth of medical, food, and personal hygiene supplies which are currently being warehoused in the Colombian border city of Cucuta.

            Meanwhile, the United Nations has likewise raised objections to Washington’s “politicised” aid plan.

            “Humanitarian action needs to be independent of political, military or other objectives,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York last Wednesday.

            [Maduro] also pointed out that the reported $20 million in US aid pales in comparison to the estimated US $30 million per day the new US oil embargo will cost Venezuela this year. On January 28, US National Security Advisor John Bolton unveiled the latest round of economic sanctions prohibiting corporations under US jurisdiction from purchasing oil from Venezuela’s PDVSA state oil company, which he said will deny the company US $11 billion in revenues in 2019. Bolton also announced a freezing of Houston-based PDVSA subsidiary CITGO’s assets, which are valued at US $7 billion.

            “If [the US] wants to help, then lift the sanctions,” Maduro urged at a recent press conference.

            https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/14316

            So the Red Cross and the UN are skeptical of this aid, what makes you so sure?

            Bolton has said, in public, the US wants the oil.
            Elliot Abrams, of Contras fame, is now the US ‘special representative for Venezuela’.

          • greywarshark 5.2.1.1.2

            No one is laughing WeeWarrior. We are thinking all week, at a deeper level than you. What about putting up reference links to your assertions. Talk and smart remarks come easy. Joined up thought a little longer and harder.
            But you can fight your way through your inertia Warrior.

      • mauī 5.2.2

        Aid provided by a neo-liberal opposition leader and Richard Branson? Do they have the countries best interests at heart? Meanwhile you really think the elected socialist prime minister is intent on starving his own people? Something very wrong with the story you’re reading…

      • Kevin 5.2.3

        Says who they require aid?
        CNN? MSNBC?, Fox?

        Mainstream US media are just cheerleaders for regime change. There is no objectivity in their reporting, they are just repeaters of White House talking points.

        There is plenty of info out there from people who live there. Look it up, it’s not hard.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUUcnPDs1LM&t=673s

        A journalist dares to question the State Dept about Guaido’s legitimacy.

    • Like +100% I come here to get my daily news

  6. Peter 6

    Children of the poor? How about another example of how the world works for children of the rich?

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/12/us/college-admission-cheating-scheme-players/index.html

  7. patricia bremner 7

    Jenny you give no credit for the huge task of renewing fixing and the stock take of current New Zealand Housing stock. You make no mention of not requesting a dividend, the community growth activities, the purpose built properties. Reading your critique I am left with the “nothing is being done impression.”

    What is happening in this area is huge, and highly successful. The measures are fierce.
    Reading the report for the 17/18/19 years made me sad and proud. The work is staggering.
    They have righted wrongs with the previous meth testing debacle under Bennett.
    They are building 3 new homes a day, placed 1600 extra homeless people into accommodation during last winter, and stopped the sell off of state homes. They have provided a winter warmth payment for 5 months, a programme of warm dry homes, meaning by 2024 all the current 26000+ homes will be retrofitted and all the new builds will meet the new standards. They are helping people buy a home.

    The programme is so successful that people who had given up ever getting on it are turning up in droves. This shows the real need, and gives the Government the information needed to tackle the problem. Now they have proved how bad the housing crisis had become. They have put plans in place and in 17 months have given the treasury and the Minister of finance a clear picture of the need.

    Hence the planned attack through various ministries and hopefully the CGT which will help ramp things up if we get it through. Also the changes to Tradies’ education and training, making Trades attractive again, and the free training meaning no big loans to pay back. They are attacking problems in a global fashion rather than a piecemeal patch and run the previous crowd did.

    When you criticise remember how Jacinda Ardern is always building consensus, and has to deal with Green aspirations and New Zealand First conservatism. Along with that she has a new raw team running flat out to deal with all the hidden underfunded crappy stuff that went before, let alone establish new directions.

    Twyford has admitted that Kiwi Build has not functioned as he had hoped… mainly because the criteria to buy is too narrow and could do with a Government Grant and a one year no interest on the loan to allow the buyers to succeed. He is now looking at successful Government supported rental and leasing housing schemes in Australia and overseas. Looking for best practice. This because he wants renters to have choices buyers to have choices, and those in supported living to have choices.

    None of this is easy, and this Minister also has the Transport folio. John A Lee indeed!! He would not have known where to start with all the complexities and problems presented. You are crying out for simpler times, when Governments and Ministers did not have to give up building land because it could be claimed by the sea in 10 years time!! You present some good ideas at times, but truly this has not been a fair post IMO.

    People will always want more, quickly in a crisis, and that is fair but not easy.

    • Molly 7.1

      Rent to buy schemes supported by the government is a mistake in two ways:
      1. It reinforces inflated prices in the market by providing buyers that would be otherwise non-existent,
      2. It does nothing to deflate the housing costs for renters or buyers long term.

      What is does do is reassure the middle class that their children may have access to home ownership with the assistance of the government. And they can consider the housing crisis to be no more than that.

      • patricia bremner 7.1.1

        Rentals and Leasing does not replace other housing efforts. Employers wanting accommodation for Hospital workers or other work couple with the Government to build and let in Aus. is a success, especially near transport.
        The Housing NZ homes are a separate case. Rents are often subsidised by the Government if they are in Cities. So our Government is looking at different schemes for those who do not qualify for HNZ help, also do not have enough to buy in the City. Why is that wrong? Housing needs many strings to the bow.
        Houses have lost 18% in some parts of Auckland, so a period of slow or low growth lets savers draw a breath.

        • Molly 7.1.1.1

          The priority for housing New Zealanders rentals or otherwise has not been indicated, either by considered announcement or action.

          The Kiwibuild programme, demonstrated the priority of this government, and the publicity surrounding it demonstrated the impact they thought it would have on the voting public. The critiques offered in response to that were valid, and are easily picked up by the opposition.

          Social (as opposed to state) housing and private partnership programmes in the long-term are not beneficial to housing locals in the long term. While they may achieve KPI’s in the short term and for a proportion of those currently unhoused or precariously housed.

          As you mention, the housing crisis is a result of multiple strands. The sole suggestion of CGT, ignoring such possibilities as landbanking taxes, second dwelling taxes, and equity uplift taxes shows a BAU approach.

          I am not surprised by the current government’s actions. I think housing has been the sole means of many NZ’ers getting financially wealthy. Past – and current – immigration, taxation, planning and welfare policies have created that situation. Effectively addressing the housing crisis is a political hot potato. I just think the current actions will be ineffective, particularly for the most transient and unhoused.

          • patricia bremner 7.1.1.1.1

            Hi Molly, So, you don’t rate Kiwi Build and think “current actions will be ineffective, particularly for the most transient and unhoused”.

            Could you say what you think might work? Are you a crash the market supporter?

            • Molly 7.1.1.1.1.1

              There are many factors that need to be changed, and I’ve written on this many times before. And I believe you have summarily dismissed any suggestions without discussing any, but here goes again.

              For starters:

              Making a definitive statement about the necessity for considerable long-term state investment in housing to alleviate the pressure on low-income families would be a start. And making that a priority, and using a SROI to meet their own (mistakenly) adopted budgetary restraint.

              Changing residential ownership to New Zealanders only – regardless of whether it is new or not.

              Reinstating for an interim period a Housing New Zealand loan facility for long-term mortgages, that offers a lower rate to home owners who occupy their mortgaged home. (That evens the playing field as many investors have their occupied residents as fully paid off as possible, so they can leverage for their tax income on their rentals). This will help owners weather a depression in the market. Which needs to happen to some degree, as it is unlikely that incomes will rise to meet the gap that has arisen. As those mortgages are repaid the money is returned to the ether from which it was created.

              Taxation policies that discourage people from landbanking in order to increase capital gains when other NZers don’t have access to housing. Higher taxation/rates on second and subsequent homes – to distinguish between those who are flipping and inadvertently contributing to housing inflation, and those who are in the business of renting.

              Pure state development of housing in communities. Utilising sole responsibility and authority to ensure houses are built to consider environmental, health and wellbeing of the residents and the communities in which they are built. Using those developments to implement trades apprenticeships for locals, who will have the ability to experience all stages of housing while being trained.

              Support and development for local one-off developer/resident projects, like co-housing.

              Creating and utilising mechanisms such as permanent affordability, so that any houses released to market by the state remain at a certain percentage of market price, when it is onsold.

              Providing security on state housing tenancy, and building communities as well as houses. National policy statements using the Resource Management Act can direct local councils to pay attention to the need for well-designed intensive housing.

              No. I don’t rate Kiwibuild. It had a failure of purpose, and a really non-egalitarian intended outcome. Unfortunately, much of the criticism given to it by the opposition was warranted. Even though the opposition contributed to the problem, they are not in power now.

              • patricia bremner

                Hi Molly, I don’t think I remember discounting your ideas, as many of them seem quite well thought through and sensible. Thanks for your reply.

    • WeTheBleeple 7.2

      Thank you for your post.

      Jenny appears to be here to dump on the current government – not discuss things. her hijacking of the How To Get There (HTGT) label is offensive to me, like if I came here to TS, called myself John – The Standard, and spent my efforts rubbishing the left via right wing media links. That’d be considered problematic I’m sure.

      I think moderators should force a name change to detach her from HTGT, as her MO is anathema to what HTGT has been created for.

      [lprent: I have no idea what you’re talking about. Ah now I see. We care about duplication on handles, people using different handles to avoid bans, attempted identity theft, things that could get us into court, nasty formatting issues from oversize handles, self-evident excessive levels of hypocrisy, and excessive number of changes in handles.

      If I see Jenny start to change handles excessively then she will receive my excesses of attention (usually involving changing every instance of her handle on the site to something that expresses my opinion of people wasting my time).

      If it just involves people disagreeing then that can be countered by “robust debate” ]

      • I’m not sure that handle modification is required in this case. My read of it is that Jenny identifies with the ethos of HTGT and has adopted the post’s name in solidarity. Jenny has had conflict in the distant past with mods regarding the style of her comments and it seems to me that her commenting has improved over time. That’s not to say, I, you, or anyone has to agree with her opinions. This site is set up for debate and it’s inevitable that the actions (or inactions) of the Government will be too much for some, and too little for others. As the mystics say, the steel is forged in the fire.

        • WeTheBleeple 7.2.1.1

          It is not so much Jenny, as the hijacking of the Sunday thread’s title, that got up my nose – that’s more a misunderstanding than a personality thing. You see, and TRP knows as he’s watched/helped it evolve, we’ve at least tried to keep the sunday thread non-critical. The key word being tried.

          Yes Jenny has relevant stuff to say, but under a name using the sunday threads name, while being consistently critical. This is fine but always with the how to get there name attached… We all like to poke at something on open mike but sunday we were trying to do something positive.

          Do you get that? The tone of what Jenny delivers here is exactly what we’ve tried to avoid in Sunday’s How to Get There.

          And Jenny has every right to deliver what she sees fit and moderators reserve the right to moderate what they see fit.

          Yadda yadda.

      • Tuppence Shrewsbury 7.2.2

        Jenny has been here longer than you, contributed more of interest than you and provoked more intelligent discussion than you.

        Facebook is an amazing source for views you agree with and nothing else

        • Sam 7.2.2.1

          Facebook is for old people

          • Tuppence Shrewsbury 7.2.2.1.1

            woosh

            • Sam 7.2.2.1.1.1

              OK then, let’s reverse the last quest. What’s a good way to tell if someone has genuine talent and not just faking it?

              • Tuppence Shrewsbury

                the fuck are you talking about this time? do you honestly think i stalk you and keep track of all your utterances. I pegged you for being a few cans short of a six pack a while ago.

                But your bold, incisive and dramatic pronouncement that facebook is for old people has changed my mind. Please go on

                • Sam

                  Impressive but, you don’t have to question me. It’s difficult enough to create value by finding a product market fit even as the largest media platform on the planet. Asking a “decentralized” app to do the same thing when you are shackled by a jerry-rigged terms of reference and very little accountability.

                  People underestimate how hard it is to create something that works.

        • WeTheBleeple 7.2.2.2

          Considering the HTGT theme is recent, you talk rubbish. But I knew that already.

          And I’ve not been on facebook coming up to four years now.

          • Tuppence Shrewsbury 7.2.2.2.1

            Come get your facebook non attendance internet medal legend.

            Jenny has been on here for a long time. she just changed her handle once the HTGT theme was mooted. Not my favorite theme but i respect the lack of argument there and stay away accordingly.

      • Skunk Weed 7.2.3

        Similar behaviour to Gosman and James, probably the same people.

        • In Vino 7.2.3.1

          If you mean Tuppence Shrewsbury, I agree. But I don’t find it clear who you are addressing. Jenny, from 7.2?

  8. Dennis Frank 8

    I was intrigued by No Right Turn’s reference to “non-Public Service departments subject to the Official Information Act”. Does this mean some state employees aren’t public servants? Apparently so, according to this govt website: http://www.ssc.govt.nz/state_sector_organisations

    So does that mean civil servants is a broader category that includes public servants? If so, who knew?? Or are both historical terms, no longer valid?

    • patricia bremner 8.1

      Dennis it was so they did not get the pay protections… the cheaper version.

      • Dennis Frank 8.1.1

        Thanks Patricia, obviously it happened years ago. When I was working in the TVNZ newsroom during the 1990s I joined the PSA even though it was optional, and was aware that many others in the org were also members, even though the SOE was no longer part of the public service.

        It was the notion that some govt depts are not part of the public service that was new to me this morning. I just don’t get that at all!

  9. Reality 9

    The thing that is being overlooked by those criticising the government, which is in stark contrast to the 9 years of National, is that they really really want to get improvements across a whole range of areas. Not easy, in fact very hard after those 9 years. Can we say National wanted things to get better? No, status quo and looking after investors was their priority.

    • vto 9.1

      Exactly.

      What people forget is that National Party people are CONSERVATIVES

      Conservatives don’t do things.
      Conservatives never lead in new directions. Ever.
      Conservatives can’t see the future.

      John Key was a full blown CONSERVATIVE
      So too of course was Bill English, Bolger, Slipley, Bridges – they are all useless CONSERVATIVES

      I have no idea why people want them to “lead” a country – they don’t lead, never have.

      CONSERVATIVES have only one use and that is as the horrid ballast in the hold of the ship. Never, ever, let them near the tiller

      • Kevin 9.1.1

        Written by a former Standard regular, a few year ago now, but still relevant:

        “It seems to me that many who self-identify as “conservative” – especially at an early age, the sort of panty-sniffers and thumb-suckers you find in the young nats for example – seem to have never examined exactly what it is they’re identifying as. It’s more like a club they join that offers the security of never having to examine themselves (or anything else) too closely for comfort.

        And understandable if so. Imagine the cognitive dissonance that would arise from actually admitting to yourself that you think things are as good as they’ll ever be and we’d best just stop now, um actually let’s go back a bit just to be sure.”

    • Rosemary McDonald 9.2

      And before the nine years of National/Act/Maori Party we had nine years of Labour.

      National just kept the wheels rolling..the infrastructure to screw the poor and most vulnerable was already there. Imo.

      We were given the impression that the Lovingkindness was going to be aimed at those most disadvantaged by the Previous Encumbrances, but sadly, no.

      Yes, I get that this lot are going to need the vote from the Middle to get back in, and they just might (judging by the support voiced in these pages), but unless the working poor still cannot afford to rent a decent home…then, at the very least, fewer people will vote at all.

      SSDD

      • patricia bremner 9.2.1

        Rosemary you may be right, but I don’t think this is now deliberate policy. I could be wrong, I hope those three good people prevail in spite of the obstacles, having met and talked with them I feel they are sincere. I agree it might not be enough, but I hope so.

    • adam 9.3

      *sigh* ‘reality’ you think running with the same economic policy, but saying we have kindness – will get different results. Not a bad definition of the loony left, right there.

      I say, put down the crack pipe. Or grow up, your choice. The problem is the economic system. And not changing it – just means more of the same.

      But then again, asking white middle class NZ to give up any of their privilege is like punching yourself in the face, eventually you stop – because it’s pointless.

  10. Observer Tokoroa 10

    100% Patricia Bremner

    The Trolls are falling to bits.

    The people who sit on their ass criticising the enormous amount of work required by reestablishing Housing in New Zealand absolutely pathetic. It is a Monumental Task.

    Caused entirely by the Government of the past – who sold off assets and housing to friends and bolstered the income of the Wealthy. The lack of accountability was and remains Appalling.

    The Stupidity of the critics as compared with what has been achieved in 17 months, is there for all to see.

    Well Done. Patricia

    • marty mars 10.1

      + 1 sums it up well

    • patricia bremner 10.2

      Thanks, Observer Tokoroa, I felt there needed to be a listing of what has changed… We all hope for more and a secure future, but change is so fast lots of ideas will not stand the test of time.

  11. Ankerrawshark 11

    Here, here Patricia.

    A bit disappointed to hear govt efforts being criticized on TS although of course people are entitled to do it. But really more than enough criticism in the msm (nationals informal spin machine)……

    I believe that tywford et al really genuinely want to solve the housing crisis. It must be a mamouth task and I recognize there may be mistakes or policies that don’t work so well, but I believe they will and have made a difference, even there’s a long way to go and I thank them for their considerable efforts.

    I remember the Nats and their lies (John key and the msm visits with the Salvation Army to homeless in their cars, Nats only getting off their arses to do something when news hub exposed homelessness crisis

  12. Pat 12

    A timely and necessary question was discussed this morning on RNZ….economist and author (and it appears eminently sensible person) Kate Raworth interviewed and is to visit NZ in May for public discussion….I hope our leaders attend and gain some insight but more importantly some courage

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018686503/kate-raworth-a-good-doughnut

    • patricia bremner 12.1

      Yes Pat, I agree this economic theory beautifully challenges the “forever Growth crowd”.

    • Blazer 13.1

      Some may find ‘no school’…appealing.

      • Anne 13.1.1

        Yes. 🙂
        But as the good doctor pointed out… we have plenty of laws already that are there for the health and safety of people. Two examples:
        laws on smoking.
        laws on wearing seat-belts.

        He suggest we think about a law regarding children being immunised in the same way as having to wear a seat-belt in a car. It’s about saving lives.

        • Rosemary McDonald 13.1.1.1

          Other than not allowing the children to attend publicly funded schools, and given the atrocious truancy rates from Te Tai Tokerau…
          (https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/382780/northland-principals-urge-crackdown-on-parents-over-truancy)
          …this might not be too much of a penalty, what other punishment does the good doctor propose?

          Fines? Imprisonment? Children removed from parent’s care?

          Lance is another ‘expert media personalty’ who might benefit from taking a calming breath or two and try following the advice from the Top Person at the Immunization Advisory Council.

          “Auckland University Immunisation Advisory Centre head Nikki Turner said said there was no need for a separate public health campaign against anti-vaxxers.

          “I don’t think we should ignore the anti-vaccination lobby but I think we should put it into context.

          “It is a very small percentage of the New Zealand population.

          “We need to understand it and respond to it, and definitely put more resources and thinking into it, but it is a very small part of why we are not getting high immunisation coverage rates.”

          Dr Turner said there were other problems with delivering immunisations, beyond what she called vaccine hesitancy, and New Zealand would be better off dealing with those.

          “We need to systematically know which children are missing out and offer them services.

          “And then respond appropriately in those localised communities that have got myth and rumour and social media stories rife within them.

          “That’s where we need extra support.”

          https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384112/hospital-bosses-want-anti-anti-vax-campaign

          So…read the article….yes, take on board what the dhb’s are saying…but ffs put it into context. Also, folks here should know by now that the DHBs are hardly the bastions of credibility they ought to be on health matters.

          Labeling people “anti-vaxxers” and baying for their blood is not helping.

          Beggars belief that some folks simply can’t see that it is making this worse.

          Bullies.

        • solkta 13.1.1.2

          Those are all false comparisons. None of them are medical treatments. Sullivan appears not to understand the law re forced medical treatment which is surprising for a doctor.

          I am not an an anti-vaxxer and have had my daughter immunised but i am also respectful of human rights.

          • Anne 13.1.1.2.1

            Except immunising someone is not ‘medical treatment’ for a disease. It is preventing that person from contracting it – or reducing the toxicity of the disease so they they have a chance of a full recovery – should they come into contact with the disease. In that sense, it is a preventable measure in the same way as wearing one’s seat-belt.

            Human rights in my view does not enter the equation if by refusing to take a certain course of action you are endangering the well-being and/or the lives of others. That is why we have many of our laws in the first place.

            • solkta 13.1.1.2.1.1

              immunising someone is not ‘medical treatment’

              Bullshit. Wearing a seat-belt does not make physiological changes.

              Human rights in my view

              That may be, but you no the law.

            • One Two 13.1.1.2.1.2

              NO HUMAN RIGHTS SAYS ANNE!

              Anne. You are incorrect…again…

              It is a medical procedure injecting foreign and toxic substances directly into individuals who are not sick…

              Short circuiting and tricking the immune into a false response mechanism bypassing the bodys natural sequence for defending against pathogens…

              The false response was derived to measure antigen levels which are used to sell the product based on false efficacy premise, which is inferior to full cell immunity confered by natural recovery from illness…

              Do you also understand that outbreaks occur in highly vaccinated populations ?

              Do you understand vaccine 101?

              Including why so called herd immunity is a flawed and failed theory…impossible to achieve outside of a mathematics?

              * vaccine failure rates
              * vaccines waning terms
              * acquired immunity
              * zero response

              Do you even care to understand Anne..or are you simply going to plunder on with a crazed form of ignorance on this forum?

              • SPC

                Survived A, now fully and naturally immune, survived B now fully and naturally immune, survived C fully and naturally immune, got D and now …

                I guess those with unvaccinated kids home school, and wrap them up so they do not get cuts when outside – hard to keep the kids pure and natural if there is tetanus risk huh.

              • Stunned Mullet

                Good grief ! Such pseudo scientific nonsense from he of the overused ellipsis.

              • left_forward

                Bull.

              • Bazza64

                I thought One Two was just a wifi nutter, but he is also an anti vaccine clown as well. I’m sure he would rather catch polio & recover naturally (after spending time in an iron lung) than be vaccinated.

                You can’t help meatheads like this.

                • McFlock

                  Dunning-Kruger meets Deepak Chopra.

                • Andre

                  Just wait for the numerology and the clandestine weather modification programs.

                  Nuttier than the buffet at a squirrel convention, but at least there’s plenty of variety.

              • One Two

                * 7 different handles have replied to this comment (original appears to have avoided another response)

                * 4 handles used the fearful technique of name calling and ad homs

                * 2 handles responded using nothing but a half word

                * 1 handle made an effort at an actual response

                Zero handles of the 7 provided a single counter to the straight forward, and easily verifiable dot points I raised in response to Anne…

                Total of 8 handles in a sub thread making zero contribution in a meaningful or genuine manner to this discussion…

                Each of the 8 (and others) have made statements which have no basis in actual science, outside of vaccine science, which is literal pseudoscience being sidelined at rapidly accelerating pace…alongside those with such views as exhibited amongst the 8 handles being referred to…

                As actual scientific developments continue to push vaccine science exposure further into the open…in turn it should follow that improved discourse will encourage greater numbers of industry and academia to step out from their cowed…industry funded and supported positions…

                Ideally so as to assist in raising the standard of discourse away from name calling and ad hom smears, towards a level of sincerity which such a crucial subject deserves, must, and will attain…

                Not a single statement any handles here, myself included, write , think or say can alter the powerful progression towards an inevitable, and desirable outcome of greatly improved discourse, alongside transparent and genuine adherance to the Scientific Method.

                • Stunned Mullet

                  For those that can’t be bothered reading one two’s post I’ve formulated a quick precis below.

                  Waffle……parp……..ponitifcate……….falsify………lie……..misquote……waffle………accuse……….ponitifcate…………phhhhwaaaap……..eh.

                • marty mars

                  No one rates your teaching – and some have praised you – get over yourself dim.

                  • One Two

                    marty, you’re better than that comment , eh?

                    I’ll repeat what I’ve said in the 5G posts to Ingonito…

                    I’m not a teacher, nor is it my intent to be so…abuse, praise, agree or disagree…all leading towards the same outcomes IMO…all appreciated and accepted with the same face 😉

                    get over yourself dim

                    Sounds like you have some bridges of your own to build, marty…

                    Don’t project your crap onto me…

                    • marty mars

                      Your lines are well rehearsed. Do you have children you’re not vaccinating? Or is this all academic.

                      Were you vaccinated as a nipper?

                    • One Two []

                      Rehearsed you say, marty…that is incorrect…

                      What basis do you have for presuming that is ‘true’?

                      As an aside…you can’t seriously anticipate I’ll respond to any question of yours, when what you’ve done is throw insults…surely ?

                      In any case I can see from your written thinking in the questions…

                      …any references to past history would be irrelevant, and quite easily and effectively, evidence to being, ‘moot’ …

                    • marty mars

                      Yeah I thought so – just talk. Well get this – we didn’t vaccinate but reading your stuff has convinced me and next week the boys get the jab. I refuse to live in fear and be associated with anti vaxxers – so thanks one two you have actually done good work.

                    • One Two []

                      Marty, your comment indicates that you’ve outsourced your parental responsibility, by using blog site commentary as a ‘rationale’ for changing your current perspective on a medical procedure…

                      Listen very carfully to my next comment…

                      Take responsibility for your own choices, and that of your children…

                      Don’t ever…ever seek to offload your medical choices to my handle, or anyone else…blog site, face to face…it doesn’t matter the interaction…

                      Own the choices..they are yours…and yours alone…

                      If you are actually serious…for the record I take no position, and bare no accountability for, or against your decision…nor could I be accountable for any possible outcome, positive, negative or otherwise resulting from your decisions…choices you make, marty…

                      I hope I’ve made that suitably clear…

                      It would be appropriate for you to respond saying you have received that messaging…

                      Should you choose to go ahead with the procedure…then post the dated scripts…and backup your comments with proof of YOUR actions resulting from YOUR choices..

                    • marty mars

                      Oh shit up you fuckwit. Were not all as stupid as you. I’m not interested in anything you have to say. You’re a joke.

                    • One Two []

                      Pleased to read you’re fighting fit, marty…

                      I was genuinely concerned by your comment there…for your well being…

                      Have a good one…

                    • marty mars

                      Mate I feel awesome. Although got two teeth pulled yesterday. Amazing the fear for me in the chair. The injections, the murder house memories, the pain real and anticipated. I was proud to say take them out and then sit through it all, the crack of the tooth, the stars behind my clenched eyes.

                      and as you have noted I also made some brave decisions for my family and it is hard because I live in a alternative thinking hotspot in this country.

                      One two i wish happiness for you. Sorry for abusing you – not my finest moment and no one deserves that shit.

                    • One Two []

                      Thanks Marty, apology accepted…very gracious of you…

                      Same as yourself, I genuinely care for all living beings and mean no harm to anyone or anything…even when it gets hostile…

                      Also , it is not my contention in comments or real life to influence or sway anyones opinions or decisions…

                      If someone asks my thoughts ill always share in the most honest way I can, while seeking to leave any form of bias out aside…

                      Good stuff with the teeth…can relate…be there…loads of teeth yanked..different story…

                      Regarding your decisions…all any parents/adults can do is give our best to take in as much info as possible from all quarters, until be arrive at a point where making a decision feels as if we are doing our absolute utmost…

                      I re-read your comments and got the sense you were actually seeking something from me…the questions I didn’t answer etc…

                      If you would like to have an open Q&A…then I’m cool with that…as you like…

                      I have only posted a single link on the total discussion…not counting the relative risk link to McFlock…

                      I will be posting one more link to a document…which IMO should be read and understood by every adult/parent on planet earth…

                      No hyperbole, marty…no intent to influence…

                      Again, thank you for the apology and friendly words…

                      Cheers marty…

                • Bazza64

                  This is too much for me, I can’t “handle” it

                • JohnSelway

                  “Not a single statement any handles here, myself included, write , think or say can alter the powerful progression towards an inevitable, and desirable outcome of greatly improved discourse, alongside transparent and genuine adherance to the Scientific Method.”

                  Wow, just….wow….

                  The other day I explained the the scientific method to you in some detail and you pronounced it “scientism” or some such nonsense and now here you are proclaiming that no one adheres to the scientific method.

                  Here’s an ad hom for you – you’re fucked up.

                  • One Two

                    Selway, your recollection is full of holes…

                    Multiple commentators including myself called out your failed efforts at describing the ‘scientific process’ as you called it…

                    Of course you can’t understand that comment…which is why you went directly to ad hom…

                    Pack up your grudge…take your deflated sack of ignorace with you, and keep your commentary respones to those who share your complete ignorance of ‘science’…

                    You’re another of those who has abdicated responsibility to expand and improve on your knowledge base…

                  • Stunned mullet

                    Phil’s not a bad guy just delusional. I blame it on the English teachers at Rosmini..

                • Kevin

                  The good old days when you just recovered from tetanus and built up that ‘natural immunity’…

                  https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/jan/10/the-forgotten-story-of-di-jones-footballers-died-tetanus

    • Andre 13.2

      Problem is, is yet again it’s the kids going to pay the price for parental stupidity. The big problem is how to sheet home accountability to parents that refuse vaccination for their kids.

      I’m thinking lawsuits. If someone’s unvaccinated kid is spreading disease, hold the parent responsible for all the treatment costs of all the subsequent infections. If someone sues their parents because they’ve suffered from a vaccine preventable disease their parents refused the vaccination for, then the presumption should be the offspring wins unless the parents have a very very solid medical reason for the vaccination refusal.

      • One Two 13.2.1

        Let’s begin checking your foundational understanding…

        * Do vaccines have 100% success rate?

        * Can vaccinated individuals spread the disease they were vaccinated against?

        Frame your views on compulsory vaccination and law suits in terms of the following:
        (Because that is what the lawyers will be doing)

        * Medical
        * Scientific
        * Legal
        * Ethical

        Go on, Andre…

        • Andre 13.2.1.1

          I doubt a future court case will be framed and argued the way you think it should be. In any case, that choice will be up to the plaintiff’s lawyers. Maybe that plaintiff will be someone like one of these three but not quite so forgiving:

          https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/05/health/vaccines-measles-senate-hearing/index.html

          https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/07/health/measles-josh-nerius/index.html

          https://www.sciencealert.com/oregon-parents-refuse-further-vaccination-after-their-child-nearly-dies-from-tetanus

          Or maybe the waters will get tested by someone that incurs enormous medical bills as a result of contact with an infectious unvaccinated person. Or maybe it will be a governmental or private health organisation left with enormous unpaid expenses from treating the unvaccinated. Or maybe governments will get tired of getting stuck with the bill for treating the unvaccinated and those they infect, and they will pass legislation explicitly making pro-diseasers accountable for the costs they impose on others.

          In any case, knowingly spreading disease is already a prosecutable offence in at least some cases, as shown by prosecutions of HIV spreaders. It’s only a small step extending the ideas behind HIV prosecutions to holding accountable those responsible for negligently or knowingly or maliciously spreading other diseases by refusing safe and effective vaccinations.

          • Stunned Mullet 13.2.1.1.1

            Come now Andre as you should know HIV is all a plot by multinational pharma…. rant…………ellipsis……….parp.

          • SPC 13.2.1.1.2

            Sadly it took the ACA to make US health insurers cover vaccination, and of course since then there have been roll backs, one reason why they have such high health costs is that they are dumb.

          • One Two 13.2.1.1.3

            Andre, given the clarity of the 2 questions I posed to you… I can only deduce that your avoidance in providing answers to them, was deliberate…

            Deliberate because you have no idea what you’re talking about..not the slightest knowledge to form a coherent response for 2 straight forward questions…

            It is my contention that you are not even at vaccine science 101 level of understanding…

            I’ll use your comments as evidence of your lacking in basic understanding of the discussion as it relates to your failings in logic and reasoning…

            * HIV is not a communicable disease
            * Tetanus is neither a communicable disease, nor is it a virus

            Like Anne and others, you too have decided not to expand your knowledge and understanding…the links and your flawed responses strongly signal your complacency on this issue…yet you continue to author comments which serve only to highlight your complete lack of fundamental understanding…

            I’ve previously suggested that you move on from Gorski level which is clealy contributing to your complete congnitive dissonance…

            Actually…you should keep reading at Gorski level…it’s what you want to do…

            But while you are at Gorski level (in fact you’re far beneath even that)…you should consider staying away from this subject…

            The levels of complete ignorance from yourself and others on this…is as staggering as it is unsurprising…

            • McFlock 13.2.1.1.3.1

              * HIV is not a communicable disease

              I guess this list of communicable diseases is incorrect, then.

              And the World Health Organisation.

              And the NZ ministry of Health.

              But then I guess we can’t all read the matrix as it scrolls by like you can. Hell, if we could then we’d know why you asked two binary questions in a discussion that comes down to relative risk.

              • One Two

                Gidday McFlock…long time…

                Firstly I’ll say that your level of misunderstanding, while not quite as complete as those you prefer to engage with elsewhere on the subject…it still below the fundamental level required for meaningful discourse…

                That, and you’re still playing games around the blog site, even when you’ve been caught out…and here you are…engaging me with your churlish and disingenuous response to an engagement with Andre…

                For the purposes of the ‘vaccine discussion’ HIV has no basis for inclusion as a communicable disease…because…

                * HIV is not included in the recommended vaccine schedules relevant to this discussion

                Therefore HIV is outside the scope of this discussion…

                The 2 questions were for Andre…and he , like yourself is unable to provide the straight forward…and yes…binary answer which is appropriate to the questions….

                You exhibited further your lack of understanding and interest, except by incorrectly referring to relative risk as if somehow adds credibility to your comment…which it does not…

                This will be my only reply you get…you can go back to avoiding responding to my comments…as I will go back to not engaging with yours…

                https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)61024-0/fulltext

                Risk ratios are widely misused in ways that exaggerate both the benefits and harms of drugs. 

                This is especially true when a risk ratio is called “relative risk”

                Relative risk does not measure “risk” at all, because risk has dimensions, such as observed deaths per 100 or 1000 people. 

                However, a risk ratio has no dimensions because they cancel in calculating the ratio. 

                Thus, if a drug changes risk from two deaths per 100 people to one death per 100 people, the risk ratio (0·5) is the same as if the drug changes risk from two deaths per 1000 people to one death per 1000 people.

                It is wrong to call these changes a “50% decreased risk”

                The misuse of risk ratios in ways that exaggerate the benefits of drugs is common.1

                • McFlock

                  It is a communicable disease. It’s just not a vaccine-preventable disease.

                  And the comment was relevant because it goes to being reckless when it comes to infecting other people with your diseases.

                  As for relative risk, all that letter to Lancet says is that changes in relative risk should not be confused with changes in risk. I’m not sure it says what you think it says. Relative risks are a tool that can be used or misused, but they are still useful.

                  Especially for people who don’t have a godlike knowledge of the universe like you.

                • KJT

                  Look.
                  When i was a child we had hospitals full of people with diseases and the complications of diseases, which we have since vaccinated for.
                  I remember having those “mild” childhood diseases. And the shingles from chicken pox. People my age are sterile from mumps. I remember children deaf from measles and babies deformed and handicapped from Rubella.
                  My mother remembers children with polio.

                  Any one who wants to return to all that, by not vaccinating. Is advocating for child abuse!

                  Where are all these hospitals full of “vaccine injured” children, if the anti vaccination crowd were correct? .

              • marty mars

                The old 1, 2 and you’re down for the count lol

              • Andre

                … read the matrix as it scrolls by …

                … mmmm … sushi

            • Stunned Mullet 13.2.1.1.3.2

              ‘The levels of complete ignorance from yourself and others on this…is as staggering as it is unsurprising…’

              Oh the irony…

            • Andre 13.2.1.1.3.3

              You’re quite right. Sensing the woo is a gift I have yet to receive.

              You’re also quite right that tetanus isn’t a virus and it isn’t communicable. Never claimed it was either. Hell, the vaccine doesn’t even directly prompt the immune system to hunt out the tetanus organism, it’s more about cleaning up the tetanus toxin. But the important thing is the tetanus vaccine actually works to protect the vast majority those who receive it and keep it up to date. So anyone who suffers from a tetanus infection and wasn’t vaccinated (and wasn’t informed of that if they’re old enough to make their own decision) has a damn good argument they were deliberately harmed by whoever refused the vaccination on their behalf.

              I’m flattered you think I’m on a level with David Gorski. I really am. I encourage anyone curious to actually research Gorski.

              • One Two

                What I actually said , Andre…

                In fact you’re far beneath even that’

                So you’re also having some other issues which will be contributing to an inability to comprehend why Gorsko…who is a medical laughimg stock that publishes vile, ignorant and abuse filled rants, while supposedly practicing as a so called medical professional…

                I also encourage your endorsement of Gorski…so more people will understand where you, and those who share your ignorant uninformed views, yet continue to comment…get their material from…

                I’ll put a 3rd/4th questions to you…see if you can respond…I don’t care if you do or not…your previous comments betray you enough…

                – Gorski has been involved with research for a pharmaceutical company…

                * What is the company name
                * What disease/condition is the drug research for

                Engaging with the likes of you, is pointless time wasting…so I’ll go back to practicing the discipline of only calling out those who make particularly egregious and damaging comments in support of violent and abusive medical interventions…

                As I’ve pointed out…you’re not interested in expanding yourself or increasing your knowledge and understanding on this subject…

                That’s all on you, Andre…every lazy ounce of such traits…

        • SPC 13.2.1.2

          I guess the reason the anti-vaxers have not been dealt to in a court case (like damages) is that the unvaccinated are only a threat to each other.

          • Stunned Mullet 13.2.1.2.1

            “I guess the reason the anti-vaxers have not been dealt to in a court case (like damages) is that the unvaccinated are only a threat to each other.”

            ..and those that are immunosuppressed (being treated for cancer or on immunosuppressants), the very young who have not yet been immunized, those who are unable to be immunized due to allergies and other clinical contraindications.

            • SPC 13.2.1.2.1.1

              One would have thought there would have been a move by US health insurers in such cases, but as they only recently (and needed to be required) covered vaccination cost maybe they thought they have/had been reticent about exposing their own dubious position.

            • Andre 13.2.1.2.1.2

              You got any idea what proportion of the population (excluding the too young) have a genuine good medical reason not to get vaccinated? I’m guessing even a lot of the medical exemptions are for … bonespurs (or something). Especially somewhere like California, where exemptions are nominally only given for medical reasons.

              • Stunned Mullet

                It’s a small (< 1% I would suggest) but significant absolute number when taken across an entire population who are unable to be vaccinated, when you consider the number of patients who have had a full immunisation schedule that are having bone marrow transplants on immunosuppressant/ing medicines or therapy it becomes larger again.

                • Andre

                  So that’s of the order of say 30 000 New Zealanders that are helplessly unable to protect themselves from fuckwit pro-diseasers happily spreading infections around. A population equivalent to Gisborne.

          • McFlock 13.2.1.2.2

            Except some people can’t be vaccinated, and others might have reduced immunity as no vaccine is 100% effective.

            So they’re not just a threat to each other.

            I suspect that it has more to do with a rightful wariness of compulsory healthcare, and the fact that the numbers used to be too small to really effect the level of herd immunity so it wasn’t really an issue. They were freeloading, but all good.

            Whereas now the unvaccinated are keeping some diseases from being eradicated locally. It’s not just down to the nutbars (there are lots of issues around primary healthcare delivery), but they don’t help.

    • Rosemary McDonald 13.3

      Anne.

      https://academic.oup.com/aje/article/165/6/704/63700

      “In October 1988, the United Kingdom introduced measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines for routine immunization of children in their second year of life. At the time these MMR vaccines were introduced, Canadian investigators had reported that the Urabe mumps strain contained in two of the three available vaccines was temporally associated with aseptic meningitis in approximately 1 in 100,000 vaccinees (1). However, it was unclear at the time whether the association was causal and, if so, what the true attributable risk was and whether the adverse effect was exclusively related to vaccines containing the Urabe strain.”

      Now it was this version of the MMR vaccine that was used here in Godzone…and accounts of serious illness associated with the vaccine was the reason many (including myself) had grave reservations about having our kids jabbed with MMR. As I said previously…the option of having a single measles jab was not available. I don’t recall it being the mumps component that was the acknowledged problem with this particular brand of MMR…but I do know that I certainly had no problem with the measles part. Funny…I don’t recall horror from the medicos at some people refusing the (suspected) faulty vaccine.

      “Subsequent epidemiologic studies using laboratory- and hospital-identified cases of aseptic meningitis linked to MMR vaccination records established that the true risk of MMR-associated aseptic meningitis was substantially higher than previously thought (∼1 in 10,000–15,000 doses) and was exclusively related to the Urabe mumps strain in the vaccine (4–6). Furthermore, there was an increased risk of hospital admission for febrile convulsion 15–35 days after receipt of a Urabe-containing MMR vaccine (an attributable risk of approximately 1 in 1,500 doses), indicating that the real risk of acute neurologic consequences from the Urabe mumps component of MMR was underestimated when using case ascertainment methods that were reliant on laboratory investigations (5)”

      So….if you want to take the time to read at least some of this academic paper written by experts that does actually more than hint at how easily data can be faulty if it is collected wrongly…GIGO….

      I am busy renovating…and don’t really have time to continue this right now…but at the risk of sounding pathetic…please, please read just one piece of research that validates the vaccine hesitancy some of us have. Keep saying our concerns are groundless, and calling us ‘anti-vaxxers’ (which most of us are not btw) with the same level of contempt and disgust aimed at the likes of Cardinal Pell, and we will never, ever be able to have a rational, respectful conversation about this vital issue.

      • Rosemary McDonald 13.3.1

        As an addendum to my previous post (“Risks of Convulsion and Aseptic Meningitis following Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination in the United Kingdom’) …if anyone actually gives a shit about facts rather than hyperbolic ranting….

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1544592/Vaccine-officials-knew-about-MMR-risks.html

        Yeah, yeah, its an article from 12years ago…but points to the UK government deliberately putting children’s lives at risk by not only allowing the roll out of the Urabe MMR vaccine after reports of serious harm in other countries…but continuing its use in the UK, despite attributable deaths until…

        “The minutes of another meeting of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, in May 1990, show that there was “especial concern” about “reports from Japan of a high level of meningoencephalitis associated with the administration of MMR”.

        The Government waited another two years before it decided to stop using Urabe MMR in 1992, after the manufacturers told officials that they would stop making it.

        It was replaced with MMR II, which has a different mumps component. ”

        Now I’m betting that pretty much no one here on TS remembers this….the shit storm… not only because the vaccine was very harmful (1:1500 admitted to hospital with febrile convulsions) and that the harm was significantly down played, but instead of pulling the fucking batch as soon as there was a hint that there were issues the UK government continued using it until the manufacturer told officials they would stop making it.

        Now if y’all angry ranty ‘we hate the anti vaxxers’ lefties are not now outraged at this example from near history when big business was enabled by a democratically elected government to continue to harm and kill children then you are all a bunch of ignorant windbags.

        If y’all can tone down the condemnation of those who make up that very small percentage of kiwi parents who choose not vaccinate their children because of well founded mistrust of the official reassurances that “all vaccines are perfectly safe”… and maybe admit that some have longer memories or are more widely read?

    • Puckish Rogue 13.4

      Hes a good man

  13. Anne 14

    Just in.

    James Shaw attacked this morning on his way to parliament. Taken to hospital.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12212577

    Edit: new details suggest injuries not too serious. Hope so.

  14. patricia bremner 15

    James Shaw is in Hospital after an unprovoked attack. Be Well James.

  15. Sam 16

    Oh far out. Take it in your stride Shaw.

    • Bewildered 16.1

      I am with Sam here imagine the kudos for the flaky greens image if story was, look at the other guy James Shaw kicked his ass While bad the optics are up there with give me my flag back Norman

      • Robert Guyton 16.1.1

        Who, Bewildered, might that kudos come from?
        Are there “greenies” who would celebrate an assault by one of their leading figures?
        I’m wondering if you are a little … bewildered.

        • Bewildered 16.1.1.1

          Not an assault Robert, dealing to his assailent in self defence Not happy with Shaw been attacked just raising the point politics is optics, good or bad ie the dildo and turd throwing could also be classed as assault as well but we all chuckled heartily on the left re the optics of these assaults

          • greywarshark 16.1.1.1.1

            Optics – are you a high-flyer who uses the in -language, or are you a a low-life adopting it to sound as if you’re part of the cognoscenti/

          • Robert Guyton 16.1.1.1.2

            “we all chuckled heartily on the left”
            “We”, Bewildered? You’re a Lefty? You chuckled?
            Why?

      • left_forward 16.1.2

        …a bewildering array of words.

    • Robert Guyton 16.2

      How has James not taken it in his “stride”?
      I can’t make sense of your comment at all, Sam.

      • Sam 16.2.1

        Depends which virtue is relevant to the signal being sent. For people who want power, petty squabbles don’t phase them one bit.

        • Robert Guyton 16.2.1.1

          What signal has James sent, Sam?

          • Sam 16.2.1.1.1

            Well, put it this way. If this government fails to put a climate deal together an entire generation of New Zealand’s is fucked.

            • McFlock 16.2.1.1.1.1

              I don’t get the connection between that and your reference to, dare I say, virtue signalling after being thumped in the face.

              • Robert Guyton

                Nor I. Sam’s beyond obscure.

              • Sam

                Climate Change Ministers have far more expensive remedies at there disposal than street justice.

                • McFlock

                  consider me a thicko, but are you suggesting Shaw could decide to accelerate global warming just to get the guy’s bach washed away by sealevel rise?

                  • Sam

                    Well if you’re going to dive straight in then you better be able to swim. Perhaps 47 year olds could practice writing computer languages and learn how to navigate an app menu properly.

                    • McFlock

                      Why do I feel like a greyhound that will never catch up to that damned rabbit as it runs from post to post…

                    • Sam

                      An old lady with a wise spirit said once that the master will appear when the student is ready.

                    • McFlock

                      These days pedagogical advice has moved more towards being clear from the start and only moving forward when everyone has figured out what drugs the teacher is on.

                    • Sam

                      It’s not my place to tell people how to think. Micromanaging is a mugs game.

                    • McFlock

                      You could try being a touch more clear about what you think, though. At the moment it just looks like loads of random comments with no coherent meaning whatsoever.

                    • Sam

                      That’s cool. I guarantee you won’t come across another like me. Simply accepting / adopting academic mantra and doctrine is with out a doubt the most worthless commodity available on the open market today.

                    • The Al1en

                      Making pointed statements, not having the courage, will or smarts to defend it, and then obfuscating for an eternity until people get bored and eventually forget about it.

                      Not to burst your self worth bubble, or anything, but there’s plenty around like that, and that’s just on here 😆

                    • Sam

                      Quote me…

                    • The Al1en

                      No need to quote. This current thread is plenty proof enough of your personal obfuscation, unless you want to change tack, grow a pair of fortitudes, and answer the questions you’ve been avoiding thus far.

                    • adam

                      The Al1en irony much…

                  • greywarshark

                    Like your work McFlock.

  16. greywarshark 17

    You seem to be in the nature of a flamer here Sam. Watch out or you might get scorched by a burnover.

    This is a really informative item from The Atlantic. It is one media spot worth subscribing to.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/fire-shelters/371421/

    • WeTheBleeple 17.1

      Great article.

      Are you enjoying Four Fires?

      • greywarshark 17.1.1

        I went mad and bought two copies. I will give one away to someone who would enjoy it when I come across them. In the meantime I am dipping my toes in. It’s quite a read, over 1000pp, I like them shorter. But I am finding it interesting.
        The start about boyhood, reminds me of the real bio of Clive James, he’s a character. I’ll continue with it, finish it by Christmas. I still have brainworm/s going that keep me thinking and that takes time.

  17. Ad 19

    Still a good chance for a Biden-Beto ticket now that Beto is in the running.

    Skinny white guys Unite!

  18. marty mars 20

    Smelly – I could hardly believe this story when it came out. PR for water bottling ffs

    “Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel has back-tracked over her failure to disclose a family connection to water bottler Cloud Ocean Water, admitting there was a conflict of interest she “should have managed”.”

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/111275591/christchurch-mayor-lianne-dalziel-admits-conflict-over-husbands-water-bottling-links

    • Puckish Rogue 20.1

      ‘Dalziel told Stuff this week that she learned “earlier this year” that Davidson Legal was acting for Cloud Ocean, and that she “can’t recall” how she found out.’

      Not a good look

    • greywarshark 20.2

      Husband’s water bottling links – so that is why they were recently pictured holding hands. What is it with these ‘suits’ that they lack antennae as to what’s a good venture to land on and which not?

    • gsays 20.3

      Wasn’t Dalziel the one, when as an MP responded, ‘it all depends on what you mean by no’, when caught out?

      I may be getting my wires crossed but it is what I think when I see her face.

      • greywarshark 20.3.1

        That sounds like unaccustomed honesty gsays. We should give her a citation.

  19. R.P Mcmurphy 21

    FB doing maintenance today so no running commentary on Question Time from the good folk at the “John Key Has Let down New Zealand” site. wah wah wah. See you there next week.

  20. R.P Mcmurphy 22

    QT getting shorter and shorter. The nationals party seem to be incapable of asking a cogent question instead relying on tedious repitition and inanities bordering on non sequiturs. Or alternatively flat out lies and other crosy textorisms.

  21. greywarshark 23

    We always knew but now it’s official. Pres Trump says that the safety of American (USA) people is of “paramount concern”. That is why Boeing 737 Max8 planes such as the Ethiopian crashed airliner and another last October, have been grounded as soon as they finish their last flight.
    However previously many countries refused them landing rights and they have been just working within USA.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz//world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12212465&ref=clavis

    Recent crashes:
    The crash site: An investigation is underway after a brand-new Max 8 aircraft crashed in Ethiopia, killing all 157 people on board. Two crashes in less than six months: A new Lion Air Boeing 737 Max 8 flight went down over the Java Sea last October, killing 189 people.
    https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/boeing-737-max-8-ethiopia-airlines-crash/index.html

    From a recently seen item:
    Many commentators have written in asking why don’t we compare a new plane (A220-300) with Boeing 737 Max 8. After all, the Boeing 737 Max 8 has the advantage of new technology, new engineering and has an equal astonishing large amount of orders (Over 4,000 for the 737 Max varieties).

    However, the above principles still very much apply. The newer 737 Max 8 can hold up to 210 passengers, flies a little further in range than the A220 (In the order of a few hundred kilometers) but requires 7,000 more liters of fuel to do so. It’s a bigger plane and would be more appropriate to rival the A320 rather than the A220. The A22 0 is cheaper to run… but the newer Boeing 737 max 8 may have enough extra passengers on board to justify the extra fuel.

    What do you think? Do you like the 737 or the A220? Let us know in the comments.
    https://simpleflying.com/airbus-a220-vs-boeing-737/

  22. Eco Maori 24

    Kia ora R&R I Champion the #METOO agendas I say Wahine need to be shown the respect they deserve and not treated as baby producing sexual OBJECT. They need to payed = equaly and that will lead to a better balance society’s.
    Its all about respect you treat Wahine like you would your kuia grandmother with respect.
    Yes it was about time the law society straight up there act but I say they have not dune enough to correct the harresment that young Wahine face in the law profession and that behaviour is limiting the law society from gaining a equal representation of Wahine in that sector. Ka kite ano

  23. Eco Maori 25

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgGr_n4fgyI
    What happend in Christchurch is so discusting Eco Maori is lost for words on the subject so I will not be commenting on it

  24. Eco Maori 26

    It is quite easy for me to see the pathetic behaviour of pollies the ightnecks of the politacial world have no boundries in what they will do to hold on to POWER.
    As in there realitys the sun revolves around there EGO,s
    What animals can teach us about politics
    Decades of studying primates has convinced me that animal politics are not so different from our own – and even in the wild, leadership is about much more than being a bully. By Frans de Waal
    Merciless tyrants do sometimes rise to the top in a chimpanzee community, but the more typical alphas that I have known were quite the opposite. Males in this position are not necessarily the biggest, strongest, meanest ones around, since they often reach the top with the assistance of others. In fact, the smallest male may become alpha if he has the right supporters. Most alpha males protect the underdog, keep the peace and reassure those who are distressed. As soon as a fight erupts among members of a group, everyone turns to him to see how he is going to handle it. He is the final arbiter, intent on restoring harmony. He will stand impressively between screaming parties, with his arms raised, until things calm down.
    This is where Trump deviated dramatically from a true alpha male. He struggled with empathy. Instead of uniting and stabilising the nation or expressing sympathy for suppressed or suffering parties, he kindled the flames of discord – from making fun of a disabled journalist to his implicit support for white supremacists. For the primatologist, the comparisons of Trump’s behaviour with that of alpha primates are therefore limited, applying more to his climb to the top than to the execution of leadership.
    Emotions structure our societies to a degree we rarely acknowledge. Why would politicians seek higher office if not for the hunger for power that marks all primates? Why would you worry about your family if not for the emotional ties that bind parents and offspring? All our most cherished institutions and accomplishments are tightly interwoven with human emotions and would not exist without them. This realisation makes me look at animal emotions as capable of shedding light on our very existence, our goals and dreams, and our highly structured societies.
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    Since I don’t consider our own species to be much different from other mammals emotionally, and in fact would be hard-pressed to pinpoint uniquely human emotions, it strikes me that we had better pay careful attention to the emotional background we share with our fellow inhabitants of this planet.

    When Aristotle labelled our species a zoon politikon, or “political animal”, he linked this idea to our mental capacities. That we are social animals is not so special, he said (referring to bees and cranes), but our community life is different thanks to human rationality and our ability to tell right from wrong. While he was partly right, he may have overlooked the intensely emotional side of human politics. Rationality is often hard to find, and facts matter far less than we think. Politics is all about fears and hopes, the character of leaders, and the feelings they evoke. Fearmongering is a great way to distract from the issues at hand.
    Most astonishing are the euphemisms with which we surround the twin driving forces behind human politics: leaders’ lust for power and followers’ hankering for leadership. Like most primates, we are a hierarchical species, so why do we try to hide it from ourselves? The evidence is all around us, such as the early emergence of pecking orders in children (the opening day at a daycare centre may look like a battlefield), our obsession with income and status, the fancy titles we bestow on one another in small organisations and the infantile devastation of grown men who tumble from the top.
    The depth of the human desire for power is never more obvious than in individuals’ reactions to its loss. Fully grown men may relapse into displays of uncontrolled rage more often associated with juveniles whose expectations are unmet. When a young primate or child first notices that its every wish will not be granted, a noisy tantrum ensues: this is not how life is supposed to be. Air is expelled with full force through the larynx to wake up the entire neighbourhood to this grave injustice. The juvenile rolls around screaming, hitting its own head, unable to stand up, sometimes vomiting. Tantrums are common around weaning age, which for apes is around four and for humans around two.

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    A male lowland gorilla. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock
    The reaction of political leaders to the loss of power is very similar. When Richard Nixon realised he would have to resign the next day, he got down on his knees, sobbed, struck the carpet with his fists and cried: “What have I done? What has happened?”, as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein describe in their 1976 book The Final Days. Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s secretary of state, comforted the dethroned leader as he would a child, literally holding him in his arms and reciting his accomplishments over and over until he calmed down.
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    For men, as Kissinger once said, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac. They jealously guard it, and if anyone challenges them, they lose all inhibitions. The same occurs in chimps. The first time I saw an established leader lose face, the noise and passion of his reaction astonished me.
    Normally a dignified character, this alpha male became unrecognisable when confronted by a challenger who slapped his back during a passing charge and slung huge rocks in his direction. The challenger barely stepped out of the way when the alpha countercharged. What to do now?
    In the midst of such a confrontation, the alpha would drop out of a tree like a rotten apple, writhe on the ground, scream pitifully and wait to be comforted by the rest of the group. He acted much like a juvenile ape being pushed away from his mother’s breast. And like a juvenile who during a noisy tantrum keeps an eye on his mother for signs of softening, the alpha took note of who approached him. When the group around him was big enough, he instantly regained courage. With his supporters in tow, he rekindled the confrontation with his rival.
    Once he lost his top spot, after every brawl this alpha male would sit staring into the distance, unaccustomed to losing. He’d have an empty expression on his face, oblivious to the social activity around him. He refused food for weeks. He became a mere ghost of the impressive leader he had been. For this beaten and dejected alpha male, it was as if the lights had gone out.
    Ka kite ano Links below P.S This behaviour in not limited to people countrys can be on that list as well

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/12/what-animals-can-teach-us-about-politics

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7XuXi3mqYM

  25. Eco Maori 27

    Kia ora R&R on Maori TV.
    Maori have to be wise About how we get OUR Mana and Power to control our future back.
    Its about taking all the tangata on a journey with us to qet equality use the tools that western society has politics state and local to gain our authority over our futures. We also have to stop letting the western society using the old IWI Raurau isuses to divide He Tangata whenua they have been using that move for hundreds of years quite successfully .
    Its cool that we can now talk about the unfair way the systems treat tangata whenua and the lower classes in NZ.
    3 years ago everyone was in denying mode on all those subjects jails health school jobs hands thrown in the AIR we don’t know what’s wrong keep lieing and it becomes the truth .
    Sorry the reason Tangata Whenua are in such degraded standing on OUR Ladders of life in NZ is deliberate suppression from the state how else can one explain that in 200 years we go from owning all the whenua to begging in the streets and living under the bridge.
    Ka kite ano

  26. Eco Maori 28

    Everyone who is intelligent and figured out that we have one planet Mother Earth and we are making a big mess of our world Keep up the good fight .
    We can not let them win as our grandchildren will suffer from the action,s of neanderthals
    Climate strikes held around the world – as it happened
    From Australia to America, children put down their books on Friday to march for change in the first global climate strike.
    The event was embraced in the developing nations of India and Uganda and in the Philippines and Nepal – countries acutely impacted by climate change – as tens of thousands of schoolchildren and students in more than 100 countries went on “strike”, demanding the political elite urgently address what they say is a climate emergency.
    In Sydney, where about 30,000 children and young people marched from the Town Hall Square to Hyde Park, university student Xander De Vries, 20, said: “It’s our time to rise up. We don’t have a lot of time left; it’s us who have to make a change so I thought it would be important to be here and show support to our generation.”
    Coordinated via social media by volunteers in 125 countries and regions, the action spread across more than 2,000 events under the banner of Fridays As dusk fell in the antipodes, the baton was passed to Asia, where small groups of Indian students went on strike for the first time.
    In Delhi, more than 200 children walked out of classes to protest against inaction on tackling climate change, and similar protests took place on a smaller scale in 30 towns and cities. Vidit Baya, 17, who is in his last year at MDS public school in Udaipur, said: “In India, no one talks about climate change. You don’t see it on the news or in the papers or hear about it from government.
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    “This was our first strike as a nation and there were young people taking strike action in many cities. It is a fledgling movement but we are very happy with our action today. We are trying to get people to be more aware of climate change and the need to tackle it.”
    Across Africa, there were strikes in several countries. In Uganda, Kampala international student Hilda Nakabuye addressed striking students in the capital.
    In Sweden, youngsters gathered in Stockholm’s central square to hear 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, the girl whose single-minded determination has inspired millions of people around the world and earned a nomination this week for the Nobel peace prize.
    When she appeared, the crowd chanted her name and she earned cheers and applause by telling them: “We have been born into this world and we have to live with this crisis, and our children and our grandchildren. We are facing the greatest existential crisis humanity has ever faced. And yet it has been ignored. You who have ignored it know who you are.”
    Political leaders in some countries criticised the strikes. In Australia, the education minister, Dan Tehan, said: “Students leaving school during school hours to protest is not something that we should encourage.” The UK’s education secretary, Damian Hinds, claimed the disruption increased teachers’ workloads and wasted lesson time.
    But young people brushed off the criticism.
    Jean Hinchcliffe, 14, striking in Sydney, said on the Today programme: “I have been really frustrated and really angry about the fact I don’t have a voice in politics and I don’t have a voice in the climate conversation when my politicians are pretty much refusing to do anything … So I decided to strike and … suddenly us kids are being listened to and that’s why we continue to strike and feel it’s so important.”
    In the UK, where an estimated 10,000 young people gathered in London and thousands more took to the streets in Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as other towns and cities, the environment secretary, Michael Gove, broke ranks with Hinds and praised the action in a video message with other
    Ka kite ano links below.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/15/its-our-time-to-rise-up-youth-climate-strikes-held-in-100-countries

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ_QkjieLmw

  27. Eco Maori 29

    Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
    https://youtu.be/nukwmvqmSv4

  28. Eco Maori 30

    Kia ora The AM Show.
    The police have enough servalince powers they got a microscope up my ass and I have not committed a crime. They are just focused on the wrong people.
    We should not let hate racism be tolerated in New Zealand.
    A automatic gun /machine gun only use is to kill humans they should be banned in New Zealand.
    My first dairy farm job I got hired by a 2IC who was a white power supporters he didn’t figure out I was Maori a few days later he figured it out I brought my son back to the farm he soon toned down his attitude and denied he was one I end up saving his life he dropped in the pit had a ceser I did all the correct first aid on him I still treated him with respect.
    Ka kite ano

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  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    9 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    11 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
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    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    1 week ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
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  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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