Guerilla warfare in the beehive: public servants vs Labour caucus.
Parliamentary staff will discuss the extent to which bureaucrats are improperly changing draft laws, after Newsroom reported MPs' stinging rebuke of Internal Affairs officials.
The finance and expenditure select committee reports the department's officials went behind MPs' backs to make changes to the Three Waters reforms that MPs didn't agree with.
The intent in this instance notwithstanding, Parliamentary Services and the Public Service seems loaded to the gunwales with fifth columnists of varying persuasions.
The ones that irk me are of course Torys and neo libs who spit on a big state–“for the many not the few”–and well funded social services in principle, but are happy to accept large salaries for their leaking and undermining.
There's that, but a second reading of the report gives me a bit of insight into the labyrinthine arcane decision-making process they are using.
Officials also directed that the bill be changed to remove the requirement to engage with mana whenua, and instead to engage with interested persons – but they didn't define interested persons. MPs compromised by ordering a definition be included, to avoid any ambiguity or dispute over the meaning.
Ah, but who will write that definition?? If I stick my hand up, jump up & down yelling "Hey, me! I'm interested!", will it get me into the process? Or do I have to register my identity via formal process to become a contributor, rather than interested bystander?
Newsroom has asked what disciplinary action will now be taken, whether the department’s leadership will be apologising to MPs, and whether the department will be reviewing its actions with regards to other bills.
That got this official response: "The Department of Internal Affairs has acknowledged the issues raised by the finance and expenditure committee and these matters were addressed through the committee process."
An extremely elegant evasion of the three Newsroom questions. Promote that official! Lack of specific outcomes is classic adherence to trad Labour praxis.
It's understood Internal Affairs has not apologised to the committee, nor to the Speaker of Parliament.
Why would they? Legal beagle Sir Geoffrey seems to think they are being naughty, but the issue may be moot.
Leading NZ constitutional law expert, former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer, says the officials' attempts to make unauthorised changes to the bills were serious. He warns New Zealand lacks the checks to prevent constitutional slippage.
Here I anticipate a committee will have to be formed to produce a definition of constitutional slippage. If the official attempts at subversion were as serious as he claims, it may have to produce a definition of serious as well. Yeah, I know it's in the dictionary, but lawyers always have to customise words for ulterior purposes.
In this case, the changes appear to have not been ideologically right wing – but rather officials determination to retain the structure they'd devised.
The stormwaters change was one of the biggest, but some on the committee feel the officials were unwilling to brook any change to the structure they'd designed. Act MP Simon Court has called them "combative and intransigent", and National's Simon Watts says the law change's impact on councils and ratepayers is important.
The Labour MP, Twyford, who'd been driving this change (principally in response to flooding of streams in Auckland) was adamant that it was not letting landowners 'off the hook' – but rather acknowledging that any one landowner couldn't be effectively held responsible for issues caused upstream from their property.
"We discussed this long and hard in the committee and got the officials to give us advice. And we went back and discussed it again and where we landed was basically allocating responsibility for the maintenance of the streams that make up a critically important part of stormwater to the new water services entities."
That was what the committee reported back to the House last week – but only after the MPs and their independent advisor spotted the officials' attempt on May 18 to change it to require water entities to "work collaboratively with the landowner … to implement a solution to ensure the risk is managed".
"Landowners aren't being let off the hook, they have to behave responsibly," Twyford says. "But the main ongoing responsibility for maintenance will lie squarely with the water entities, and private landowners won't be liable to fix problems caused by omissions by other landowners upstream."
So – not right-wing ideologues – but rather officials blinded by their own intellectual arrogance.
If you want to give examples of "Torys and neo libs who spit on a big state" – undermining legislation – then I'll be interested to see them.
It's a great chance to create more jobs of the bureaucratic sort.
Labour should set up a government department whose task it is to proof-read all legislation before it is passed by Parliament, checking that a select committee's changes are made as required (and that no other alterations have been sneaked in).
The checking should not be done by the department sponsoring the Bill.
Shouldn't be necessary in an ideal world. but that is not the sort of world we live in.
Add it to the remit of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (for Cabinet) or Office of the Clerk of the House (for Parliament) – don't need to make a whole new department for it.
These stories are educative of his lack of suitability for high office and politics generally, but perhaps should slow before the Natzos recall Mr Luxon.
The annoited, if politically inexperienced one will be waving his flag furiously over the next 4 months – can Luxon/Luxoff be a changemaker, or are NAct between a rock and a hard place?
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I usually support all workers actions this does now seem a rather petulant militancy almost, with some good progress made. It is a strategic skill to figure out when a dispute has peaked in support.
The teachers did well on withstanding National Standards, bulk funding and Charter Schools during the Key/Hekia Parata era but never went full noise for pay increases like they are doing now with a Labour Govt.
The entry rate for a beginning teacher with degree is now $6000 less than it was in 2010 when I was at the top of the scale. Then it was $69,000. Soon it will be $100,000. A 44% increase.
But, at an annual increase of 3% the $69,000 I would have earned in 2010 becomes $104,000 in 14 years.
I am no longer privy to PPTA matters but put out these figures to understand what the numbers might be, along with other parts of the offer regarding release time etc to address workload issues.
I've been more than a decade away from a full classroom and I am still hearing people say, "Aren't you glad you're not teaching now" referring to workload and discipline issues.
My starting figure is that of a graduate to keep it in line with my other figures. A nurse starting off at the $55358 plus $10k that you mention has what academic qualifications? Is there a staged entry with different starting points based on their academic attainments and training? In other words are we comparing like with like?
Exactly. There is no way I would consider teaching again when I look on at the work load of my daughter. 7.30 am start arrives, home around 5pm most days, then works until 9pm and works almost all day weekends marking, prep, report writing, etc. Hardly any time for the family. Then picking up extra periods at school as teachers away sick (relief teachers few and far between these days). She is now looking elsewhere with her MA(Hons) BSc(Hons) and several post grad diplomas. – And this is in Western Australia!
It would be good to have some detail on the exploitation of immigrant workers from China and other countries. Who's doing the exploitation, both here and in the country of origin? Are the exploiters Kiwis or are they the workers' own nationality?
We need more diligence and transparency on the processes. And – how about making it compulsory for all of these workers to have to report to the relevant ministry/department on arrival so that their circumstances can be checked and they can be informed about their rights in the job and in NZ – in their own language.
Immigration NZ and MBIE do a lot of work in this area – I used to work there, and public servants despise this exploitation as much as the general public if not more.
public servants despise this exploitation as much as the general public if not more.
MBIE has been part of this problem for years and years. There's articles going back ever since RSE started and so, so many say MBIE had been previously told about the concerns / checked things off as OK.
One worker decided to tape record the meeting after the group made a complaint to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's Labour Inspectorate.
The watchdog is a port of call for RSE workers to report exploitation, but MBIE initially used an investigator who had a personal relationship to Rarere to investigate their claims.
That investigator, Rick Brown, revealed the identities of the complaining workers to Rarere – allegedly against their consent.
Jason alleged Brown had worked with Rarere's father when both were at MBIE (Rarere's father is now retired according to Jason). He pointed to this as one possible reason why Brown might have identified them.
Or their judgement is so poor that things only get considered bad when a Commissioner goes undercover.
Sumeo said she witnessed multiple human rights violations, including the lack of freedom of movement (the workers had curfews), freedom of association (the workers were threatened against joining unions) and the right to culture (the workers aren’t allowed to drink kava, and are sometimes expected to work instead of going to church).
“The right to health in particular is of great concern … workers can find themselves very unwell but directed to be at work; living in substandard, overpriced bedrooms for months on end.”
Sumeo said one house she visited, provided by Laconic Ltd, had ripped carpet and leaks in the ceilings, with a bucket to catch the water. It was “like being in a cooler”, she said, but the heaters had been confiscated. It was a five-bedroom house with two to three men in each room, and was collecting $2380 rent each week.
She said she was writing to the minister after both her team and the union representing the workers had previously raised concerns with the Ministry of Business, Immigration and Employment (MBIE), with no success.
“In each instance, the labour inspectors who visited the sites found no issue with the pay and living conditions, contrary to my views,” she said.
so the 20 year old thug who repeatedly punched a 70 year old women who was attending a peaceful rally, fracturing her skull, leading to a black eye, concussion. and a emotional trauma gets diversion.
So men can assault elderly women whose views they don’t agree with, with impunity.
I will write to our Minister of Violence and Sexual Violence Prevention, Marama Davison and I know she will condemn this unprovoked attack against an elderly woman(sarc)
: I am emailing to let you know that diversion has NOT been approved by the diversion officer due to the serious nature of the offence.
Yesterday -June 12th- the accused was scheduled to appear in Auckland District Court. At the last possible moment police advised the victim:
The defendant has been granted diversion and the hearing has been adjourned to allow him to complete his diversion. I have been advised as part of his diversion he will be asked to pay [the victim] $1,000, do counselling, complete community work, and to write an apology letter.
The victim has opposed diversion throughout the process and feels thoroughly let down by NZ Police, the Ministry of Justice, and Victim Support. She considers diversion to be an outright miscarriage of justice, that a conviction and the naming of her assailant ought to be the absolute minimum outcome.
The victim – the one with the fractured eye socket – was misinformed by the police that diversion was not appropriate for the charge.
That changed without the victim being made aware before the hearing on Monday.
I am surprised that those who view the video of the incident think this is appropriate, but actually, resigned to that response might be more accurate.
Good grief why am I not surprised? Probably the heir to a rich family, university student doing law, or medicine intermediate or commerce and a charge might afftect his future or ability to travel.
I must say my heart bleeds, not.
Actually I am stupendously mad and hopefully this can be appealed in some way.
No matter who you are it is not actually right to assault people.
They seem to be able to apply this rule without a single thought that it might blight the future of a person in South Auckland. How come it is so clear there but a few kilometres up the road it becomes murky. /sarc
According to the tweet, the Police said diversion wasn't approved. But then it was. I'm sure this happens all the time in the court system as new info and applications are presented. It's not some special case despite the victim being not being alerted until the day of the hearing. That too is probably not unusual.
The police will always consult with any victim of your offending about whether you should be given diversion. The police will seriously consider the victim’s views, but the final decision on whether to offer diversion will always be made by the police, not the victim.
Also, not sure I'd trust NZ Media Watch as a news source.
I wonder what the medical bill came too for the fracture, concussion etc, paid for courtesy of the tax payer, and if ACC might be paying in the future should other issues arise?
Thanks Molly. This was a truly disgusting and cowardly attack, but as with all clouds, there is a silver lining. The video (and other evidence) makes it crystal clear the level of hatred and violence that inhabits sections of the trans activist community.
Well, it's not surprising – violent attacks on women regularly receive derisory sentences. Diversion if this is early in the assailants criminal career, insignificant sentences for hardened criminals.
Luke Malpass here doing his best to elect Luxon by saying that only the Nats care about international competitiveness and growth, while Labour only cares about the domestic economy.
He is making this up. Labour has done nothing to prevent local entrepreneurs from getting out their and doing it, both locally and internationally. See my post yesterday where under this Labour government NZ is the easiest place to do business in the world. Labour needs to get this message out there.
Good point Waggie….not only has Labour not discouraged business and trade, but it has also rescued/maintained a huge number of businesses during Covid by dispersing billions and has negotiated impressive trade deals and and and (insert more positive things)
It seems the misinformation goes beyond Russia to include China and Israel but no confirmation they were the work of the same person stood down. That person has been named in the article but won't repeat here in case it goes beyond TS policy:
When the name of an offender is in the public domain, it can be cited. I doubt TS policy is in discord with such common sense. Here's another report:
RNZ’s board chair Jim Mather has revealed who will investigate how a journalist was able to insert pro-Russian sentiment to the public broadcaster’s international articles for the past five years. The RNZ board met on Tuesday night to determine who would run the independent investigation, as well as the terms of reference.
Mather told RNZ’s Morning Report on Wednesday the investigation panel will be made up of media law expert Willy Akel, who will chair the panel, public law expert and former journalist Linda Clark, and former director of editorial standards at the ABC, Alan Sunderland.
So the focus will be on process design & operational decisions on that design basis – did they conform or not? I worked with Linda Clark often in the TVNZ newsroom long ago & am confident she has a good professional grasp of correct process. There's a hierarchy of duties & responsibilities traditionally – but newsroom reconfigurations may have blurred lines of accountability. Supervisory checking may have fallen thro a gap. The other two panel selections seem sensible also.
As a former "AKTV2" audio operator an 'eon' ago, I also take an interest in broadcasting matters.
My best guess is, that the gradual erosion of sub-editors in particular in all the media outlets is responsible for these types of incidents occurring. Its like everything else… remove an important safeguard from the process and accidents – deliberate or otherwise – are going to happen.
It would not surprise me if further 'misguided editing' is discovered by other media outlets whom I am sure are frantically perusing all their historical records as we speak.
Five whole years they have been doing it. Maybe the reporter needs to visit the Devonport Gun emplacements commissioned to protect against official enemies since the Crimean war.
"Hit in the head by a bullet"..could someone here, preferably a Guardian fan..explain how one gets "hit in the head with a bullet" as opposed to "shot in the head"…thankfully this unfortunate incident was merely the result of one of those "rare Israeli raid(s)"..pheew, thank goodness for that..
This is the real propaganda. "Hit" in the head, indeed. I have some reservations about the actions against the journalist at RNZ who has been stood down, as it seems he was rebalancing some of this slanted writing.
He was presumably referring to the gangs as subhuman, not the Ōpōtiki people. Still a pretty awful way to describe people; do they actually cause more misery than billionaires?
He'd didn't specify who he was talking about which is either deliberate or careless. He knows gangs are symptomatic of the "problems" faced by Maori households in the region. Therefore he includes those households when calls them, "weak individuals unable to solve (those) problems like civilised members of society."
Seymour is not subhuman, but remarkably close to it…
When the gangs are in town they don't actually have to DO anything, the media hype does what the gangs love – making people afraid of them.
Interesting though, that the police have stepped up their presence in Opotiki to 24-hours a day.
I would have thought that policing should by default be a 24-hour activity all the time, not just when the gangs are in town. So policing is now officially a 9-5 job perhaps?
Does anybody seriously believe that tougher prison sentences will make one iota of difference to gang activity?
You have to catch them before you can sentence them and our police force have over the last few decades been under staffed and under resourced to the point where they are little more than an emergency response unit.
National are very vague about police resourcing, probably because it costs money and to them it is probably "wasteful spending, although tax cuts for the rich clearly aren't.
Despite being announced in the budget, the massive increase in subsidy for public transport for those under 25 and free for most young people and children isn't possible to be implemented.
That's because councils don't have the systems to implement it.
And yet they have been able to do it for Gold Card holders for over a decade.
Wouldn't it be great if NZTA had generated a national ticketing system that would have enabled this to occur as a single system?
Unfortunately NZTA have been working on this for nearly a decade, and no sign of it.
Failure by both local and central government agencies. Also why didn't Wood test this as an operational reality with MoT and NZTA well before it got into a budget proposal, that was then approved and announced?
This should have been a major election vote-winner.
Chop chop McNulty.
RNZ contacted every regional body responsible for implementing the scheme and found Wellington was not alone in having a bigger ticketing system that is harder to change.
Many small areas — including Northland, Otago, Manawatū/Whanganui and Christchurch — reported back that they will be ready to go on July 1. Others, like the Auckland supercity, still do not know if they will meet the deadline.
Auckland Transport metro optimisation manager Richard Harrison said the new concessions required "technical changes" to its existing system, that it was still working through.
"Although we are aiming to make these changes from 1 July we don't yet know whether this will be possible given the complexity of changes needed behind the scenes to our AT HOP systems."
The biggest mistake was to let each regional authority make their own type of electronic system without reference to anyone else. Wellington has Snapper, Auckland has Hop card, many of the metropolitan centres have Beecard, etc and none of them are compatible.
If a "three waters" approach had been done a couple of decades ago then we could have had by now a working system whereby you have one card that you can use on pretty much any public transport, and possibly some extras like Intercity, anywhere in the country. The benefits for promoting public transport would be enormous and being rolled out nation wide would have made it cheaper in the long run.
But of course we can’t have the government taking over public transport can we?
Auckland Transport metro optimisation manager Richard Harrison said the new concessions required "technical changes" to its existing system, that it was still working through.
"Although we are aiming to make these changes from 1 July we don't yet know whether this will be possible given the complexity of changes needed behind the scenes to our AT HOP systems."
Quite frankly, I don't see how this can be true.
AT systems already allow half-price fares for children (defined on the basis of birth date up to 16). So the data coding for age-based fares, is already in place.
['Children' over 16 – currently have to turn up to a hub with their school or uni ID in hand – in order to have the 'child' coding applied to their AT Hop card account, as their ID is validated to prevent 'fraud']
It does require the Hop card to be registered against an account. Those who are determined that 'the gummint' aren't getting their data, have to pay full adult fare.
It would be a trivial coding exercise to extend the 'child' age from 16 to 25; and to set the cost at zero dollars.
This smacks of 'not a priority' rather than technical challenge.
Perhaps a financial penalty for every week past the 1st of July when this is not in place, would concentrate their attention.
We’ve had signs like this for ages. What are we supposed to tell our tamariki about why someone would do this? All those stoking hatred for votes are a fucking disgrace
[True to form, you dump another cherry-picked selection of five negative headlines here without any commentary for political discussion. Your snide remarks underscore your intention to mislead.
For example, a Minister can’t tell off the top of her head what her salary is or how much she’s paid. That’s not the same as not the same as not being able to work out her own base salary, as you wrote it. You implied that she was stupid and you assumed that TS readers are stupid and would fall for your misleading snarky comment.
Ōpōtiki’s Mayor said that “people in the town were carrying on as normal”. There was tension and an “eerie feeling”, but no reports of any violence in the town in the article that you linked to suggesting or having caused the town to come to a ‘standstill’, as you falsely claimed. Your intention was to mislead.
In that other linked article, there’s nothing to support your false claim that Kāinga Ora was “once gain exposed as the country’s worst landlord” [sic]. A false claim clearly aimed to mislead.
Your last linked article stated that reported retail crime was up and gave some explanations for the increased reporting. You twisted this into something different in order to mislead. It was dated 12 March, so it must have come from your ‘top drawer’.
I’m actually surprised that you left it at only five links.
And we’re discussing Tesla’s.
No, we were not discussing cars as such. We were discussing Luxon’s shambolic performance & hypocrisy and the fact that he has no political antenna or instinct. He’s clearly totally unfit to be PM. You knew this, as you’d been extensively trolling Micky’s Post, which only shows ‘gain that you’re a disingenuous troll.
This site and the Mods don’t need disingenuous trolls like you, least of all in Election Year.
Cabinet ministers get an official car for official travel for security reasons (among others) and the Speaker and Leader of the Opposition get the same treatment as cabinet ministers since they usually have similar levels of security risks and need.
'In the year to May, fruit and vegetable prices alone increased by 18.4 percent. "The increase was driven by avocados, kūmara, potatoes and tomatoes," Stats NZ said.
In other notable increases, grocery prices surged 12.7 percent year-on-year. Stats NZ said that increase was driven by the rising cost of eggs, potato chips and lollies.'
And at a global level, according to the World Bank, 'Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world…inflation higher than 5% in in 70.6% of low-income countries, 81.4% of lower-middle-income countries, and 84% of upper-middle-income countries, with many experiencing double-digit inflation. Australia rose by 8%, UK rose by 19%, and US by 7%.
Implying that the government is directly responsible for food price increases doesn't stack up, and that it can do much about it, except squeeze supermarket profit, is not realistic.
Inferring that a change of government will make these price increases magically go away is fantasy.
'Minimum wage and weather'. This is the only quote in your article, liberty belle, in which the food retailer spokesperson identified local factors contributing to food price increases over the past year.
Oops, the spokesperson left off retailer profit margins.
'A Commerce Commission study published last year found the supermarkets bank $430 million in excess profits a year, double what the commission considered they should be making – though the supermarkets dispute that.'
You and the Greens are right: food retailers should have excessive profits taxed, or have their profit margins controlled by government. I stand corrected. NACT won't touch profits or increase regulatory controls though, you know, so if concerned, you’re best to vote Greens.
Sounds good in principle, but inevitably the supermarkets will increase prices to make up for the extra tax paid, so consumers will not win either way.
IRL, outside Ayn Rand world, the NZ supermarket duopoly sets the profit margin. Have you not heard of CARTELS? The free hand of the MARKET is a fantasy of Chicago school economists. If you want an example of what happens when free-market ideology meets the real world, look no further than Liz Truss's loss over one week of £30bi from the value of the UK economy .
margins are a function of price. Prices are set by the market. There are plenty of sources of supermarket based products outside the ‘duopoly’. Shop around, it’s fun.
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TL;DR: Here’s six links that stood out to me in the last day in Aotearoa’s political economy to 6:06am on Sunday, May 19:Aotearoa-NZ is the seventh worst in the OECD’s homelessness rankings, just behind the United States and just ahead of Australia. BlackRock thinks rate hikes actually worsen inflation because ...
Halfway up a historic tower in York, we are neither up nor down. At the top you will have views of a city steeped in antiquity, made and remade by Romans, Normans, Vikings, Tescos. Below, you will find a retired minister happy to tell you all about this most astonishing ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does breathing contribute to CO2 ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people ...
No one knows what it's likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it's likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only liesHave you ever wondered what life must be like for Mike Hosking? Seeing things in black and white through blue tinted specs? In ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two week’s editions.Share More Than A FeildingBike bling, London Read more ...
Hi,I think we all made it through another week — congratulations. I’ve been digesting the new Arab Strap record, which is astonishing. In other news, I’m going to be doing a Webworm popup in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday July 13. I’ll bring a bunch of merch, and some other ...
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am going to explore the Bill from the perspective of its proponents with their ...
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be shooting the proposal in the foot. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Associate Education Minister David Seymour is urging the PostPrimary Teachers Association to put learning ahead of ideology. He wants the union leaders to call off their teachers meetings around the country where they hope to muster the strength to undo the government’s plans to establish several ...
What are police for? "Fighting crime" is the obvious answer. If there's a burglary, they should show up and investigate. Ditto if there's a murder or sexual assault. Speeding or drunk or dangerous driving is a crime, so obviously they should respond to that. And obviously, they should respond to ...
Michael Reddell writes – I got curious yesterday about how the Australia/New Zealand real exchange rate had changed over the last decade, and so dug out the data on the changes in the two countries’ CPIs. Over the 10 years from March 2014 to March 2024, New Zealand’s ...
Graham Adams writes that 20 years after the land march, judges are quietly awarding a swathe of coastal rights to iwi. Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has passed an unpleasant milestone: she has now been absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year. Tana is on full pay while she is suspended, and will benefit from a ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is no coincidence that two Labour should-have-been MPs are making the most noise about public sector cuts. As assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of revealing where the next round of state sector job ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a ...
This is one of the (extra) weekly columns on music or movies. Plenty of solid analyses of Possession exist online and most of them – inevitably – contain spoilers. This column is more in the way of a first-timer’s aid to getting your initial bearings. You don’t need to have ...
I am painting in oil, a portrait of a manWho has taken all the heart aches,And all the pain he can stand.I am using all the colors of blue,I have here on my stand.I am painting in oil, a portrait of a man.This has been an interesting week for me. ...
Helen Clark joins the Hoon as a special guest talking whether Aotearoa should join Aukus II, and her views on the fast track legislation and how Luxon and the new Government are performing. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts ...
With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
Thousands more young New Zealanders will have better access to mental health services as the Government delivers on its commitment to fund the Gumboot Friday initiative, says Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey. “Budget 2024 will provide $24 million over four years to contract the ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, other Members of Parliament Acting Chief of Defence Force, Secretary of Defence Distinguished Guests Defence and Diplomatic Colleagues Ladies and Gentlemen, Good afternoon, tēna koutou, apinun tru It’s a pleasure to be back in Port Moresby today, and to speak here at the Kumul Leadership ...
Social media stars are being targeted by a campaign aimed at drawing attention to the bombing of Palestinian civilians. Gabi Lardies looks at what the ‘blockout’ hopes to achieve, and the alternative way to boycott. On May 6, celebrities flocked to the Met Gala wearing tulle, crystals, lace and lamé. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melanie Ashe, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film & Journalism, Monash University Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures The Mad Max films are set in an arid, barren, post-apocalyptic world known in the movies as “the wasteland”. This is a world of ...
New Zealand police have a lot of guns, and every year one or two are briefly misplaced. Oscar Francis reports on an official investigation into a singularly striking case, that of a helicopter-borne constable who dropped their pistol into an illegal cannabis plantation. You know how sometimes you find yourself ...
An alliance of mental health organisations is urging the Minister for Mental Health, Matt Doocey and the Coalition Government to invest in the Aotearoa New Zealand’s mental health system in an open letter. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Bartley, Postdoctoral Fellow, RMIT Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation, RMIT University In the occupied far east of Ukraine, Russian forces are aiming waves of missiles against Ukrainian civilian targets. Each of Russia’s state-of-the-art missile launch systems costs more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna DeMello, Research Fellow, University of Otago Getty Images Despite measures to reduce young people’s access to vapes, many countries are recording rising use by underage adolescents, especially since refillable “pod mods” and disposable devices have become widely available. In ...
The Education Ministry has taken back the job of financing, designing and building several school expansions, after companies said the public-private-partnership approach was too difficult. ...
Barring an unplanned byelection, the July 20 council election will be our only major election of the year, explains Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The National Party insists there has been no conflict of interest in David Macleod's chairing the committee considering the contentious fast-track bill. ...
Joel MacManus endures five hours of fear and hatred as some of New Zealand’s most controversial figures – and a sitting MP – gather to fight against trans rights. Note: This article contains quotes that may offend. They have been included to present an accurate report of what was said ...
It raises valid concerns about Kāinga Ora, but there’s little to suggest the new direction for state housing charted in Sir Bill English’s report will address Aotearoa’s chronic shortage of affordable rental housing, argues Alan Johnson.Given previous National governments’ indifference or even hostility toward the idea of state housing, ...
Education is facing a bunch of changes, but the important ones are not banned cell phones or ‘woke’ foods. The Government has ordered teachers to adopt ‘structured literacy’ to get children reading. That means Reading Recovery, a system New Zealand pioneered and spread to the world, along with ‘whole language’, ...
What a difference a year has made for Caroline Powell. After coming last at the Badminton Horse Trials in 2023, Powell triumphed at this year’s event earlier this month, on board her sometimes-feisty Irish-bred mare Greenacres Special Cavalier – much to her astonishment. Now she hopes to succeed at the ...
The publishing sensation of 2024 is wartime memoir The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour and Jude Dobson, which tells the amazing story of a woman who operated behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied France. Sales went through the roof as soon as it was published: in its first week it became ...
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Comment: NZ’s main political parties need to reach a consensus on how to adjust to China’s dominance and coercion The post Bridging the Aukus chasm appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Opinion: Jacinda Ardern’s leadership significantly enhanced New Zealand’s profile on the global stage. In the first five months of her second term of government, between December 2020 and April 2021, her name appeared 24 times in the Washington Post, 10 in the New York Times, 27 in the Times and ...
Comment: The public has seen the PM’s ruthless side, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a member of the coalition faces the same punishment The post Christopher Luxon the disciplinarian appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Maia Ingoe, RNZ News journalist A NZ Defence Force plane carrying 50 New Zealanders evacuated from New Caledonia landed at Auckland International Airport last night. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it would be working with France and Australia to ensure the safe departure of several evacuation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Snow, Research Scientist, CSIRO CSIRO How often do you check your local weather forecast? How about your local climate projections for 2050? For many farmers, the answer to the first question is all the time. But the answer to the ...
Pacific Media Watch A Māori supporter of Pacific independence movements claims the French government has “constructed the crisis” in New Caledonia by pushing the indigenous Kanak population to the edge, reports Atereano Mateariki of Waatea News. A NZ Defence Force Hercules is today evacuating about 50 New Zealanders stranded in ...
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https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/132302910/one-lowball-bid-at-an-auction-today-could-cost-the-government-half-a-billion
There's pitfalls in selling the right to polute it would seem
Guerilla warfare in the beehive: public servants vs Labour caucus.
Subversion of democracy is such fun. I totally understand why officials get off on it.
The intent in this instance notwithstanding, Parliamentary Services and the Public Service seems loaded to the gunwales with fifth columnists of varying persuasions.
The ones that irk me are of course Torys and neo libs who spit on a big state–“for the many not the few”–and well funded social services in principle, but are happy to accept large salaries for their leaking and undermining.
There's that, but a second reading of the report gives me a bit of insight into the labyrinthine arcane decision-making process they are using.
Ah, but who will write that definition?? If I stick my hand up, jump up & down yelling "Hey, me! I'm interested!", will it get me into the process? Or do I have to register my identity via formal process to become a contributor, rather than interested bystander?
That got this official response: "The Department of Internal Affairs has acknowledged the issues raised by the finance and expenditure committee and these matters were addressed through the committee process."
An extremely elegant evasion of the three Newsroom questions. Promote that official! Lack of specific outcomes is classic adherence to trad Labour praxis.
Why would they? Legal beagle Sir Geoffrey seems to think they are being naughty, but the issue may be moot.
Here I anticipate a committee will have to be formed to produce a definition of constitutional slippage. If the official attempts at subversion were as serious as he claims, it may have to produce a definition of serious as well. Yeah, I know it's in the dictionary, but lawyers always have to customise words for ulterior purposes.
In this case, the changes appear to have not been ideologically right wing – but rather officials determination to retain the structure they'd devised.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/former-pm-unauthorised-three-waters-law-changes-caused-by-strains-in-parlt
The Labour MP, Twyford, who'd been driving this change (principally in response to flooding of streams in Auckland) was adamant that it was not letting landowners 'off the hook' – but rather acknowledging that any one landowner couldn't be effectively held responsible for issues caused upstream from their property.
So – not right-wing ideologues – but rather officials blinded by their own intellectual arrogance.
If you want to give examples of "Torys and neo libs who spit on a big state" – undermining legislation – then I'll be interested to see them.
It's a great chance to create more jobs of the bureaucratic sort.
Labour should set up a government department whose task it is to proof-read all legislation before it is passed by Parliament, checking that a select committee's changes are made as required (and that no other alterations have been sneaked in).
The checking should not be done by the department sponsoring the Bill.
Shouldn't be necessary in an ideal world. but that is not the sort of world we live in.
Add it to the remit of the Parliamentary Counsel Office (for Cabinet) or Office of the Clerk of the House (for Parliament) – don't need to make a whole new department for it.
Baldrick strikes again! Tesla critic orders a Tesla on the taxpayer…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/tesla-recoil-christopher-luxon-ordered-then-cancelled-taxpayer-funded-tesla-while-criticising-tesla-subsidies/D6BMKILVY5DTNBYS6E7YHISKR4/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
These stories are educative of his lack of suitability for high office and politics generally, but perhaps should slow before the Natzos recall Mr Luxon.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/podcast-the-detail/the-anointed-one
The annoited, if politically inexperienced one will be waving his flag furiously over the next 4 months – can Luxon/Luxoff be a changemaker, or are NAct between a rock and a hard place?
My kids going to miss 5 days in 3 weeks due to strikes ,2 days a week for the next 2 weeks!!!
Fucking sort it out
The offer on the table to teachers is a pretty damn good one. The teachers unions are losing the rom with their intransigent stance.
I usually support all workers actions this does now seem a rather petulant militancy almost, with some good progress made. It is a strategic skill to figure out when a dispute has peaked in support.
The teachers did well on withstanding National Standards, bulk funding and Charter Schools during the Key/Hekia Parata era but never went full noise for pay increases like they are doing now with a Labour Govt.
https://www.education.govt.nz/news/new-secondary-teacher-offer-puts-top-teachers-on-100000-salary-by-end-of-2024/
The entry rate for a beginning teacher with degree is now $6000 less than it was in 2010 when I was at the top of the scale. Then it was $69,000. Soon it will be $100,000. A 44% increase.
But, at an annual increase of 3% the $69,000 I would have earned in 2010 becomes $104,000 in 14 years.
I am no longer privy to PPTA matters but put out these figures to understand what the numbers might be, along with other parts of the offer regarding release time etc to address workload issues.
I've been more than a decade away from a full classroom and I am still hearing people say, "Aren't you glad you're not teaching now" referring to workload and discipline issues.
Under the latest offer , a beginning teachers starting salary is $55358. Still 10k under that of a nurse.
With the discipline issues in schools being hampered mostly by whiny parents, why would a graduate bother.
My starting figure is that of a graduate to keep it in line with my other figures. A nurse starting off at the $55358 plus $10k that you mention has what academic qualifications? Is there a staged entry with different starting points based on their academic attainments and training? In other words are we comparing like with like?
Exactly. There is no way I would consider teaching again when I look on at the work load of my daughter. 7.30 am start arrives, home around 5pm most days, then works until 9pm and works almost all day weekends marking, prep, report writing, etc. Hardly any time for the family. Then picking up extra periods at school as teachers away sick (relief teachers few and far between these days). She is now looking elsewhere with her MA(Hons) BSc(Hons) and several post grad diplomas. – And this is in Western Australia!
Itd help their cause if they held their strike action during the school holidays.
Basically the kids worst affected by covid lockowns are getting badly let down by both the govt and teachers.
It would be good to have some detail on the exploitation of immigrant workers from China and other countries. Who's doing the exploitation, both here and in the country of origin? Are the exploiters Kiwis or are they the workers' own nationality?
We need more diligence and transparency on the processes. And – how about making it compulsory for all of these workers to have to report to the relevant ministry/department on arrival so that their circumstances can be checked and they can be informed about their rights in the job and in NZ – in their own language.
Immigration NZ and MBIE do a lot of work in this area – I used to work there, and public servants despise this exploitation as much as the general public if not more.
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/immigration-and-tourism/immigration/temporary-migrant-worker-exploitation-review/
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/25198-temporary-migrant-worker-exploitation-research-programme-quantitative-findings
One worker decided to tape record the meeting after the group made a complaint to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment's Labour Inspectorate.
The watchdog is a port of call for RSE workers to report exploitation, but MBIE initially used an investigator who had a personal relationship to Rarere to investigate their claims.
That investigator, Rick Brown, revealed the identities of the complaining workers to Rarere – allegedly against their consent.
Jason alleged Brown had worked with Rarere's father when both were at MBIE (Rarere's father is now retired according to Jason). He pointed to this as one possible reason why Brown might have identified them.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300058117/hungry-and-scared-in-hawkes-bay
Or their judgement is so poor that things only get considered bad when a Commissioner goes undercover.
Sumeo said she witnessed multiple human rights violations, including the lack of freedom of movement (the workers had curfews), freedom of association (the workers were threatened against joining unions) and the right to culture (the workers aren’t allowed to drink kava, and are sometimes expected to work instead of going to church).
“The right to health in particular is of great concern … workers can find themselves very unwell but directed to be at work; living in substandard, overpriced bedrooms for months on end.”
Sumeo said one house she visited, provided by Laconic Ltd, had ripped carpet and leaks in the ceilings, with a bucket to catch the water. It was “like being in a cooler”, she said, but the heaters had been confiscated. It was a five-bedroom house with two to three men in each room, and was collecting $2380 rent each week.
She said she was writing to the minister after both her team and the union representing the workers had previously raised concerns with the Ministry of Business, Immigration and Employment (MBIE), with no success.
“In each instance, the labour inspectors who visited the sites found no issue with the pay and living conditions, contrary to my views,” she said.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/129496019/blatant-exploitation-migrant-workers-packed-in-freezing-damp-rooms-for-150-a-week
Good Twitter thread here which provides a couple of salient details missing from the article, and video of the incident:
https://twitter.com/nz_media_watch/status/1668555558541197313?s=20
Diversion and the above seems fair and I imagine in line with similar incidents.
what's the diversion involve apart from that?
The victim – the one with the fractured eye socket – was misinformed by the police that diversion was not appropriate for the charge.
That changed without the victim being made aware before the hearing on Monday.
I am surprised that those who view the video of the incident think this is appropriate, but actually, resigned to that response might be more accurate.
Good grief why am I not surprised? Probably the heir to a rich family, university student doing law, or medicine intermediate or commerce and a charge might afftect his future or ability to travel.
I must say my heart bleeds, not.
Actually I am stupendously mad and hopefully this can be appealed in some way.
No matter who you are it is not actually right to assault people.
They seem to be able to apply this rule without a single thought that it might blight the future of a person in South Auckland. How come it is so clear there but a few kilometres up the road it becomes murky. /sarc
According to the tweet, the Police said diversion wasn't approved. But then it was. I'm sure this happens all the time in the court system as new info and applications are presented. It's not some special case despite the victim being not being alerted until the day of the hearing. That too is probably not unusual.
There's some good info about diversion here.
Also, not sure I'd trust NZ Media Watch as a news source.
I wonder what the medical bill came too for the fracture, concussion etc, paid for courtesy of the tax payer, and if ACC might be paying in the future should other issues arise?
Thanks Molly. This was a truly disgusting and cowardly attack, but as with all clouds, there is a silver lining. The video (and other evidence) makes it crystal clear the level of hatred and violence that inhabits sections of the trans activist community.
Well, it's not surprising – violent attacks on women regularly receive derisory sentences. Diversion if this is early in the assailants criminal career, insignificant sentences for hardened criminals.
Like this one, for example.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/crime/black-power-member-nykell-t-hegotule-sentenced-for-threatening-women-in-auckland-and-northland/RE7T4NKQMRD2LLYB2LQYUEQBGU/
Violence against women (and children) is just not important in our legal system.
Well, lets be fair, maybe he is one of the new women, you know, a woman but with a cock and balls? Or just a simple thug. Who am I to judge?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132308266/why-christopher-luxon-may-ride-the-whinging-wave-all-the-way-to-the-beehive
Luke Malpass here doing his best to elect Luxon by saying that only the Nats care about international competitiveness and growth, while Labour only cares about the domestic economy.
He is making this up. Labour has done nothing to prevent local entrepreneurs from getting out their and doing it, both locally and internationally. See my post yesterday where under this Labour government NZ is the easiest place to do business in the world. Labour needs to get this message out there.
Aren't most free trade deals achieved by labour??
When I think of chippie or luxon representing use over seas Chippie is miles ahead.
Good point Waggie….not only has Labour not discouraged business and trade, but it has also rescued/maintained a huge number of businesses during Covid by dispersing billions and has negotiated impressive trade deals and and and (insert more positive things)
Particularly the EU FTA that Jacinda Ardern got over the line.
Interesting update on the RNZ scandal:
It seems the misinformation goes beyond Russia to include China and Israel but no confirmation they were the work of the same person stood down. That person has been named in the article but won't repeat here in case it goes beyond TS policy:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300903836/inappropriate-rnz-edits-review-expands-to-china-israel-stories
When the name of an offender is in the public domain, it can be cited. I doubt TS policy is in discord with such common sense. Here's another report:
So the focus will be on process design & operational decisions on that design basis – did they conform or not? I worked with Linda Clark often in the TVNZ newsroom long ago & am confident she has a good professional grasp of correct process. There's a hierarchy of duties & responsibilities traditionally – but newsroom reconfigurations may have blurred lines of accountability. Supervisory checking may have fallen thro a gap. The other two panel selections seem sensible also.
As a former "AKTV2" audio operator an 'eon' ago, I also take an interest in broadcasting matters.
My best guess is, that the gradual erosion of sub-editors in particular in all the media outlets is responsible for these types of incidents occurring. Its like everything else… remove an important safeguard from the process and accidents – deliberate or otherwise – are going to happen.
It would not surprise me if further 'misguided editing' is discovered by other media outlets whom I am sure are frantically perusing all their historical records as we speak.
Five whole years they have been doing it. Maybe the reporter needs to visit the Devonport Gun emplacements commissioned to protect against official enemies since the Crimean war.
Whole new low for Russophobia, what next, make all Russians in NZ wear a lada star?
"Hit in the head by a bullet"..could someone here, preferably a Guardian fan..explain how one gets "hit in the head with a bullet" as opposed to "shot in the head"…thankfully this unfortunate incident was merely the result of one of those "rare Israeli raid(s)"..pheew, thank goodness for that..
https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/08/palestinian-journalist-hit-in-the-head-by-bullet-during-raid-on-terror-suspects-home?fbclid=IwAR02J1r0RV7hpMeSFWPlkyq04gEXHuir1lYq0rc7acpmjI38alVZnT7tY9g
This is the real propaganda. "Hit" in the head, indeed. I have some reservations about the actions against the journalist at RNZ who has been stood down, as it seems he was rebalancing some of this slanted writing.
well i don't read the guardian but i might give this a try.
Passive dying vs active murdering.
While not agreeing with all their stances..their gung ho/war-mongering support for Obama trashing libya jumps to mind..
But if I was restricted to just one mainstream media journal..I would choose the guardian… for the generally high standard of the writing..
Maybe you could give it a go there sabine..
You might find you like it..
And given that only one restriction…what mainstream rag would you plump for..?
David Seymour calling the (brown) people of Ōpōtiki, "subhuman".
https://twitter.com/dbseymour/status/1668758897170206721
Charming.
He was presumably referring to the gangs as subhuman, not the Ōpōtiki people. Still a pretty awful way to describe people; do they actually cause more misery than billionaires?
He'd didn't specify who he was talking about which is either deliberate or careless. He knows gangs are symptomatic of the "problems" faced by Maori households in the region. Therefore he includes those households when calls them, "weak individuals unable to solve (those) problems like civilised members of society."
Seymour is not subhuman, but remarkably close to it…
He was described as 'useless' by a Labour MP?
and below 10.1.1 me is a comment describing him as 'subhuman'?
Maybe its a fair go for all when it comes to dehumanising people that one does not like or approve of it?
Just ordinarily useless? Not Maureen Pugh style "useless"?
When the gangs are in town they don't actually have to DO anything, the media hype does what the gangs love – making people afraid of them.
Interesting though, that the police have stepped up their presence in Opotiki to 24-hours a day.
I would have thought that policing should by default be a 24-hour activity all the time, not just when the gangs are in town. So policing is now officially a 9-5 job perhaps?
Does anybody seriously believe that tougher prison sentences will make one iota of difference to gang activity?
You have to catch them before you can sentence them and our police force have over the last few decades been under staffed and under resourced to the point where they are little more than an emergency response unit.
National are very vague about police resourcing, probably because it costs money and to them it is probably "wasteful spending, although tax cuts for the rich clearly aren't.
Who needs the police when you live in a gated community patrolled by private security?
Despite being announced in the budget, the massive increase in subsidy for public transport for those under 25 and free for most young people and children isn't possible to be implemented.
That's because councils don't have the systems to implement it.
And yet they have been able to do it for Gold Card holders for over a decade.
Public transport discount for under-25s hits snag (1news.co.nz)
Wouldn't it be great if NZTA had generated a national ticketing system that would have enabled this to occur as a single system?
Unfortunately NZTA have been working on this for nearly a decade, and no sign of it.
Failure by both local and central government agencies. Also why didn't Wood test this as an operational reality with MoT and NZTA well before it got into a budget proposal, that was then approved and announced?
This should have been a major election vote-winner.
Chop chop McNulty.
RNZ contacted every regional body responsible for implementing the scheme and found Wellington was not alone in having a bigger ticketing system that is harder to change.
Many small areas — including Northland, Otago, Manawatū/Whanganui and Christchurch — reported back that they will be ready to go on July 1. Others, like the Auckland supercity, still do not know if they will meet the deadline.
Auckland Transport metro optimisation manager Richard Harrison said the new concessions required "technical changes" to its existing system, that it was still working through.
"Although we are aiming to make these changes from 1 July we don't yet know whether this will be possible given the complexity of changes needed behind the scenes to our AT HOP systems."
The biggest mistake was to let each regional authority make their own type of electronic system without reference to anyone else. Wellington has Snapper, Auckland has Hop card, many of the metropolitan centres have Beecard, etc and none of them are compatible.
If a "three waters" approach had been done a couple of decades ago then we could have had by now a working system whereby you have one card that you can use on pretty much any public transport, and possibly some extras like Intercity, anywhere in the country. The benefits for promoting public transport would be enormous and being rolled out nation wide would have made it cheaper in the long run.
But of course we can’t have the government taking over public transport can we?
well the card was initiated in 2006 – so 17 years ago, and was revamped App and all in 2019.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/supergold-card-seniors-unveiled
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/deputy-prime-minister-winston-peters-launches-a-new-supergold-card-app-and-website/KFRQVKW3AP25DRQ2P4SJVY2TCI/
Maybe it does take a little longer then just a few weeks.
You have to have a HOP card in Auckland if you want the free transit for seniors. This is because we do not have the 3pm stand down period.
Quite frankly, I don't see how this can be true.
AT systems already allow half-price fares for children (defined on the basis of birth date up to 16). So the data coding for age-based fares, is already in place.
['Children' over 16 – currently have to turn up to a hub with their school or uni ID in hand – in order to have the 'child' coding applied to their AT Hop card account, as their ID is validated to prevent 'fraud']
It does require the Hop card to be registered against an account. Those who are determined that 'the gummint' aren't getting their data, have to pay full adult fare.
It would be a trivial coding exercise to extend the 'child' age from 16 to 25; and to set the cost at zero dollars.
This smacks of 'not a priority' rather than technical challenge.
Perhaps a financial penalty for every week past the 1st of July when this is not in place, would concentrate their attention.
ffs
@phdwahine
We’ve had signs like this for ages. What are we supposed to tell our tamariki about why someone would do this? All those stoking hatred for votes are a fucking disgrace
https://twitter.com/phdwahine/status/1668541998389936129
I'm waiting for the Tui bird to be reclassified as its virtually unknown English name The Parson Bird.
Purely for fun. Afficionados of UK politics will enjoy Politics Joe's mashup of Goodfellows with Tory personalities
That is funny…!
Good to be reminded again of cameron..his penis…and the dead pigs mouth..(allegedly..)
Food prices up 12.1% in the past year.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/cost-of-living-annual-food-prices-rise-121-per-cent/TVSBX6NVVRHGRFHEN2BFGUFHPY/
An education minister who can’t work out their own base salary.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/06/education-minister-jan-tinetti-admits-she-doesn-t-know-how-much-she-s-paid-amid-teachers-pay-negotiations.html
A NZ town brought to a ‘standstill’ by gang violence.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/opotiki-mongrel-mob-barbarians-death-gang-members-line-street-near-home-where-president-steven-taiatini-lies/F7J7N7MJVBHELPF5DWGOWWX4XQ/
NZ’s principle social housing provider once gain exposed as the country’s worst landlord.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/06/hamilton-mother-begs-for-help-claiming-k-inga-ora-neighbours-are-abusive-threaten-to-kill-pets.html
Retail crime up 40% in one year. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/reports-of-retail-crime-up-nearly-40-per-cent-in-2022/MTIGTUFOPRHDBOJTUV4AP5IOEY/. And we’re discussing Tesla’s.
[True to form, you dump another cherry-picked selection of five negative headlines here without any commentary for political discussion. Your snide remarks underscore your intention to mislead.
For example, a Minister can’t tell off the top of her head what her salary is or how much she’s paid. That’s not the same as not the same as not being able to work out her own base salary, as you wrote it. You implied that she was stupid and you assumed that TS readers are stupid and would fall for your misleading snarky comment.
Ōpōtiki’s Mayor said that “people in the town were carrying on as normal”. There was tension and an “eerie feeling”, but no reports of any violence in the town in the article that you linked to suggesting or having caused the town to come to a ‘standstill’, as you falsely claimed. Your intention was to mislead.
In that other linked article, there’s nothing to support your false claim that Kāinga Ora was “once gain exposed as the country’s worst landlord” [sic]. A false claim clearly aimed to mislead.
Your last linked article stated that reported retail crime was up and gave some explanations for the increased reporting. You twisted this into something different in order to mislead. It was dated 12 March, so it must have come from your ‘top drawer’.
I’m actually surprised that you left it at only five links.
No, we were not discussing cars as such. We were discussing Luxon’s shambolic performance & hypocrisy and the fact that he has no political antenna or instinct. He’s clearly totally unfit to be PM. You knew this, as you’d been extensively trolling Micky’s Post, which only shows ‘gain that you’re a disingenuous troll.
This site and the Mods don’t need disingenuous trolls like you, least of all in Election Year.
Take the rest of the year off – Incognito]
Yep! Not only that, we’re talking about a Tesla that no one actually purchased 😂 Strange times.
yes, why are we giving free cars to people that make 6 figures a year? Like the fuck why?
Would you be a senior politician?
Cabinet ministers get an official car for official travel for security reasons (among others) and the Speaker and Leader of the Opposition get the same treatment as cabinet ministers since they usually have similar levels of security risks and need.
Perhaps some granular detail on main contributors to food price increases would enlighten us:
'In the year to May, fruit and vegetable prices alone increased by 18.4 percent. "The increase was driven by avocados, kūmara, potatoes and tomatoes," Stats NZ said.
In other notable increases, grocery prices surged 12.7 percent year-on-year. Stats NZ said that increase was driven by the rising cost of eggs, potato chips and lollies.'
Egg increase is due in part to supermarket chains not accepting legal colony cages, because animal rights activists caused big fusses in supermarkets.
Kūmara and avocados will be up due to Northland flood damage. Potato price increase definitely due to poor weather this season.
And at a global level, according to the World Bank, 'Domestic food price inflation remains high around the world…inflation higher than 5% in in 70.6% of low-income countries, 81.4% of lower-middle-income countries, and 84% of upper-middle-income countries, with many experiencing double-digit inflation. Australia rose by 8%, UK rose by 19%, and US by 7%.
Implying that the government is directly responsible for food price increases doesn't stack up, and that it can do much about it, except squeeze supermarket profit, is not realistic.
Inferring that a change of government will make these price increases magically go away is fantasy.
“Implying that the government is directly responsible for food price increases doesn't stack up,”
Of course. But the government has to take at least some responsibility. https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2023/06/global-drivers-of-food-prices-may-have-peaked-but-new-zealand-factors-still-fuelling-costs-foodstuffs.html
'Minimum wage and weather'. This is the only quote in your article, liberty belle, in which the food retailer spokesperson identified local factors contributing to food price increases over the past year.
Oops, the spokesperson left off retailer profit margins.
This Stuff article examines the same 12% price rise from the Greens' perspective.
'A Commerce Commission study published last year found the supermarkets bank $430 million in excess profits a year, double what the commission considered they should be making – though the supermarkets dispute that.'
You and the Greens are right: food retailers should have excessive profits taxed, or have their profit margins controlled by government. I stand corrected. NACT won't touch profits or increase regulatory controls though, you know, so if concerned, you’re best to vote Greens.
Supermarkets pay tax on SLL their profits.
Retailers should have excessive profits taxed?
Sounds good in principle, but inevitably the supermarkets will increase prices to make up for the extra tax paid, so consumers will not win either way.
You do know who sets the minimum wage, right?
You know who sets the profit margin, right?
The market.
IRL, outside Ayn Rand world, the NZ supermarket duopoly sets the profit margin. Have you not heard of CARTELS? The free hand of the MARKET is a fantasy of Chicago school economists. If you want an example of what happens when free-market ideology meets the real world, look no further than Liz Truss's loss over one week of £30bi from the value of the UK economy .
Meanwhile, back to the topic…
margins are a function of price. Prices are set by the market. There are plenty of sources of supermarket based products outside the ‘duopoly’. Shop around, it’s fun.
'the market's..a.k.a..greedy bastard profiteers…(I believe that is an academic definition..)
Mod note
Don't know whether I should laugh or cry
https://twitter.com/ArielleScarcell/status/1668282365284691969/photo/1
1600 hrs news on nat radio. Quoting Chippie at at the waikato field days.
" I've not come across anybody who is negative, inward looking, wet or down trodden. But then I haven't seen Christopher Luxon either.
Classic.
Morale is high.
//