The PM has been doing geopolitics. And with some finesse!
Hipkins said that in his visit two weeks ago to Beijing he "encouraged China to play a constructive role" to attempt to influence Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. "China's increasing assertiveness is resulting in geopolitical change and competition," he said.
Noteworthy is the conceptual link between his second and third statements. If you comprehend his linkage, appreciate the subtlety of the nuance he's using.
Nudge theory has been influential quite a while now. Hints are a traditional part of human discourse, so nudge theory uses them as the basis for tactical influence.
Another thing worth noting about his geopolitical stance is that it deploys a paradox: we are both friend and foe to China simultaneously. Using a paradox to send a geopolitical signal to other nations is extremely sophisticated political behaviour. I wonder who's pulling his strings. Bilderbergers? Not that NATO didn't do so directly, of course, but we don't know that unless he tells us. Perhaps his dance with NATO includes a dance with the truth, in which case default Labour obfuscation could produce a dance with 7 veils. Traditional cultural play, so likely to appeal to the PM as a true conservative…
Yeah, you're not wrong but I'm agnostic on any updated TPP, the devil being in the detail. Speaking of which, note the warning about the devil issued by Xi's underling to Aotearoa (reported in that link above).
Ultimately God's will will prevail & since he's omnipotent and omniscient the devil will act accordingly. Theologians are always strangely quiet on this topic…
Blinken seems a typical Democrat thus far, straight out of the classic mould. No sign of him growing into the job.
Stop hiking the OCR and therefore stop encouraging the NZ$ exchange rate to increase, if you want to boost exporters. This is the fundamental basis for Germany's trade success, they have been either part of an exchange rate or monetary union which lowers their exchange rates in relation to other neighbour economies (for 40+ years). NZ is not part of such a union and as a developed economy isn't going to compete on price with other still developing economies in Asia.
I wouldn't particularly name this as any alternative ideology. I just think its important to recognize that the same kinds of politicians and commentators who are supposedly in favour of exporters are also cheering often whenever the exchange rate hits at new peek. I think only Winston Peters ever released an official policy position at any time.
Also its not exactly dissent from my point of view. I'm highlighting that NZ is not that geared up for exports primarily and doesn't really commit to that kind of policy without these kinds of contradictions anyway. NZ mostly runs current account deficits and that's fine but could do better at recognizing the effects of that.
You're on fire today Ad; it is more accurately a less-tax policy as it would result in 95% of people getting a tax cut, but you keep banging that drum, it sure distracts from what Labour have said they'll do!
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere.
The Greens tax policy may well do more for our overall wealth, than any number of Corporate welfare (free trade agreements).
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere
But this did not apply to The Greens wealth tax. It was going to tax farms, businesses including taxing export earning businesses.
KJT I think we need a definition of what 'real wealth building' is. I for one would have thought investing in a export businesses in shares in export businesses. Or are you meaning a growth in Govt bonds say an opportunity to invest in tied capital raising by the govt to say pay for roads or specific programmes.
This used to be a quite attractive investment for civic minded people who did not mind a slightly less than market rates, with the difference being a combination of feel good plus security of investment.
Shanreagh. Businesses, real businesses, already pay tax. I invested in business and pay tax on income at my marginal rate. This will add buggerrall to my tax apart from a few percent at the margin which Ihave no problem paying so others can live a little better.
Those that are in the business of land speculation or the "chain in the river" rental income, that takes without adding to real wealth, however. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/13-03-2022/sunday-essay-the-chain-across-the-river “The landlords aren’t doing anything useful for that extra money. They’re just using political power to extract value from the productive economy, same as the lord chaining his river. And when the artificial scarcity of housing drives up property values then all homeowners extract rent from people trying to enter the market, who have to pay inflated prices. The quality of the housing hasn’t gone up. (The quality of our housing stock is mostly terrible.) It just costs more”.
Taxing unearned income streams such as "Capital gains tax farming" would long term have benefited farming and other businesses, by reducing the cost of land for farming, business rentals and premises, and the hemorrhaging of farm income to banks, that pays the interest on inflated land prices.
Farms are now technically loss making businesses, expecting to only make a profit when the land is sold, because their is no way farm income can cover the interest cost on the land. Leading to over stocking, soil depletion and other effects of having to cover excessive interest bills. Only the banks and finance interests gain long term.
I'm also aware that export businesses provide the lifeblood of NZ. They bring new money into the country. We (Govt) should support any business that does this. We (citizens) should be behind any Govt that recognises the important role of exporting..
I have never said or implied that land speculators are export businesses or bring new money into the economy.
I was hoping you would have had comments on the ideas of Govt Bonds being a postive mechanism for people to invest in NZ
Our Goverments have largely signed away the ability to help our export businesses, in favour of so called " free trade agreements" which have sacrificed most of our export businesses for the "sacred cow" of dairy commodity exports, which has questionable long term net benefits.
Government bonds are a legitimate way of investing in the countries future. Noting that gains on them are already taxed.
There is a problem with the taxing of "unrealised gains" which has still to be addressed in both the Greens and TOP's wealth tax proposals.
Noting that you get taxed on interest earned from monetary investments, and share dividends, even if you don't "realise" withdraw, the money.
It would be simpler to tax at realisation, such as inheritance or sale, and much easier to determine values. Then loopholes such as "gifting" need to be addressed.
The "family home" is another glaring loophole. Key's 10 million "family home" is just one example. I can see every child in a wealthy family with a "family home". Setting a threshold such as two million per person makes it harder to make such a loophole. A million per person automatically exempts most "family homes". Two million leaves most peoples savings untaxed.
Lastly. Reducing the huge deadweight cost and mis-directed speculation, sorry, investment, on our economy, of inflation of existing assets caused by speculation driven by unequal tax treatment, is essential for all our future.
Salmon co-founded the Native Forest Action Council – now the Ecologic Foundation– which launched the petition, the Maruia Declaration, in 1975… Forty-six years on, Salmon has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the environment.
He was competing with us during the early '90s – Stephen Rainbow left us, joined him & Gary Taylor to try a blue-green political party:
In the 1996 election, conducted under the new MMP system, the Progressive Green Party won 0.26% of the vote, considerably below what they had hoped for, and had no members elected to Parliament. The Party did not contest any further elections, and eventually disbanded. In December 1998 the Progressive Greens were de-registered by the Electoral Commission.
Many of the party's members are now associated with the Bluegreens, an environmental "task force" within the National Party – Fenwick was the first convener of the Bluegreens and went on to co-found the NZ Business Council for Sustainable Development.
Given the opportunity to set policy towards a more progressive future Labour "baulked at the fence" again.
Labour has again failed to institute and defend more progressive policy.
Which makes you wonder if their heart is really in it?
When the right wing say Labour "squandered" their time in power they mean that Labour spent on people other than themselves. What Labour has really squandered is opportunity to reset the future for everyone. The only positive is that it is still better than NACT "competently" stealing our future.
I agree Ad. While I have been critical that more was not done on reversing things like the energy sell-off I accept that it would be an enormously complex undertaking.
I think the value of not being dead and also running a low unemployment model is worth megabucks. The scourge of unemployment & the move to keep high employment rates is something worth fighting for.
Rightist Govts often use rates of unemployment to crudely make progress ie to get money into their supporters hands they are willing to tolerate a higher rate of unemployment
The govts in the 80s & 90s altered the relationships and rights of workers drastically and this work by the Labour govt helps workers.
Michael Woods and his work will have a long lasting effect.
Fair Pay Agreements were a 2020 Labour manifesto commitment, which we have extensively consulted on, taking a balanced approach to the final design,” Michael Wood said.
Italians have reacted with outrage after a 66-year-old school cleaner escaped punishment for groping a female pupil because it “only lasted about ten seconds”.
The 17-year-old schoolgirl was walking up a flight of stairs between classes when the janitor, Antonio Avola, put his hand inside the waistband of her trousers and inside her underwear from behind.
When she confronted him, he responded: “Come on darling, you know I’m only joking,” according to other students who witnessed the incident, which happened at a high school in Rome in April last year.
But a court in Rome ruled that his groping had “only lasted between five and 10 seconds” and that his hand had not “lingered” down her underpants for very long. He had not intended to seriously molest the teenager, the court said. Putting his hand inside her trousers was “bumbling” but had not been a sign of “sexual desire”.
The notion that judges get it right is extremely traditional, even if crazy. So we can assume a resurgence of the patriarchy in Italy. Will it become contagious?
Last week, an Italian minister, Vittorio Sgarbi, faced calls to resign after he used an appearance at a modern art museum in Rome to praise the penis as “an organ of knowledge, that is to say penetration” and boasted of sleeping with 1500 women.
Macho art critics could become a thing here quite easily, eh? Those Maori carvings of erections are extremely traditional, so one can imagine the possibility of pakeha finally getting over 19th century puritanical values and embracing an iconic macho stance.
True if you focus on the mastermind producing the design but spare a thought for the practice of responsible government – our constitutional praxis. Cabinet agreed to the policy. Therefore it is a Labour/Green solidarity position.
No need to weasel, so long as James is able to use leverage to tweak the thing. Best to point to the market failure. Neolibs are in perpetual denial when it comes to market failures even when surrounded by them. Eyes tight shut. One must get up close with a megaphone & point it at their ears and yell into it. He will have to do so.
Weasel bullshit, as useful as saying that Budget 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 is Green policy. Or any other Cabinet level decision.
Shaw has had 2 terms to make any distinction between himself and beige custard. Shaw is through and through a market-focused solution guy. Which is if course why they are solid at 8% now not crashing: they don't scare the horses. Even Hosking gives him an easy ride.
Given that the ETS was developed and introduced by the Fifth Labour Government in 2008 and James Shaw entered parliament in 2014, it certainly seems that someone's trying to weasel out of something here, but it's not the Greens.
Oh please. James Shaw drafted the law, was and is the Minister responsible for the policy, got all sides of Parliament except Act to agree, and implemented it. Do yourself a solid and just take an ounce of responsibility.
In the 2014 Election when Shaw first entered parliament, the Greens policy was a Carbon Tax. Labour and National wanted a market, which is what they made.
‘Take the responsibility’ you say of a minister outside of cabinet. Very very normal, and not at all panicked lashing out.
Not sure why the Greens want further Cabinet positions if they can’t take responsibility for the primary Cabinet position they wanted in the first place.
this is stupid. The Greens have limited power. If they'd had their way they would have developed a different kind of system for NZ's climate response. But they didn't have that power, so they worked with what they could.
Shaw doesn't have a magic wand to force Labour to change Labour policy nor to get GP policy implemented and it's really weird that you keep pretending that he does.
thanks for this. I never got my head around the ETS because polluter pays is a very poor form of climate action. It's my memory that the Greens had to swallow a bitter pill on the ETS because they didn't have the power to get something better through. I'd like to write a post on this, do you have any further thoughts or links? I will need to understand the scheme and the history.
I think it is a pragmatic acceptance that since both Labour and National govts maintained it, improving the existing ETS would have more permanence and therefore effectiveness.
Here's an example prior to that in 2014 when they still advocated scrapping it:
The Green Party announced last month it would scrap the ETS and introduce a fair and transparent carbon tax, the revenue from which will all be returned to households and businesses in the form of tax cuts.
Here is James Shaw praising a rising carbon price, while also saying it is insufficient and still too low, and advocating for a carbon tax in 2016:
“The price is still far too low to be an effective incentive to business to shift investment towards low-carbon alternatives. Even at the price we have today, emissions will continue to rise. Businesses need more certainty that the carbon price won’t crash again.
“We would prefer the Government move to a simpler carbon tax system, but if it’s going to review the ETS we hope it takes it seriously and restores its integrity. This should include instituting a minimum carbon price of $25, scrapping the subsidies to polluters, and giving agriculture a deadline for entering the scheme.
“A gradual increase in the price of carbon will be good news for the economy. It will mean New Zealand businesses are more likely to invest in clean sectors of the economy, making New Zealand more competitive with the rest of the world.
In 2022 Shaw addressed some of the history while announcing the changes the current government made to the ETS. There is still an emphasis on a more effective pricing structure:
“When the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) began it was decided that some companies would receive up to 90 percent of their pollution credits for free. The purpose of this was to protect these companies from more lightly regulated competitors outside of New Zealand. However, the baseline used to decide how many credits each company would receive is exactly the same today as it was 12 years ago.
“Over the last decade, major polluters have changed how they do business and are now receiving many more credits than they need. The government at the time said it would begin phasing down the free allocation of credits from 2013, slowly driving up the cost of pollution. However this did not happen, meaning we’ve been stuck with an out of date system that has directed large amounts of taxpayers’ money towards big polluters, while keeping emissions higher than they should be. Allowing this to continue would be incompatible with the climate targets we have set – so we’re stepping in to fix it.
“From 2024, our biggest polluters will receive only the pollution credits they need – making sure they play a major role in meeting the Government’s second emissions budget. The changes will remove a major obstacle to innovation, to industrial decarbonisation and the proper functioning of our carbon market. Together with our plan to phase out free allocation over time, this will push the big polluters to make a larger contribution towards meeting our goal of building a net-zero future.
“Today’s announcement builds on the work we have already done to make the ETS fit-for-purpose, including reforms that have put a proper price on pollution and raised about $4.5 million for climate action.
“A well-functioning ETS that puts a proper price on pollution is a critical tool in our climate action toolbox. But it cannot do the job alone. The actions and initiatives in the Emissions Reduction Plan will ensure we meet the first emissions budget and lay the foundation for future climate action,”
In 2020, we declared a climate emergency, committing to urgent action to reduce emissions. In 2019, we passed the Zero Carbon Act – aiming to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – and reformed the Emissions Trading Scheme to more effectively reduce climate-polluting emissions.
In government, Labour took significant steps to address climate change, including:
Fixing the Emissions Trading Scheme
or maybe Shaw was just the surrogate and Labour the buying parent. As you wish, but that shite is bi-partisan, and its Labour and their Green surrogates.
The NZ ETS was not develped de novo in a vacuum. I'd say, look to trends and political pressures internationally at the time – and at which consulting firms pushed the government towards this option.
It's vitally important that left-wingers signal a virtue to everyone. It's what they were born to do. They can't be authentic without doing so! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suasion
If it finds itself in a position to do so, the Green Party will “explore” the return of land “wrongfully alienated from the tangata whenua”.
Exploration is not a bad thing. Explorers have mana traditionally. Heroic adventuring into the wild Green yonder is also fun.
Love the grab-bag of RW slogans I see you sprinkle into your comments. Struggling with what idea you're trying to communicate with the slogan 'virtue signalling' here. What do you actually mean to say?
No big deal, merely irony. That you see me recycling RW slogans is perception – the accuracy of those being more to the point. Note the moral guidance of suasion. That inherent part of leftism is a valid component. It signals useful common ground and is therefore an eternal survival skill for humans.
Despite that sensibility, leftists defaulting into banality when talking at people rather than to them is a herding drift that they often use to render themselves politically impotent. I try to be helpful by pointing to it every now & then…
As trotter points out this would not be price-setting in any shape or form..
That iwi/hapu purchases would meet the market price…"
Until it is and how can enforce it?. If they have first right of refusal, can the vendor refuse if they offer too low a price or will they have to accept any offer – or will they have to go to court to be allowed any other offer if the Iwi/hapu offer is to low, and how could that be legislated and who would enforce it.
You can hope, but then hope costs nothing and generally has no worth other then it makes one feel better for a moment until reality hits again square in the face.
What this reminds me of the Landreforms in Eastern Europe/Germany during the times of the Communists and to some extend in West Germany.
The land reforms in both East and West Germany had three main goals:
to end the conservative political influence of land barons[clarification needed].
to reallocate and integrate refugees from the former eastern territories and citizens displaced by bombings.[12][13]
to enforce greater flexibility and efficiency in short-term agricultural production.[14]
The communist Bodenreform in East Germany nationalised all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (247 acres), and redistributed it to publicly owned estates.[15]
Since 1990, after German reunification, some Junkers tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but the German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed all claims for compensation.
On part for the refusal to pay out any damages etc is simply the understanding that you can't undo and go back to the past, and at the same time you can not burden any other new generation with the costs of the past, and that to destroy the current for the past makes no sense.
Sometimes what is done is done.
this might be a good read on that decision of the courts.
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property and the Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of April 23, 1991 Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of A
What are we trying to achieve here should be the first question, second would be does it benefit all or just a select few, if it only benefits a select few is it then not against the greater good for all? Or we go full Zimbabwe. That too would be an option.
Moving out of where you are at retirement age (or thereabouts) to where you think you'll be happy is a basic Kiwi instinct. Call it neocolonial if you want.
Is this just another manifesto of Tall Poppy Syndrome and the politics of envy? Horrible whatever it is.
I have every admiration for the likes of Marc Ellis and do not begrudge him his good fortune. he was a talented sports figure, built his juice empire…….good on him.
I somehow think that an intensive updating of knowledge about the history of kiwi home ownership & its importance to Kiwi battlers from the year dot would be a good thing. Perhaps along with Civics we can get this in the school curricula.
Why is it horrible to point out that he can buy a cheaper house in Italy, that food in Italy is cheaper then here, that he feels alienated by his country? That he no longer feels welcome in his own country due to various reasons.
I mean if he were the only one leaving i would say maybe…..
but,
The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 23,500, the highest since the October 2013 year.12/05/2023
and i would like to point out that those that leave are the ones that have the skill set, the youth, the money, the connection. And to make up for it we employ lots of people from elsewhere, i guess that is the future 'settler' generation, after all they migrated here and 'settled'?
How on earth can you really justify calling someone who was born into this country a 'settler'.- I man can you even in any meaningful term define 'settler'?
Pakeha in most people mind means New Zealander born to the country not of Maori ethnicity.
Pretty much all of Maori have settlers blood in them. Who is the purest then, and at what stage can a Maori be a settler, is that like African Americans dabbling in White Supremacy?
How big is the percentage of Maori that are married to their settler overlords and have children?
The white, brown, asian children born into this country should have the right to be not insulted by being called settler (implying some sort of inherited 'oppressor' status) by people who want to feel righteous and who like to bask in the purifying light of moral supremacy. Until of course these righteous settlers are happy to leave, after all this is not heir country. And that would include anyone of us who is not sufficiently maori, and who much % of Maori must one have to be sufficiently pure? Just asking, cause as a German i can't really put my finger on it, but……..it feels vaguely familiar.
See, I don't identify as a Pakeha. I am not. I am german, born in germany, raised in the culture etc etc etc, I am like that Maori Guy that lives in my hometown with his German wife and his German/Maori son an 'expat' or an immigrant. So I really don't identify with all that settler crap that is designed to put down todays white, non maori/pi brown kids and asian kids down a nudge as an intruder of sorts.
I also have a place to go to, should that settler crap here explode and become mean as it seems to go atm, do you? Are you enough Tangata Whenua to not be considered a settler? How racially pure are you Sanctuary.
As for the tone of his reasoning for leaving, it resonates with many, and we are losing our best to OZ and any other country that will have them, to import the cheapest laborer we can find in asia. Go figure.
It is a pretty straight forward rule to me. Is your relationship with your homeland transactional or unconditional? Like all of us, Ellis won huge in the lottery of birth – the country he was born into, the genetics he was blessed with that made him a skilled athlete and the infrastructure that existed to allow to achieve his full potential. By all means, he should go and enjoy your wealth as you see fit. But a thank you and a bit of humility and love for his country would be nice, don’t you think?
NZ made him a rich man – yet his relationship remians entirely transactional and transitory and he feels the need to dump on the place before he buggers off. It is this entitled, transitory and transactional mindset that irks me and for me sets apart the settler and colonist from the native. You find few Maori who feel the need to bag the country in public, even when they migrate for better jobs or opportunites. Taika Waititi might be clear eyed enough to know NZ is "racist as" but it doesn't stop him showing his affection for the people of this land in "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
You can also read it as a vote of no confidence in National and ACT though, eh? Isn't that a better way of seeing his move? Since his explanation isn't visible.
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of foreigners, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in Wanaka? 🙂
Now that is the problem, you don't ask yourself why a born and bred Kiwi, who made good money and made the country good money, leaves his comfortable life here to start a new comfortable life elsewhere. I mean the sunshine is a reason, but its not the only one.
Fact is that he is one of the few lucky that can just retire, and that will be given citizenship in Italy, as they clearly see him as a law abiding gentlemen, with his family, bringing money and a bit of prestige to a i Italian town, maybe he even coaches a youth club or something. Who knows.
What you prefer to not mention is the 25.299 others that are also leaving, Maori and 'Settler' alike, for the same reason to any country that will have them, whilst we are trying to import as cheap a laborer as we can find to make up for the shortfall.
Cheaper housing, cheaper food, better services, and hopefully no constant divide and conquer on the grounds of race, which for the most part of NZ'lers mean a mix of maori and 'settler'. That is why people leave. And you who has nothing of substance to that point say trot out your idiotic last century talking points about colonies and settlers. Mind me asking, did you get a Lolly with that critical race theory? .
Young people with education, and those with money are voting with their feet.
Highest number since 2013. That would be at John Key level. Well done Labour, you have achieve equality.
I remember hearing when young, "The party's boring, I'm going."
Which often seemed a way of saying "The party's boring, and I don't have the ability or personality to make it not boring. I'll go somewhere else where someone else will provide an environment for me that I find not boring."
Another aspect of the Mark Ellis perspective: He is like many career sports journalists who moan about rules in the game of rugby. I have yet to see one come out with their 'book of laws and rules' for the game. Whingeing from the sideline? Plenty of that. Sit down and come up with a comprehensive re-write (with some from the multitude of discontented) and use their influence and reach to try to get change? No way. It's easier to chip and run. To the backblocks, or Italy.
Nope that was net migration outwards as per the Government.
No one is coming back really, but many leave. Heck, even the Maori leave – the young ones. Better money, healthcare, and education, houses and cheaper food. All good reasons to leave.
Migration, in most cases is driven by economic decisions, that is why people from Asia like to come here, and that is why people from here like to go to OZ or elsewhere in the search of Opportunity and wealth.
You have those that are coming into the country with spouses, but would they have migrated here if they had not married a kiwi? Chances are not.
Kiwis are migrating away from NZ in order to seek a better more affordable future elsewhere and it would behoove us all to even just consider why they do that. Rather then go in a rant about colonists coming to make holidays in the colonies or other such assorted academic bullshit.
Pfft. People come and people go. Not everyone gets on with their birth family, or suits the temperament of their birth culture. Some are ambitious and see better chances for themselves elsewhere. Not much point in trying to get the leavers to stay.
However, I agree that putting the boot in before you slam the door on your way out is ungracious.
I got myself into a bit of trouble with the mods yesterday using output from Chat GPT
On reflection, I think the criticism was fair enough. I asked it to produce a list of studies which I didn't bother to investigate which I should have.
But one of the big weaknesses I can see (confirmed by Chat GPT itself, asking it today) is that it is unable to access the full studies if these are not publicly available. Therefore, it may not be aware of weaknesses in those studies, or how directly applicable they are.
This probably isn't such an issue with well investigated areas, as it will be able to access relevant text books etc I suspect. But, in those areas, there probably isn't much need to ask Chat GPT anyway. Though, I think it is best to use that output as a starting point, rather than as the final word on anything.
But in more obscure areas, I think any output from Chat GPT needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Because Chat GPT seems almost omnipresent, it is easy to assume it knows everything. But, this clearly isn't the case.
Always check what ChatGPT or similar generates. It can and does make up stuff (BS), including links. Click on the links, check that they are real, and check that the info matches the burbles generated by ChatGPT. This is critical when you are in unfamiliar topic territory (NB incorrect title, authors, publication/journal name, or date/year are signs that it was made up or at least part of it – you won’t know which part)
ChatGPT is not a magical key or wand that gets past (most) firewalls or subscriptions. If you cannot see the full text then ChatGPT cannot either. However, ChatGPT has no shame or moral handbrake on filling in the blanks and generate something plausible. (NB it sounds plausible because it is probable text based on its training set, but this does not make it correct or even accurate)
ChatGPT has an in-built bias because it was trained on a biased training set.
ChatGPT responds to your prompts; different prompts generate different burbles.
ChatGPT is a powerful tool when used correctly but it can also be a formidable weapon in the wrong hands. TS Mods will follow a hard line against misuse and abuse of AI tools for political gain, such as propagating talking points & propaganda or dumping large amounts of unchecked (and unlinked) misinformation.
This site is for robust political debate and all commenters are expected to take ownership & responsibility of their comments. TS is not a notice board or a free-for-all forum to indulge your personal pet projects with a plethora of copy-pasta and spam the site with your favourite links to your preferred sites (aka spamming or link-whoring). When you copy & paste ChatGPT burble, for example, it becomes your burble (aka your baby) and you must defend it accordingly.
The opinion of others rarely matters (much) here and you cannot hide behind the opinions or comments of others; it is considered bad-faith. In general, for the sake of robust debate, the only opinions that matter here are the ones expressed & debated by commenters (and Authors), as they are the only people who exist on this site. (NB we cannot debate with a person who’s not commenting here nor can that person explain or defend themselves if they are not active on this site – this should be as obvious as an open door)
Remember this when you use ChatGPT or similar. It will be a learning curve for all, but ignorance is not an excuse.
ChatGPT has been accused of engaging in biased or discriminatory behaviors, such as telling jokes about men and people from England while refusing to tell jokes about women and people from India, or praising figures such as Joe Biden while refusing to do the same for Donald Trump. Conservative commentators accused ChatGPT of having a bias towards left-leaning perspectives.
Additionally, in a 2023 research paper, 15 political orientation tests were conducted on ChatGPT, with 14 of them indicating left-leaning viewpoints, which appeared to contradict ChatGPT's claimed neutrality.
In response to such criticism, OpenAI acknowledged plans to allow ChatGPT to create "outputs that other people (ourselves included) may strongly disagree with". It also contained information on the recommendations it had issued to human reviewers on how to handle controversial subjects, including that the AI should "offer to describe some viewpoints of people and movements", and not provide an argument "from its voice" in favor of "inflammatory or dangerous" topics (although it may still "describe arguments from historical people and movements"), nor "affiliate with one side" or "judge one group as good or bad". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT
The style & tone modifier provided to users seems to portend a dimension of idiosyncrasy – almost whimsical potential, if you include that with the capacity to dissent from favoured views as mentioned above.
A senior editor at The Atlantic has written that ChatGPT and other similar technology make the previously absurd idea of the dead internet theory a little more realistic, where most web content could someday be created by AI in order to control society.
Seems likely to add a surreal dimension at the leading edge, which will seep into the mainstream in ratio to the number of users.
The share price of Buzzfeed, a digital media company unrelated to AI, increased 120% after announcing OpenAI technology adoption for content creation.
Looks like law clerks could lose part of their duties…
While GPT-3 demonstrated impressive results in AI language processing, GPT-3.5 pushed the boundaries even further and incorporated improvements in both processing and output quality.
However, GPT-4 goes even further and is much more concise than 3.5, so much so that it was able to pass the law bar exam with ease!
I wonder how long it will take till one of these gizmos gets to provide testimony on case law in court. Soon as we hear of top US legal firms using this system to expedite precedent research we'll know it won't take much longer.
'Government by swing voters". Otherwise known as "focus groups".
It is obvious that our laughable, "Representative Democracy" is going to result in policy that somewhere between 53% and 80% of voters polled, want! is being dumped in favour of policy to sway approximately 10% of voters, that will swing between Labour and National.
Up to 80% of the electorate support left or right leaning political parties. The levels of 'left' and 'right' might change but that is roughly what happens. Up to 20% 'don't know' for a variety of reasons but mostly because they don't bother to take an interest. Some of those 'don't knows' make up their minds on polling day or in the days leading up to it. The rest don't vote.
Yet 'they' are usually the ones who decide the outcome which pretty much defeats the purpose of a democratically elected government.
Your last point is worthwhile considering at length. Everyone ought to. Imagine if the govt set up a website called Public Opinion. Framed it to elicit feedback on current issues. Allowed crowd-sourced wisdom to tweak that framing by demand, driven by numbers dissenting in ratio to numbers favouring govt framing.
If the tech design & system worked out right, we'd all get a user interface with direct democracy. We couldn't compel the govt – but we could provide a useful simulation of the overall public mood on issues. Way better than focus groups!!
Ha! Immediately subject to capture by those politically invested in the outcome of any one vote. Not to mention the political framing of the question to start with (who gets to decide this, I wonder)
Given that we can't persuade voters to come out and cast their ballot once every 3 years – what would make you think that we could get people to invest their time more regularly? Especially after the first time, they didn't get the outcome they wanted.
Anyone who's been involved in market surveys and focus groups, knows the challenge they face to get ongoing participation…..
It seems much like governing by referendum….. And we've all seen the dubious outcomes those can generate….
Valid points but seems to me the incentive-structure does enable participatory democracy to an indicative extent. Sort of organised virtue-signalling, but in a methodica design. If you chartered a public service organisation to administer the interface, you could insert a clause in their employment contracts requiring them to design and operate it in accord with the public interest.
That kind of pragmatic consensus-generating model usually works due to the extent of common ground becoming evident to all players. It is essentially an activist-driven arena.
I'd advocate, for instance, a class-based module within the overall system, plus an identity-politics module as well, leaving it flexible enough to respond to other crowd-sourced framings too. Those to be incorporated when surpassing a threshold of activation to be consensually decided…
I think, however, you are wildly over-estimating the willingness of the general NZ public to participate. The TS commentariat is a wild outlier in terms of general political engagement.
Have you been monitoring the progress of Action Station? Since launch, I mean, around a decade or so back (I was involved in designing it prior to that). Last I noticed the membership count it was several thousand.
Unfortunately it got captured by left-wingers early but it still has leverage on politics and sometimes gets results from collective pressure that even I have been able to feel good about.
My point is that the system I propose caters for all shades of political opinion & tribalism gets relegated into holistic context.
Dennis Frank, sounds a little like Switzerland's semi-direct democracy
'Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because theoretically, the sovereign of Switzerland is actually its entire electorate). Referendums on the most important laws have been used since the 1848 consitution.
'Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, the joining of international organisations, or changes to federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution but will remain in force for more than one year must be approved by the majority of both the people and the cantons, a double majority.
'Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.'
The cantons are parts of the federal system that have their own decision-making power.
Indeed. I recall making a similar comment on their system onsite here a while back actually. However blending it with high tech design and a user-interface seems the best way to go. I read a book called User Friendly from the library and it emphasised the role of design in operational systems, and how that could produce optimal engagement of people. Made Apple top corporation globally.
I'd say that both Labour and National have a tribal vote of around 20% (maybe a little higher) – of voters who will vote that way, regardless of what is happening to the party. We see this reflected in the election numbers when the party crashes for some reason (2002 National; 2014 Labour) They each have another 10% of 'soft' vote (usually vote Labour/National – but can jump ship for tactical reasons, or because they don't like what the party is doing).
Note this group can cross the right/left divide (e.g. 'right' voters voting for Ardern in 2020).
The GP probably has a tribal vote of 4-5%. And again another 3-4% who will usually vote Green – but can be lost to other parties (again for tactical or disenchantment reasons).
ACT might have 1% historically of tribal voters. Although if they maintain their momentum for another couple of elections – this may well shift up to the 5% mark.
NZF (i.e. Winston) historically had around 3% tribal voters. However, these have been dying off – and it's probably around 1% ATM. The bulk of the NZF vote has always been a protest one.
TPM – is really too new to say. The party in its current iteration is quite different to the earlier one – and the voter base has changed as well. Given that their election strategy is a seat-based one, rather than a party vote – it doesn't matter too much. I'd say that, like NZF, the bulk of their vote is a protest vote, rather than tribal loyalty [NB: 'tribal' in a political sense, here]
So: Around 47% of the vote is 'locked' into one party or another. Another 25% is a mobile right/left vote – which can choose to vote tactically, or be disenchanted and protest vote. Leaving around 28% of the vote being truly mobile – no particular loyalty to either right or left philosophies. The group most subject (I think) to capture by glossy policies or leaders.
I know English is not your first language Sabine but do take note of what I said – "up to"!
It varies from anywhere between say 60% and 80%. Voting patterns are not static. They can vary dramatically depending on the political climate of the time. Any stat or poll that claims to be an accurate assessment of general voting percentages is bullshit. Nor even political polls make that assumption.
However, anyone who has been around the political traps for 40 plus years can tell you that the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties. Its the small percentage (up to 10% at most) who do change sides who decide the outcome.
That is what we are discussing so I suggest you stop your silly game playing.
the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties.
Sorry, Anne, but this is rubbish. There is a highly mobile centrist vote (at least 20%) who regularly move between National and Labour (sometimes with NZF or another centrist party in the mix).
That's the political definition of a centrist voter – one that may vote 'right' or 'left' depending on political circumstance.
And the reason that National is a centre/right, and Labour is a centre/left party. Both know that the centrist voters are key to any election.
And another 20%+ who are not tied to any political loyalty at all. This relatively high level of voter mobility is why our political ecology has times when party votes crash.
I doubt we are too far apart on this one. I agree there is a significant group who sit around the so-called centre and are capable of moving left or right but the vast majority remain on one side of the left/right equation.
From my standpoint the so-called centre is an amorphous area where nothing happens. All the action occurs around the periphery with Labour and National taking the bulk of the support.
In theory there may be a political centre but in practice I don't really think it exists. Some people just happen to move over the dividing line depending on the way the wind happens to be blowing on the day.
But then again my standpoint may be coloured by a former career. 🙂
Well, yes, that's what democracy is.
The idiot-down-the-road's vote is worth just as much as your intelligent, politically-nuanced one.
There is no entry bar (apart from age) and no exit condition (apart from serious incarceration). There is no intelligence test, or political awareness test.
Democracy (even the variant MMP democracy) requires political parties to convince the majority of Kiwis to support their policies (or their leaders, if you subscribe to the great man/woman theory of politics). It does not demand an overwhelming consensus of the population (which would probably be unachievable)
If 51% (or whatever the MMP majority is) favours your coalition – that group of parties gets to form a government (and arm-wrestle over which policies get enacted). That is precisely what a democratically elected government is.
Yes – that15-20% of 'mobile' voters (i.e. they don't have tribal loyalty to any one party) – often the derided 'centrist' voters – are the ones who decide elections. [They are also, BTW, the ones who 'waste' votes on unelectable parties]
Indeed that is the *only* way that a government can change – if everyone was tribal – then government would never change (or at least, only generationally, as new voters graduated into the pool)
I believe that we have a civic duty to vote. But I know that view is not universally shared. People choose not to vote for a variety of reasons (everything from apathy to anarchy). And, non-voters don't affect the result.
That mobile vote swept Ardern's government into an unprecedented under MMP absolute majority government in 2020. I don't recall you complaining about democracy, then.
What alternative form of government would you like to see?
if b were to be the majority of votes, leave the last government as a care takers government for a few more month and then vote again, hopefully that would be enough time for the suited ones to come up with policies that represent the wishes and needs of the people rather then the wishes of the needs of the policy writers.
While, intellectually, I like the "none of the above" or "no confidence" option on the ballot paper. In reality, elections are hugely expensive operations – and as a taxpayer I don't really want to have any more than are truly necessary.
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…..
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…
It's about making politicians change their policy to better reflect what voters want.
Why would politicians change their policies to appeal to a group of 'don't care' politically disengaged voters?
It's only voters who are going to vote against them that matter electorally.
Under Sabine's scenario, you'd have to have somewhere around 40+% of the electorate voting 'don't care' before the result would cause a new election. I think that it would never happen….
People who care enough to vote – already have plenty of unelectable parties – effectively the spoilt vote scenario. This doesn't inspire them to vote now….
I agree with you. But at some stage we either accept the non voters as the cheap option of 'non of the above' or we find a way to include that into the voting process.
In parliament we have Yes, No, or Abstain, we should have the same right, or at least abolish 'abstain' for any vote in parliament.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
Maybe that should be addressed before we judge those that no longer want to participate in a system they feel is designed to be simply rubberstamped by voters in order to keep a sheen of legitimacy.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
I agree that this is true for some voters… some are simply completely uninterested politically at all.
However, simply having a 'no confidence' vote isn't going to inspire them – since, once again, their vote won't have changed anything.
i have never met anyone who is not interested but i have many who simply state that they don't see a difference between any of them. And that is where the political parties fail.
At some stage the failure to attract voters is a problem created by parties who expect people to vote for soundbites and not on the result of their actions.
And partisanship has also something to do with this, and frankly that is a question that some should ask themselves, how many soft voters are now nowhere to be seen thanks to a lot of vitriol coming their way for not sufficiently supporting L and their excesses.
According to twitter, they are to be replaced by the grand Grant Robertson, person beloved my some. thus no J.A effect. That card can't not be played again.
I listened to Bernard Hickey interviewing Danyl McLaughlin on the Kaka (25 mins), first on Fukuyama’s theory of vetocracy then current context here, folks becoming disillusioned with democracy due to leftist failure etc.
Around 22 mins in they got onto something else interesting: Danyl mentioned that mental health reform had failed due to govt doing suitable policy but the public service not having a clue what to do with the funding of it. He said the Infrastructure Commission issued a report to that effect – I never saw that reported in the media.
He's also a narcissistic ex-junkie who traded smack for an addiction to himself, is proud of his own ignorance, and has all the confidence that goes with a lifetime of privilege, excess, and special treatment.
Yep intelligent courageous and despite a fairly acute voice impediment articulate can speak for hours knowledgably off the cuff isnt afraid to say hes wrong or made a mistake or needs to think about something a bit more has humility and compassion [ unlike some !! ]
Yes but if you put them in jail for 5 years that is a million dollars we all have to pay.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
If his name becomes known he will be labelled for life-it doesn't exactly help trying to turn him into a useful member of society. Neither does slamming him inside for 5 years.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
It seems that the current round of offending before the courts occurred while he was on this strictly monitored bail for previous crimes…. so not very effective, was it….
At the time the man, then 18, was on bail after he was charged with an aggravated robbery, for which he was sentenced in September to home detention.
We have no evidence, either way, whether he has been charged with other crimes committed while on bail for this offence.
He committed this ram raid while on the "electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements." that you mention so a fat lot of good that was!
I believe it costs around $193k a year to keep someone in jail, but having him out in the community is costing a lot more than that.
You and Grannie completely missing the point of judges and a justice system there. What would it look like if your court of public opinion set judicial sentences on the basis of a social media story, or a done-once-over-lightly Herald article, as you are doing here? Not much need for judging then. Just rubber-stamp the writ for hanging.
Clearly the judge had reasons for their sentence that you do not know about.
Drescher says this is a crossroads for many workers, not just actors and screenwriters. She describes the industry as having changed the business model fundamentally with streaming services, while not accepting that the payment structures for creatives need renegotiating. Examples are the lack of residual payments for digital media. AI challenges the future of creatives as well.
I agree disruptor tech needs to be critiqued, challenged, and reigned in because personal profit driven people will always take advantage of artists and workers, but this industrial action is really tough on film crews, many of who are not unionised/syndicated because it’s very expensive in the US. And globally crews have zero worker protection (in NZ see the Hobbit law).
On the surface it seems incongruous for headline wealthy actors to be walking out of London premiers midway because 'they are the victims' but in a way it generates huge publicity for workers rights.
There will be real pain for ordinary film crew workers and their families because of the disruption to productions but the long view is a chance to set some real ground rules for the new era of entertainment consumption, ie streaming, AI content etc.
I went to Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny the other day and the first 20 mins shows a young Harrison Ford (he's now 81 years old). The first few shots you can tell it's CGI but after that you don't notice. A sign of things to come…
Two examples of AI used to steal from performers, in comments under this video:
Background actors who came in for a multi-day shoot did some scenes on day one, and were 3D-scanned. They were then dismissed and paid only for one day, despite being told beforehand they would be paid for use of their image and movements.
A dancer in a live show filmed for additional distribution had another face pasted over hers by AI and received no income from the distribution of the tape. Under standard condition, use of her image/performance would have needed her signed permission, with associated fee/residual payments.
It’s essential for creatives to get fair payment, as most of the 160,000 AG union members cannot support themselves on their acting work alone, and they have to cover audition and presentation costs.
Gloriavale lawyer interviewed on 3News gave the govt a roasting. He meant the departmental heads involved. Negligence, delinquent behaviour is my framing of his gist. Newshub doesn't have it onsite yet.
He's disgusted the Nat/Lab duopoly have allowed a cult to get away with slavery in Aotearoa. Correctly so, it seems. PM & ministers will look around wildly, going "We're not responsible. Just because it says so in our constitutional law doesn't mean it's true!"
Yeah, that's the one. Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
lawyer Dennis Gates said the women shouldn't have had to go to court, rather the Government should have stepped in a long time ago to liberate them from slavery.
Thing is, his critique of Labour hinges on whether it is reasonable or not. I'm agnostic. I can see how the PM may reasonable respond "Their slavery was a matter of opinion which the court decision may have changed. I'll seek advice from our lawyers, but it may require a Supreme Court determination."
Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
It was published last night shortly after 7 pm. With the short news cycles, news items get pushed down & off rapidly. To find an item you often have to put some effort into it and search, not simply scroll up & down the main page (aka ‘scanning’).
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The government has made it abundantly clear they’re addicted to the smell of new asphalt. On Tuesday they introduced a new term to the country’s roading lexicon, the Roads of Regional Significance (RoRS), a little brother for the Roads of National (Party) Significance (RoNS). Driving ahead with Roads of Regional ...
School is outAnd I walk the empty hallwaysI walk aloneAlone as alwaysThere's so many lucky penniesLying on the floorBut where the hell are all the lucky peopleI can't see them any moreYesterday morning, I’d just sent out my newsletter on Tama Potaka, and I was struggling to make the coffee. ...
Hi,I wanted to check in and ask how you’re doing.This is perhaps a selfish act, of attempting to find others feeling a similar way to me — that is to say, a little hopeless at the moment.Misery loves company, that sort of deal.Some context.I wish I could say I got ...
I have hitherto been fairly quiet on the new season of Rings of Power, on the basis that the underwhelming first season did not exactly build excitement – and the rumours were fairly daft. The only real thing of substance to come out has been that they have re-cast Adar ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
“The thing is,” Chris Luxon says, leaning forward to make his point, “this has always been my thing.”“This goes all the way back to the first multinational I worked for. I was saying exactly the same thing back then. The name of our business needs to be more clear; people ...
Buzz from the Beehive It’s been a momentous few days for Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court decision which blocked a summons order from the Waitangi Tribunal for her. And today she has announced the Government is putting children first by introducing to ...
In 2014 former Australian army lawyer David McBride leaked classified military documents about Australian war crimes to the ABC. Dubbed "The Afghan Files", the documents led to an explosive report on Australian war crimes, the disbanding of an entire SAS unit, and multiple ongoing prosecutions. The journalist who wrote the ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – According to the respected Pew Research Centre, “In seven of eight [European] countries surveyed, the most trusted news outlet asked about is the public news organization in each country”. For example, “in Sweden, an overwhelming majority (90%) say they trust the public broadcaster SVT”. ...
David Farrar writes – Kata MacNamara reports: Details of Tony Blakely’s involvement in the New Zealand Government’s response to the pandemic raise serious questions about the work of the Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry over which he presides. It has long been clear that Blakely, a ...
Chris Trotter writes – Are you a Brahmin or a Merchant? Or, are you merely one of those whose lives are profoundly influenced by the decisions of Brahmins and Merchants? Those are the questions that are currently shaping the politics of New Zealand and the entire West. ...
RNZ reports – It’s supposed to be a haven of healing and spiritual awakening but residents of the Kawai Purapura community say they’ve been hurt and deceived. It’s the successor to the former Centrepoint commune, and has been on the bush block opposite Albany shopping centre since 2008. It ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. Usually we have a video chat to go with this wrap, but were unable to do one this week. We’ll be back next week.Several reports ...
The Transport Minister has set a hard 'fiscal envelope' of $6.54 billion for transport capital spending. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The economy is settling into a state of suspended animation as the Government’s funding freezes and job cuts chill confidence and combine with stubbornly high interest rates to ...
To be precise, the term “anti- Zionism” refers to (a) criticism of the political movement that created a modern Jewish state on the historical land of Israel, and to (b)the subjugation of Palestinians by the Israeli state. By contrast, the term “anti-Semitism” means bigotry and racism directed at Jewish people, ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Because hurricanes are one of the big-ticket weather disasters that humanity has to face, climate misinformers spend a lot of effort muddying the waters on whether climate change is making hurricanes more damaging. With the official start to the hurricane ...
Yesterday the Mayor released what he calls his “plan to save public transport” which is part of his final proposal for the Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP). This comes following consultation on the draft version that occurred in March which showed, once again, that people want more done on transport, especially ...
And it's a pleasure that I have knownAnd it's a treasure that I have gainedAotearoa’s coalition government is fragile. It’s held together by the obsequious sycophancy of Christopher Luxon, who willingly contorts his party into the fringe positions of his junior coalition partners and is unwilling to contradict them. The ...
The Select Committee hearing submissions on the fast-track consenting legislation is starting to become a beat-up of regional councils. The inflexibility and slow workings of the Councils were prominent in two submissions yesterday. One, from the Coromandel Marine Farmers Association, simply said that the Waikato Regional Council’s planning decisions were ...
Back in April, the High Court surprised everyone by ruling that Ministers are above the law, at least as far as the Waitangi Tribunal is concerned. The reason for this ruling was "comity" - the idea that the different branches of government shouldn't interfere with each other's functions. Which makes ...
Buzz from the BeehiveTolling was mentioned when Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the government was re-introducing the Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme, with 15 “crucial” projects to support economic growth and regional development across New Zealand. All RoNS would be four-laned, grade-separated highways, and all funding, financing, and ...
or the past 14 years, ever since the Spanish government cheated on an autonomy deal, Catalonia has reliably given pro-independence parties a majority of seats in their regional parliament. But now that seems to be over. Catalans went to the polls yesterday, and stripped the Catalan parties of their majority. ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ report: Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins said the Electoral Commission should make sure the system ran smoothly and “taking away the right of thousands of people to vote” was not the answer. “Thousands of people enroled and voted on the day. If ...
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. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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 ...
Health, infrastructure, renewable energy, and stability are among the themes of the current visit to Papua New Guinea by a New Zealand political delegation, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Papua New Guinea carries serious weight in the Pacific, and New Zealand deeply values our relationship with it,” Mr Peters ...
The coalition Government is launching Roads of Regional Significance to sit alongside Roads of National Significance as part of its plan to deliver priority roading projects across the country, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The Roads of National Significance (RoNS) built by the previous National Government are some of New Zealand’s ...
A high-level New Zealand political delegation in Honiara today congratulated the new Government of Solomon Islands, led by Jeremiah Manele, on taking office. “We are privileged to meet the new Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet during his government’s first ten days in office,” Deputy Prime Minister and ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
Arawata Shane Arawata Shane had wandered long In the wild tangled hills of the West Coast. He came to a stop on the mighty range And looked down at the wide river flats. He breathed in the clean air, And he took in the shadows playing across The face of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:Islands Business in Suva Today is the 24th anniversary of renegade and failed businessman George Speight’s coup in 2000 Fiji. The elected coalition government headed by Mahendra Chaudhry, the first and only Indo-Fijian prime minister of Fiji, was held hostage at gunpoint for 56 days in the country’s ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist and Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific digital journalist Police have used tear gas and stun grenades on rioters at an airport near Nouméa as the chaos in New Caledonia stretched into its sixth day. Five people, including two police officers, have died and hundreds of ...
Asia Pacific ReportThe global human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called on France to not “misuse” a crackdown in the ongoing unrest in the non-self-governing French Pacific territory of Kanaky New Caledonia in the wake of a controversial vote by the French Parliament to adopt a bill changing the territory’s ...
A major provider of school lunches fears the government's new $3 limit for most students will see them eating more pre-packaged and processed food. ...
The star of Dark City: The Cleaner takes us through his life in TV, including the VHS revolution and the John Campbell impression that started it all. Best known for his comedic roles, Cohen Holloway says he struggled at times to maintain the stone cold facade of serial killer on ...
David Hill remembers an old friend, who you’ve probably never heard of. My friend Doug never travelled; he had little interest in the world beyond his own tiny rural town. I’ve rarely known anyone who radiated such contentment. Doug (I’ll call him that) died in March. You won’t know him. ...
Some of the earliest photos of life in Aotearoa are on display at Auckland Museum right now – but the identities of some of the people in them are a mystery.What was it like to be one of the first people in New Zealand to have their photo taken? ...
Since its founding almost a decade ago, Featherston Booktown has grown into one of the country’s most interesting and idiosyncratic literary events. Erin Banks reports from the audience. “Come in, have you had lunch? I’m about to make a cheese toastie.” Mary Biggs, operations manager of Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival, ...
After 33 years abroad, Loveni Enari recently returned to Aotearoa and Samoa in what a friend joked was an “existential crisis”. He learnt and re-learnt so much about his family, friends and both countries. Almost as an afterthought, he got a Samoan tatau. This is his story. (Accompanying it are ...
Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they’d killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Fact: in 1995, Angela Blackmoore ...
Editor Madeleine Chapman looks back at the week and shines a light on some increasingly rare longform journalism. Mōrena and welcome to The Weekend where there will sadly be no aurora to see. After a busy week last week of short, sharp pieces, this week we swung the other way, ...
ANALYSIS:By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a revered Kanak visionary, was inspirational to indigenous Pacific political activists across Oceania, just like Tongan anthropologist and writer Epeli Hao’ofa was to cultural advocates. Tragically, he was assassinated in 1989 by an opponent within the independence movement during ...
Forget thin is in, apparently now bigger is better … or is it? After over a decade of body positivity, girls, teens and women are even more confused about what body positivity actually is. The movement began with women confronting unrealistic expectations of how their bodies should look. But sub-strands ...
Grace always sat at the bar at the back of The Cambridge, where she could watch who came in. A huge mirror ran the length of the pub, so you could sometimes watch people without them knowing. The mirror made the place seem a lot bigger than it really was. ...
MONDAY Sheriff Mark Mitchell rose at dawn. He had a long day’s ride ahead of him. He was headed for Waikeria. Waikeria! Even the name itself stirred his blood, and set root in his imagination. There was nothing and no one in Waikeria. But he would bend it to his ...
The first phase of the inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones finished this week, turning up plenty of revelations and few answers. But through all the confusion, heartbreak and antipathy on display, the simple fact at the heart of this case remains: if little Lachie’s body had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roger Benjamin, Professor in Art History, University of Sydney “She’s no oil painting”. Those were the unkind words of a colleague commenting on the subject of Vincent Namatjira’s acrylic painting, Gina. Every one of the prominent Australians and cultural heroes in Namatjira’s ...
Government plans to require local councils hold a referendum on whether to have Māori wards breaches the Treaty of Waitangi, a Waitangi Tribunal report has found. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Harcourt, Industry Professor and Chief Economist, University of Technology Sydney This year the National Rugby League (NRL) opened its season in Las Vegas. It was an audacious move by the league’s ambitious head honcho Peter V’Landys to showcase the game in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate Professor, Music Industry, RMIT University Leading music organisations have praised the federal budget for its investment in the live music sector. The budget includes A$8.6 million for a program called Revive Live: to provide essential support to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marnee Shay, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, The University of Queensland The 2024 federal budget contains A$110 million for Indigenous education. This includes funding for various different organisations to represent and help Indigenous people as well as scholarships in a bid to ...
Air New Zealand has confirmed Nouméa’s Tontouta International airport in New Caledonia is closed until Tuesday. The airline earlier told RNZ it would update customers as soon as it could. Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters told RNZ Morning Report government officials had been working on an “hourly basis” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Linley, PhD Candidate in Ecology, Charles Sturt University Grant Linley Australia’s unprecedented Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20 created ideal conditions for misinformation to spread, from the insidious to the absurd. It was within this context that a bizarre story ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marcel Scharth, Lecturer in Business Analytics, University of Sydney OpenAI executive Mira Murati launching GPT-4o.OpenAI Earlier this week OpenAI launched GPT-4o (“o” for “omni”), a new version of the artificial intelligence (AI) system powering the popular ChatGPT chatbot. GPT-4o is promoted ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treasure McGuire, Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Mater Health SEQ in conjoint appointment as Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Bond University and as Associate Professor (Clinical), The University of Queensland Speedkingz/Shutterstock Menopause is a natural biological process that marks the end of a ...
A new poem by Hannah Patterson. Xiāng There’s a pear tree in our backyard And Xiāng tells me She can’t eat them anymore Not after some things that have happened in her life. She tells me, in Mandarin The word for pear sounds the same as the word for disassociation ...
‘Cycling Works’ aims to show business support for citywide cycle infrastructure. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, supermarket giant Foodstuffs lost its attempt to block the construction of a cycle lane outside Thorndon New World in Wellington. The Spinoff’s Wellington editor ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Slow Productivity by Cal Newport (Penguin, $40)Taking out the top spot in Auckland this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Lowe, Emeritus Professor, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University For decades, Australia has exported uranium – but not used it, other than in the Lucas Heights research reactor. But change is coming. We now face a rapidly deepening commitment to ...
"In future I should walk away," Green MP Julie Anne Genter says after complaints over an exchange in Parliament and from two members of the public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Graffam, PhD Candidate in Theatre, Monash University Gianna Rizzo/Malthouse Music pumps; lights pulsate; two sweaty bodies sway together, touching, breathing in each other’s scent. A male body framed by downlight restlessly shifts between stances and gestures. He undresses. The intensity ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sandra van der Laan, Professor of Accounting, University of Sydney Mtaya/Shutterstock At some point, you or someone else will need to make a decision about your “send-off”. Most Australians die in an institution, such as a hospital or aged care facility. ...
Asia Pacific Report Vanuatu Prime Minister Charlot Salwai — who is also Chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group — has reaffirmed MSG’s support of the pro-independence umbrella group Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) stance opposing the French government’s constitutional bill “unfreezing” the New Caledonia Electoral Roll. It is ...
Producer Susan Leonard remembers her father Ernie, a pioneer of Māori television, and how his legacy lives on in Pathfinders.My father was a fabulous man. His name was Ernie Leonard and he started in TV in the 1970s when it was still glamorous – when TVNZ made behind the ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk, and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist The suspected ringleaders of the unrest in New Caledonia have been placed in home detention and the social network TikTok has been banned as French security forces struggle to restore law and order. The French ...
Multi-year appropriations - which give the government authority to spend money without reapplying annually - are loosening Parliament's control of the public purse, auditor-general says. ...
Dr. Eric Chuah who stood for a centrist NZ political party in the October 2023 NZ Elections for Maungakiekie Auckland will stand as a candidate for Tauranga City Council Ward of Matua-=Otumoetai and Mayor of Tauranga. ...
If you can’t get to the comedy fest, let us bring the comedy fest to you. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. The New Zealand International Comedy Festival is in full swing at the moment, with a veritable smorgasboard of comedy treats ...
A new poll commissioned by Unions Wellington shows an overwhelming majority of Wellingtonians oppose the Council’s plan to sell the 34% public stake in Wellington Airport. ...
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The PM has been doing geopolitics. And with some finesse!
Noteworthy is the conceptual link between his second and third statements. If you comprehend his linkage, appreciate the subtlety of the nuance he's using.
Nudge theory has been influential quite a while now. Hints are a traditional part of human discourse, so nudge theory uses them as the basis for tactical influence.
Another thing worth noting about his geopolitical stance is that it deploys a paradox: we are both friend and foe to China simultaneously. Using a paradox to send a geopolitical signal to other nations is extremely sophisticated political behaviour. I wonder who's pulling his strings. Bilderbergers? Not that NATO didn't do so directly, of course, but we don't know that unless he tells us. Perhaps his dance with NATO includes a dance with the truth, in which case default Labour obfuscation could produce a dance with 7 veils. Traditional cultural play, so likely to appeal to the PM as a true conservative…
If Hipkins or any future PM wanted to do 'honest broker' work with China, he could figure out how to persuade China to get into the CPTPP.
That's an actual prize of use to all, rather than reciting endless lists of threats real or imagined.
Would be more use than Blinken popping over to China again to get his butt kicked as he is shortly on climate measures.
Yeah, you're not wrong but I'm agnostic on any updated TPP, the devil being in the detail. Speaking of which, note the warning about the devil issued by Xi's underling to Aotearoa (reported in that link above).
Ultimately God's will will prevail & since he's omnipotent and omniscient the devil will act accordingly. Theologians are always strangely quiet on this topic…
Blinken seems a typical Democrat thus far, straight out of the classic mould. No sign of him growing into the job.
Imagine if the Greens had an export policy aimed at growing wealth, not just a more-tax policy.
Nurturing a/the local fake/lab-grown meat industry… would seem to make sense..
For reasons green…for export..and to service the local market..
Anyone got any better ideas..?
Stop hiking the OCR and therefore stop encouraging the NZ$ exchange rate to increase, if you want to boost exporters. This is the fundamental basis for Germany's trade success, they have been either part of an exchange rate or monetary union which lowers their exchange rates in relation to other neighbour economies (for 40+ years). NZ is not part of such a union and as a developed economy isn't going to compete on price with other still developing economies in Asia.
Interesting. How the RB uses the OCR for leverage is fundamental to neolib economic practice & the essence of Nat/Lab common ground.
Your dissent, does it indicate an alternative ideology you can name?? If so, could be a game-changer.
I wouldn't particularly name this as any alternative ideology. I just think its important to recognize that the same kinds of politicians and commentators who are supposedly in favour of exporters are also cheering often whenever the exchange rate hits at new peek. I think only Winston Peters ever released an official policy position at any time.
Also its not exactly dissent from my point of view. I'm highlighting that NZ is not that geared up for exports primarily and doesn't really commit to that kind of policy without these kinds of contradictions anyway. NZ mostly runs current account deficits and that's fine but could do better at recognizing the effects of that.
You're on fire today Ad; it is more accurately a less-tax policy as it would result in 95% of people getting a tax cut, but you keep banging that drum, it sure distracts from what Labour have said they'll do!
Taxing unearned wealth is an incentive to "invest" in real wealth building, including export earning business, instead of speculation focused on pushing prices of existing assets into the stratosphere.
The Greens tax policy may well do more for our overall wealth, than any number of Corporate welfare (free trade agreements).
But this did not apply to The Greens wealth tax. It was going to tax farms, businesses including taxing export earning businesses.
KJT I think we need a definition of what 'real wealth building' is. I for one would have thought investing in a export businesses in shares in export businesses. Or are you meaning a growth in Govt bonds say an opportunity to invest in tied capital raising by the govt to say pay for roads or specific programmes.
This used to be a quite attractive investment for civic minded people who did not mind a slightly less than market rates, with the difference being a combination of feel good plus security of investment.
Shanreagh. Businesses, real businesses, already pay tax. I invested in business and pay tax on income at my marginal rate. This will add buggerrall to my tax apart from a few percent at the margin which Ihave no problem paying so others can live a little better.
Those that are in the business of land speculation or the "chain in the river" rental income, that takes without adding to real wealth, however. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/13-03-2022/sunday-essay-the-chain-across-the-river “The landlords aren’t doing anything useful for that extra money. They’re just using political power to extract value from the productive economy, same as the lord chaining his river. And when the artificial scarcity of housing drives up property values then all homeowners extract rent from people trying to enter the market, who have to pay inflated prices. The quality of the housing hasn’t gone up. (The quality of our housing stock is mostly terrible.) It just costs more”.
Taxing unearned income streams such as "Capital gains tax farming" would long term have benefited farming and other businesses, by reducing the cost of land for farming, business rentals and premises, and the hemorrhaging of farm income to banks, that pays the interest on inflated land prices.
Farms are now technically loss making businesses, expecting to only make a profit when the land is sold, because their is no way farm income can cover the interest cost on the land. Leading to over stocking, soil depletion and other effects of having to cover excessive interest bills. Only the banks and finance interests gain long term.
Thanks KJT.
I'm aware that businesses pay tax.
I'm also aware that export businesses provide the lifeblood of NZ. They bring new money into the country. We (Govt) should support any business that does this. We (citizens) should be behind any Govt that recognises the important role of exporting..
I have never said or implied that land speculators are export businesses or bring new money into the economy.
I was hoping you would have had comments on the ideas of Govt Bonds being a postive mechanism for people to invest in NZ
Our Goverments have largely signed away the ability to help our export businesses, in favour of so called " free trade agreements" which have sacrificed most of our export businesses for the "sacred cow" of dairy commodity exports, which has questionable long term net benefits.
Government bonds are a legitimate way of investing in the countries future. Noting that gains on them are already taxed.
KJT, fabulous exposé on NZ's rentier capitalism. Thanks for putting that link up. All explained in a nutshell.
There is a problem with the taxing of "unrealised gains" which has still to be addressed in both the Greens and TOP's wealth tax proposals.
Noting that you get taxed on interest earned from monetary investments, and share dividends, even if you don't "realise" withdraw, the money.
It would be simpler to tax at realisation, such as inheritance or sale, and much easier to determine values. Then loopholes such as "gifting" need to be addressed.
The "family home" is another glaring loophole. Key's 10 million "family home" is just one example. I can see every child in a wealthy family with a "family home". Setting a threshold such as two million per person makes it harder to make such a loophole. A million per person automatically exempts most "family homes". Two million leaves most peoples savings untaxed.
Lastly. Reducing the huge deadweight cost and mis-directed speculation, sorry, investment, on our economy, of inflation of existing assets caused by speculation driven by unequal tax treatment, is essential for all our future.
My points exactly. Until the "unrealised gains" are crystallised by sale or inhertance it is taxing on book or notional values.
Noting that "book values" are part of our tax system already. Depreciation on business assets, for example, which is then adjusted on their sale.
Greens do allow defferral to realisation which will obviously be adjusted to actual sale prices.
What I do like is the principle.
That earnings, from owning wealth, is taxed same as income from productive work.
Adam Smith, the Capitalist guru, would agree with that one.
In fact, he believed rentiers should be taxed, not workers.
The rest is details to be ironed out when it comes into practice.
But then they'd be on the wavelength of the BlueGreens. That line of thinking was used by Guy Salmon in his book Green Tiger 30 years ago.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/123836390/proud-history-of-collaboration-for-veteran-environmentalist
He was competing with us during the early '90s – Stephen Rainbow left us, joined him & Gary Taylor to try a blue-green political party:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Green_Party_(New_Zealand)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Rainbow
If only Labour had a policy to reverse the Neo-Liberal disaster inflicted on us since 1984.
Had some hopes, but Hipkins just dashed them again, in favour of tinkering around the edges with policies NACT will reverse in a heartbeat.
Fucking gutless Labour, strikes again.
Your labels are a waste of time.
Since 2008 Labour has run a low-unemployment highly subsidised export economy, and done so better than most other OECD countries.
They have also continued to trash the environment..
And to do s.f.a. about ending poverty…
(Something j.ardern ..(with a catch in her voice)…vowed to do..eh..?)
Labour since '84…
..have been neoliberal-incrementalist..
..to their core..
chippy is just the latest do-nothing political iteration of that poxy ideology..
Given the opportunity to set policy towards a more progressive future Labour "baulked at the fence" again.
Labour has again failed to institute and defend more progressive policy.
Which makes you wonder if their heart is really in it?
When the right wing say Labour "squandered" their time in power they mean that Labour spent on people other than themselves. What Labour has really squandered is opportunity to reset the future for everyone. The only positive is that it is still better than NACT "competently" stealing our future.
I agree Ad. While I have been critical that more was not done on reversing things like the energy sell-off I accept that it would be an enormously complex undertaking.
I think the value of not being dead and also running a low unemployment model is worth megabucks. The scourge of unemployment & the move to keep high employment rates is something worth fighting for.
Rightist Govts often use rates of unemployment to crudely make progress ie to get money into their supporters hands they are willing to tolerate a higher rate of unemployment
The govts in the 80s & 90s altered the relationships and rights of workers drastically and this work by the Labour govt helps workers.
Michael Woods and his work will have a long lasting effect.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/major-step-towards-fairer-system-new-zealand-workers
Fair Pay Agreements were a 2020 Labour manifesto commitment, which we have extensively consulted on, taking a balanced approach to the final design,” Michael Wood said.
Name the subsidies, please. Film-making is the only one I can think of with overt subsidies.
Wot kjt said…
The patriarchy strikes back: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300927567/italians-outraged-after-judge-allows-10-seconds-groping-rule
The notion that judges get it right is extremely traditional, even if crazy. So we can assume a resurgence of the patriarchy in Italy. Will it become contagious?
Macho art critics could become a thing here quite easily, eh? Those Maori carvings of erections are extremely traditional, so one can imagine the possibility of pakeha finally getting over 19th century puritanical values and embracing an iconic macho stance.
In that case, if that 17 yo grabbed and squeezed the custodian's balls for 10 seconds, then, no damage or crime either. Fair's fair.
A kick in the balls often works better though: "Yer honour, God made me do it. I'm a good catholic so I had to obey."
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/132546099/government-admits-it-made-a-mistake-when-keeping-a-lid-on-the-carbon-price?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=discover&utm_campaign=CCwqGQgwKhAIACoHCAowzLiSCzDT-KcDMMCV0gEwzP3uAQ&utm_content=bullets
The ets farce rolls on,
Ardern proves to have been all talk when it came to climate change action,
The ETS is a Green Party James Shaw system beginning to end.
There's no weaseling out of it.
True if you focus on the mastermind producing the design but spare a thought for the practice of responsible government – our constitutional praxis. Cabinet agreed to the policy. Therefore it is a Labour/Green solidarity position.
No need to weasel, so long as James is able to use leverage to tweak the thing. Best to point to the market failure. Neolibs are in perpetual denial when it comes to market failures even when surrounded by them. Eyes tight shut. One must get up close with a megaphone & point it at their ears and yell into it. He will have to do so.
Weasel bullshit, as useful as saying that Budget 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 is Green policy. Or any other Cabinet level decision.
Shaw has had 2 terms to make any distinction between himself and beige custard. Shaw is through and through a market-focused solution guy. Which is if course why they are solid at 8% now not crashing: they don't scare the horses. Even Hosking gives him an easy ride.
Given that the ETS was developed and introduced by the Fifth Labour Government in 2008 and James Shaw entered parliament in 2014, it certainly seems that someone's trying to weasel out of something here, but it's not the Greens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Emissions_Trading_Scheme
Oh please. James Shaw drafted the law, was and is the Minister responsible for the policy, got all sides of Parliament except Act to agree, and implemented it. Do yourself a solid and just take an ounce of responsibility.
That's just not true though.
In the 2014 Election when Shaw first entered parliament, the Greens policy was a Carbon Tax. Labour and National wanted a market, which is what they made.
‘Take the responsibility’ you say of a minister outside of cabinet. Very very normal, and not at all panicked lashing out.
Looks like Ad is differentiating between Shaw's update law & that original ETS enactment. Market failure resulted both times…
Shane Jones was Minister for Climate Change all along, apparently.
Obviously Some Other Guy praised his guidance of the Carbon Zero Act through parliament in his own Parliamentary bio.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/minister/biography/james-shaw
And it wasn’t the Greens that were in charge of getting the legislation through Parliament at all.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20200602_20200602_20
Probably some other Minister for Climate Change being taken to court for his own scheme being inconsistent with his own carbon reduction targets.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/489579/climate-change-minister-taken-to-court-over-emissions-trading-scheme-cabinet-decision
Was obviously Some Other Guy being told by the Commission in writing how crap his own policy was under the Climate Change Response Act.
https://www.climatecommission.govt.nz/public/Advice-to-govt-docs/16-02-2023-Letter-from-Dr-Rod-Carr-to-Minister-James-Shaw-ETS-Settings.pdf
Not sure why the Greens want further Cabinet positions if they can’t take responsibility for the primary Cabinet position they wanted in the first place.
this is stupid. The Greens have limited power. If they'd had their way they would have developed a different kind of system for NZ's climate response. But they didn't have that power, so they worked with what they could.
Shaw doesn't have a magic wand to force Labour to change Labour policy nor to get GP policy implemented and it's really weird that you keep pretending that he does.
thanks for this. I never got my head around the ETS because polluter pays is a very poor form of climate action. It's my memory that the Greens had to swallow a bitter pill on the ETS because they didn't have the power to get something better through. I'd like to write a post on this, do you have any further thoughts or links? I will need to understand the scheme and the history.
I think it is a pragmatic acceptance that since both Labour and National govts maintained it, improving the existing ETS would have more permanence and therefore effectiveness.
Here's an example prior to that in 2014 when they still advocated scrapping it:
https://www.greens.org.nz/new-multi-million-dollar-bill-taxpayers-under-failed-ets
Here is James Shaw praising a rising carbon price, while also saying it is insufficient and still too low, and advocating for a carbon tax in 2016:
https://www.greens.org.nz/govt-has-opportunity-rebuild-new-zealands-carbon-market
In 2022 Shaw addressed some of the history while announcing the changes the current government made to the ETS. There is still an emphasis on a more effective pricing structure:
https://www.greens.org.nz/big_emitters_will_have_to_do_more_to_cut_emissions
There's likely more instances in news archives too.
Excellent, thank-you.
Here's the 2014 policy intro pages for the Climate Protection Plan.
https://web.archive.org/web/20200115165424/https://www.greens.org.nz/climate_protection
I can't find the full policy document, but guess it was similar to the one for teh 2017 election,
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/beachheroes/pages/9592/attachments/original/1573442488/policy-climate_protection_plan.pdf
Also useful here is the 1.2B tree planting plan, which ended up being fucked with by NZF and Labour.
@ arkie…
Boom…!
Heh..!
(Tho I have always thought the ets was a crock..)
And Labour latched onto it, and supported it, and the Greens are – other the Shaw / Davidson – no where in government.
So it may be that Shaw is the birther of the scheme, but Labour then adopted it. Labour is currently the Government with a full Majority.
There is no weaseling out of it.
This comes up when you put ETS and Labour into the Google machine.
https://www.labour.org.nz/environment
https://www.labour.org.nz/release-labours-next-steps-to-reduce-climate-emissions
or maybe Shaw was just the surrogate and Labour the buying parent. As you wish, but that shite is bi-partisan, and its Labour and their Green surrogates.
I think the talk came before the realisation….and may well be the reason for stepping aside.
The NZ ETS was not develped de novo in a vacuum. I'd say, look to trends and political pressures internationally at the time – and at which consulting firms pushed the government towards this option.
"Ardern proves to have been all talk when it came to climate change action,"
3.2 is my response
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2023/07/an-extraordinary-promise.html?m=1
Another unnecessary green party policy that'll cost more votes than it earns.
Maori are quiet capable of buying anything they want in nz, if they can raise the funds,
The biggest limiting factor is the multiple ownership modal they have on rural land limiting the ability to raise capital.
It's vitally important that left-wingers signal a virtue to everyone. It's what they were born to do. They can't be authentic without doing so! https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suasion
Exploration is not a bad thing. Explorers have mana traditionally. Heroic adventuring into the wild Green yonder is also fun.
Love the grab-bag of RW slogans I see you sprinkle into your comments. Struggling with what idea you're trying to communicate with the slogan 'virtue signalling' here. What do you actually mean to say?
No big deal, merely irony. That you see me recycling RW slogans is perception – the accuracy of those being more to the point. Note the moral guidance of suasion. That inherent part of leftism is a valid component. It signals useful common ground and is therefore an eternal survival skill for humans.
Despite that sensibility, leftists defaulting into banality when talking at people rather than to them is a herding drift that they often use to render themselves politically impotent. I try to be helpful by pointing to it every now & then…
That is a well-argued piece from trotter…
And the green policy makes sense…
Both in righting historical wrongs..and in making economic sense ..
Giving local iwi/hapu the right of first refusal on formerly owned land they seem significant..
As trotter points out this would not be price-setting in any shape or form..
That iwi/hapu purchases would meet the market price…
What's to argue against there..?
(And I see this column was published in the otago local rag..
That'll have them clutching their pearls in unison..in the deep/racist south..)
Until it is and how can enforce it?. If they have first right of refusal, can the vendor refuse if they offer too low a price or will they have to accept any offer – or will they have to go to court to be allowed any other offer if the Iwi/hapu offer is to low, and how could that be legislated and who would enforce it.
You can hope, but then hope costs nothing and generally has no worth other then it makes one feel better for a moment until reality hits again square in the face.
What this reminds me of the Landreforms in Eastern Europe/Germany during the times of the Communists and to some extend in West Germany.
The communist Bodenreform in East Germany nationalised all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (247 acres), and redistributed it to publicly owned estates.[15]
On part for the refusal to pay out any damages etc is simply the understanding that you can't undo and go back to the past, and at the same time you can not burden any other new generation with the costs of the past, and that to destroy the current for the past makes no sense.
Sometimes what is done is done.
this might be a good read on that decision of the courts.
https://core.ac.uk/reader/232702770
A Bitter Inheritance: East German Real Property and the Supreme Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of April 23, 1991 Constitutional Court's "Land Reform" Decision of A
What are we trying to achieve here should be the first question, second would be does it benefit all or just a select few, if it only benefits a select few is it then not against the greater good for all? Or we go full Zimbabwe. That too would be an option.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_Zimbabwe#:~:text=Land%20reform%20in%20Zimbabwe%20officially,superior%20political%20and%20economic%20status.
"White european colonist extracts fortune from Antipodes, retires to Europe"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/marc-ellis-on-why-hes-leaving-nz-rugbys-problems-razor-and-world-cup-concerns/CSULXAD3CRARTL3ZTHWGJ22G5A/
As I have said before, if Pakeha resent being called settlers, then they should stop behaving like it.
Don’t subscribe to the Herald.
What does Ellis say?
Moving out of where you are at retirement age (or thereabouts) to where you think you'll be happy is a basic Kiwi instinct. Call it neocolonial if you want.
Yes some go further than others and good on them.
Is this just another manifesto of Tall Poppy Syndrome and the politics of envy? Horrible whatever it is.
I have every admiration for the likes of Marc Ellis and do not begrudge him his good fortune. he was a talented sports figure, built his juice empire…….good on him.
I somehow think that an intensive updating of knowledge about the history of kiwi home ownership & its importance to Kiwi battlers from the year dot would be a good thing. Perhaps along with Civics we can get this in the school curricula.
Why is it horrible to point out that he can buy a cheaper house in Italy, that food in Italy is cheaper then here, that he feels alienated by his country? That he no longer feels welcome in his own country due to various reasons.
I mean if he were the only one leaving i would say maybe…..
but,
The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 23,500, the highest since the October 2013 year.12/05/2023
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/migration-numbers-new-zealand-records-net-gain-of-65-000-people-but-a-large-number-of-kiwis-leaving.html#:~:text=The%20net%20migration%20loss%20of,since%20the%20October%202013%20year.
and i would like to point out that those that leave are the ones that have the skill set, the youth, the money, the connection. And to make up for it we employ lots of people from elsewhere, i guess that is the future 'settler' generation, after all they migrated here and 'settled'?
How on earth can you really justify calling someone who was born into this country a 'settler'.- I man can you even in any meaningful term define 'settler'?
Pakeha in most people mind means New Zealander born to the country not of Maori ethnicity.
Pretty much all of Maori have settlers blood in them. Who is the purest then, and at what stage can a Maori be a settler, is that like African Americans dabbling in White Supremacy?
How big is the percentage of Maori that are married to their settler overlords and have children?
The white, brown, asian children born into this country should have the right to be not insulted by being called settler (implying some sort of inherited 'oppressor' status) by people who want to feel righteous and who like to bask in the purifying light of moral supremacy. Until of course these righteous settlers are happy to leave, after all this is not heir country. And that would include anyone of us who is not sufficiently maori, and who much % of Maori must one have to be sufficiently pure? Just asking, cause as a German i can't really put my finger on it, but……..it feels vaguely familiar.
See, I don't identify as a Pakeha. I am not. I am german, born in germany, raised in the culture etc etc etc, I am like that Maori Guy that lives in my hometown with his German wife and his German/Maori son an 'expat' or an immigrant. So I really don't identify with all that settler crap that is designed to put down todays white, non maori/pi brown kids and asian kids down a nudge as an intruder of sorts.
I also have a place to go to, should that settler crap here explode and become mean as it seems to go atm, do you? Are you enough Tangata Whenua to not be considered a settler? How racially pure are you Sanctuary.
As for the tone of his reasoning for leaving, it resonates with many, and we are losing our best to OZ and any other country that will have them, to import the cheapest laborer we can find in asia. Go figure.
It is a pretty straight forward rule to me. Is your relationship with your homeland transactional or unconditional? Like all of us, Ellis won huge in the lottery of birth – the country he was born into, the genetics he was blessed with that made him a skilled athlete and the infrastructure that existed to allow to achieve his full potential. By all means, he should go and enjoy your wealth as you see fit. But a thank you and a bit of humility and love for his country would be nice, don’t you think?
NZ made him a rich man – yet his relationship remians entirely transactional and transitory and he feels the need to dump on the place before he buggers off. It is this entitled, transitory and transactional mindset that irks me and for me sets apart the settler and colonist from the native. You find few Maori who feel the need to bag the country in public, even when they migrate for better jobs or opportunites. Taika Waititi might be clear eyed enough to know NZ is "racist as" but it doesn't stop him showing his affection for the people of this land in "Hunt for the Wilderpeople".
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of Victorians and Edwardians, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in London?
You can also read it as a vote of no confidence in National and ACT though, eh? Isn't that a better way of seeing his move? Since his explanation isn't visible.
Ask yourself this – is there any real, material difference between Ellis's attitude to his homeland and one displayed by any number of foreigners, who having made their fortune in extracting wealth in the colonies retired with their money to live the life of leisured gentlemen in Wanaka? 🙂
Now that is the problem, you don't ask yourself why a born and bred Kiwi, who made good money and made the country good money, leaves his comfortable life here to start a new comfortable life elsewhere. I mean the sunshine is a reason, but its not the only one.
Fact is that he is one of the few lucky that can just retire, and that will be given citizenship in Italy, as they clearly see him as a law abiding gentlemen, with his family, bringing money and a bit of prestige to a i Italian town, maybe he even coaches a youth club or something. Who knows.
What you prefer to not mention is the 25.299 others that are also leaving, Maori and 'Settler' alike, for the same reason to any country that will have them, whilst we are trying to import as cheap a laborer as we can find to make up for the shortfall.
Cheaper housing, cheaper food, better services, and hopefully no constant divide and conquer on the grounds of race, which for the most part of NZ'lers mean a mix of maori and 'settler'. That is why people leave. And you who has nothing of substance to that point say trot out your idiotic last century talking points about colonies and settlers. Mind me asking, did you get a Lolly with that critical race theory? .
Young people with education, and those with money are voting with their feet.
Highest number since 2013. That would be at John Key level. Well done Labour, you have achieve equality.
I remember hearing when young, "The party's boring, I'm going."
Which often seemed a way of saying "The party's boring, and I don't have the ability or personality to make it not boring. I'll go somewhere else where someone else will provide an environment for me that I find not boring."
Another aspect of the Mark Ellis perspective: He is like many career sports journalists who moan about rules in the game of rugby. I have yet to see one come out with their 'book of laws and rules' for the game. Whingeing from the sideline? Plenty of that. Sit down and come up with a comprehensive re-write (with some from the multitude of discontented) and use their influence and reach to try to get change? No way. It's easier to chip and run. To the backblocks, or Italy.
25 thousand people as per the current stats – the highest since 2013 are feeling that the party is boring.
Well done Labour for organizing such a boring piss up that either no one shows up in the first place or those that did leave early to other shores.
well done.
How many of those are returning offshore, After coming back for the relative safety and tax subsidised health care during covid?
Nope that was net migration outwards as per the Government.
No one is coming back really, but many leave. Heck, even the Maori leave – the young ones. Better money, healthcare, and education, houses and cheaper food. All good reasons to leave.
Migration, in most cases is driven by economic decisions, that is why people from Asia like to come here, and that is why people from here like to go to OZ or elsewhere in the search of Opportunity and wealth.
You have those that are coming into the country with spouses, but would they have migrated here if they had not married a kiwi? Chances are not.
Kiwis are migrating away from NZ in order to seek a better more affordable future elsewhere and it would behoove us all to even just consider why they do that. Rather then go in a rant about colonists coming to make holidays in the colonies or other such assorted academic bullshit.
Read here
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/05/migration-numbers-new-zealand-records-net-gain-of-65-000-people-but-a-large-number-of-kiwis-leaving.html#:~:text=The%20net%20migration%20loss%20of,since%20the%20October%202013%20year
Pfft. People come and people go. Not everyone gets on with their birth family, or suits the temperament of their birth culture. Some are ambitious and see better chances for themselves elsewhere. Not much point in trying to get the leavers to stay.
However, I agree that putting the boot in before you slam the door on your way out is ungracious.
I got myself into a bit of trouble with the mods yesterday using output from Chat GPT
On reflection, I think the criticism was fair enough. I asked it to produce a list of studies which I didn't bother to investigate which I should have.
But one of the big weaknesses I can see (confirmed by Chat GPT itself, asking it today) is that it is unable to access the full studies if these are not publicly available. Therefore, it may not be aware of weaknesses in those studies, or how directly applicable they are.
This probably isn't such an issue with well investigated areas, as it will be able to access relevant text books etc I suspect. But, in those areas, there probably isn't much need to ask Chat GPT anyway. Though, I think it is best to use that output as a starting point, rather than as the final word on anything.
But in more obscure areas, I think any output from Chat GPT needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Because Chat GPT seems almost omnipresent, it is easy to assume it knows everything. But, this clearly isn't the case.
This is educational for all TS commenters!
Always check what ChatGPT or similar generates. It can and does make up stuff (BS), including links. Click on the links, check that they are real, and check that the info matches the burbles generated by ChatGPT. This is critical when you are in unfamiliar topic territory (NB incorrect title, authors, publication/journal name, or date/year are signs that it was made up or at least part of it – you won’t know which part)
ChatGPT is not a magical key or wand that gets past (most) firewalls or subscriptions. If you cannot see the full text then ChatGPT cannot either. However, ChatGPT has no shame or moral handbrake on filling in the blanks and generate something plausible. (NB it sounds plausible because it is probable text based on its training set, but this does not make it correct or even accurate)
ChatGPT has an in-built bias because it was trained on a biased training set.
ChatGPT responds to your prompts; different prompts generate different burbles.
ChatGPT is a powerful tool when used correctly but it can also be a formidable weapon in the wrong hands. TS Mods will follow a hard line against misuse and abuse of AI tools for political gain, such as propagating talking points & propaganda or dumping large amounts of unchecked (and unlinked) misinformation.
This site is for robust political debate and all commenters are expected to take ownership & responsibility of their comments. TS is not a notice board or a free-for-all forum to indulge your personal pet projects with a plethora of copy-pasta and spam the site with your favourite links to your preferred sites (aka spamming or link-whoring). When you copy & paste ChatGPT burble, for example, it becomes your burble (aka your baby) and you must defend it accordingly.
The opinion of others rarely matters (much) here and you cannot hide behind the opinions or comments of others; it is considered bad-faith. In general, for the sake of robust debate, the only opinions that matter here are the ones expressed & debated by commenters (and Authors), as they are the only people who exist on this site. (NB we cannot debate with a person who’s not commenting here nor can that person explain or defend themselves if they are not active on this site – this should be as obvious as an open door)
Remember this when you use ChatGPT or similar. It will be a learning curve for all, but ignorance is not an excuse.
Apparently it's both sexist & leftist:
The style & tone modifier provided to users seems to portend a dimension of idiosyncrasy – almost whimsical potential, if you include that with the capacity to dissent from favoured views as mentioned above.
Seems likely to add a surreal dimension at the leading edge, which will seep into the mainstream in ratio to the number of users.
Currently it has 200 million users, up from 100 million in January: https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/chatgpt-number-of-users
Bing AI seems pretty decent and it gives answers with hyperlinked references. It will admit that its answers are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate
Hyperlinks are generally genuine but URLs are often bogus.
Looks like law clerks could lose part of their duties…
I wonder how long it will take till one of these gizmos gets to provide testimony on case law in court. Soon as we hear of top US legal firms using this system to expedite precedent research we'll know it won't take much longer.
'Government by swing voters". Otherwise known as "focus groups".
It is obvious that our laughable, "Representative Democracy" is going to result in policy that somewhere between 53% and 80% of voters polled, want! is being dumped in favour of policy to sway approximately 10% of voters, that will swing between Labour and National.
You've never participated in consultation or market testing before?
Might want to try it.
I don't reset my core principles by "market testing"!
It's called selling out
Pretty sad KJT but it is reality.
Up to 80% of the electorate support left or right leaning political parties. The levels of 'left' and 'right' might change but that is roughly what happens. Up to 20% 'don't know' for a variety of reasons but mostly because they don't bother to take an interest. Some of those 'don't knows' make up their minds on polling day or in the days leading up to it. The rest don't vote.
Yet 'they' are usually the ones who decide the outcome which pretty much defeats the purpose of a democratically elected government.
Pretty much confirms that any idea we have a Democracy, is illusory.
Your last point is worthwhile considering at length. Everyone ought to. Imagine if the govt set up a website called Public Opinion. Framed it to elicit feedback on current issues. Allowed crowd-sourced wisdom to tweak that framing by demand, driven by numbers dissenting in ratio to numbers favouring govt framing.
If the tech design & system worked out right, we'd all get a user interface with direct democracy. We couldn't compel the govt – but we could provide a useful simulation of the overall public mood on issues. Way better than focus groups!!
Ha! Immediately subject to capture by those politically invested in the outcome of any one vote. Not to mention the political framing of the question to start with (who gets to decide this, I wonder)
Given that we can't persuade voters to come out and cast their ballot once every 3 years – what would make you think that we could get people to invest their time more regularly? Especially after the first time, they didn't get the outcome they wanted.
Anyone who's been involved in market surveys and focus groups, knows the challenge they face to get ongoing participation…..
It seems much like governing by referendum….. And we've all seen the dubious outcomes those can generate….
Valid points but seems to me the incentive-structure does enable participatory democracy to an indicative extent. Sort of organised virtue-signalling, but in a methodica design. If you chartered a public service organisation to administer the interface, you could insert a clause in their employment contracts requiring them to design and operate it in accord with the public interest.
That kind of pragmatic consensus-generating model usually works due to the extent of common ground becoming evident to all players. It is essentially an activist-driven arena.
I'd advocate, for instance, a class-based module within the overall system, plus an identity-politics module as well, leaving it flexible enough to respond to other crowd-sourced framings too. Those to be incorporated when surpassing a threshold of activation to be consensually decided…
I think, however, you are wildly over-estimating the willingness of the general NZ public to participate. The TS commentariat is a wild outlier in terms of general political engagement.
Have you been monitoring the progress of Action Station? Since launch, I mean, around a decade or so back (I was involved in designing it prior to that). Last I noticed the membership count it was several thousand.
Unfortunately it got captured by left-wingers early but it still has leverage on politics and sometimes gets results from collective pressure that even I have been able to feel good about.
My point is that the system I propose caters for all shades of political opinion & tribalism gets relegated into holistic context.
Dennis Frank, sounds a little like Switzerland's semi-direct democracy
'Switzerland features a system of government not seen in any other nation: direct representation, sometimes called half-direct democracy (this may be arguable, because theoretically, the sovereign of Switzerland is actually its entire electorate). Referendums on the most important laws have been used since the 1848 consitution.
'Amendments to the Federal Constitution of Switzerland, the joining of international organisations, or changes to federal laws that have no foundation in the constitution but will remain in force for more than one year must be approved by the majority of both the people and the cantons, a double majority.
'Any citizen may challenge a law that has been passed by parliament. If that person is able to gather 50,000 signatures against the law within 100 days, a national vote has to be scheduled where voters decide by a simple majority of the voters whether to accept or reject the law.'
The cantons are parts of the federal system that have their own decision-making power.
Indeed. I recall making a similar comment on their system onsite here a while back actually. However blending it with high tech design and a user-interface seems the best way to go. I read a book called User Friendly from the library and it emphasised the role of design in operational systems, and how that could produce optimal engagement of people. Made Apple top corporation globally.
Can you support your claim of up to 80% support this. Please. I would like to see that poll or stats. Thanks.
My take on this is that 80% is way too high.
I'd say that both Labour and National have a tribal vote of around 20% (maybe a little higher) – of voters who will vote that way, regardless of what is happening to the party. We see this reflected in the election numbers when the party crashes for some reason (2002 National; 2014 Labour) They each have another 10% of 'soft' vote (usually vote Labour/National – but can jump ship for tactical reasons, or because they don't like what the party is doing).
Note this group can cross the right/left divide (e.g. 'right' voters voting for Ardern in 2020).
The GP probably has a tribal vote of 4-5%. And again another 3-4% who will usually vote Green – but can be lost to other parties (again for tactical or disenchantment reasons).
ACT might have 1% historically of tribal voters. Although if they maintain their momentum for another couple of elections – this may well shift up to the 5% mark.
NZF (i.e. Winston) historically had around 3% tribal voters. However, these have been dying off – and it's probably around 1% ATM. The bulk of the NZF vote has always been a protest one.
TPM – is really too new to say. The party in its current iteration is quite different to the earlier one – and the voter base has changed as well. Given that their election strategy is a seat-based one, rather than a party vote – it doesn't matter too much. I'd say that, like NZF, the bulk of their vote is a protest vote, rather than tribal loyalty [NB: 'tribal' in a political sense, here]
So: Around 47% of the vote is 'locked' into one party or another. Another 25% is a mobile right/left vote – which can choose to vote tactically, or be disenchanted and protest vote. Leaving around 28% of the vote being truly mobile – no particular loyalty to either right or left philosophies. The group most subject (I think) to capture by glossy policies or leaders.
Good analysis.
I know English is not your first language Sabine but do take note of what I said – "up to"!
It varies from anywhere between say 60% and 80%. Voting patterns are not static. They can vary dramatically depending on the political climate of the time. Any stat or poll that claims to be an accurate assessment of general voting percentages is bullshit. Nor even political polls make that assumption.
However, anyone who has been around the political traps for 40 plus years can tell you that the majority of people who change their vote do so within the parameters of 'left' and 'right' political parties. Its the small percentage (up to 10% at most) who do change sides who decide the outcome.
That is what we are discussing so I suggest you stop your silly game playing.
Sorry, Anne, but this is rubbish. There is a highly mobile centrist vote (at least 20%) who regularly move between National and Labour (sometimes with NZF or another centrist party in the mix).
That's the political definition of a centrist voter – one that may vote 'right' or 'left' depending on political circumstance.
And the reason that National is a centre/right, and Labour is a centre/left party. Both know that the centrist voters are key to any election.
And another 20%+ who are not tied to any political loyalty at all. This relatively high level of voter mobility is why our political ecology has times when party votes crash.
I doubt we are too far apart on this one. I agree there is a significant group who sit around the so-called centre and are capable of moving left or right but the vast majority remain on one side of the left/right equation.
From my standpoint the so-called centre is an amorphous area where nothing happens. All the action occurs around the periphery with Labour and National taking the bulk of the support.
In theory there may be a political centre but in practice I don't really think it exists. Some people just happen to move over the dividing line depending on the way the wind happens to be blowing on the day.
But then again my standpoint may be coloured by a former career. 🙂
Well, I'd have to say that you're pretty much alone in the political sphere in thinking that a group of centrist voters doesn't exist.
I know that English is not my first language in fact it is my third, but well done for remembering it Anne.
Again, please provide a link to a statistic or a poll that would support your comment of ” up to 80%” unless it is made up, or hoped for.
cheers
Well, yes, that's what democracy is.
The idiot-down-the-road's vote is worth just as much as your intelligent, politically-nuanced one.
There is no entry bar (apart from age) and no exit condition (apart from serious incarceration). There is no intelligence test, or political awareness test.
Democracy (even the variant MMP democracy) requires political parties to convince the majority of Kiwis to support their policies (or their leaders, if you subscribe to the great man/woman theory of politics). It does not demand an overwhelming consensus of the population (which would probably be unachievable)
If 51% (or whatever the MMP majority is) favours your coalition – that group of parties gets to form a government (and arm-wrestle over which policies get enacted). That is precisely what a democratically elected government is.
Yes – that15-20% of 'mobile' voters (i.e. they don't have tribal loyalty to any one party) – often the derided 'centrist' voters – are the ones who decide elections. [They are also, BTW, the ones who 'waste' votes on unelectable parties]
Indeed that is the *only* way that a government can change – if everyone was tribal – then government would never change (or at least, only generationally, as new voters graduated into the pool)
I believe that we have a civic duty to vote. But I know that view is not universally shared. People choose not to vote for a variety of reasons (everything from apathy to anarchy). And, non-voters don't affect the result.
That mobile vote swept Ardern's government into an unprecedented under MMP absolute majority government in 2020. I don't recall you complaining about democracy, then.
What alternative form of government would you like to see?
two things here,
a. make voting mandatory
b. add – non of the above
if b were to be the majority of votes, leave the last government as a care takers government for a few more month and then vote again, hopefully that would be enough time for the suited ones to come up with policies that represent the wishes and needs of the people rather then the wishes of the needs of the policy writers.
we will get neither, of course.
While, intellectually, I like the "none of the above" or "no confidence" option on the ballot paper. In reality, elections are hugely expensive operations – and as a taxpayer I don't really want to have any more than are truly necessary.
If people just don't care – and indicate this at the ballot – their vote hasn't changed anything. I don't feel that this is any way to encourage them to care…..
It's about making politicians change their policy to better reflect what voters want.
Here is a little more info on it:
Why would politicians change their policies to appeal to a group of 'don't care' politically disengaged voters?
It's only voters who are going to vote against them that matter electorally.
Under Sabine's scenario, you'd have to have somewhere around 40+% of the electorate voting 'don't care' before the result would cause a new election. I think that it would never happen….
People who care enough to vote – already have plenty of unelectable parties – effectively the spoilt vote scenario. This doesn't inspire them to vote now….
I agree with you. But at some stage we either accept the non voters as the cheap option of 'non of the above' or we find a way to include that into the voting process.
In parliament we have Yes, No, or Abstain, we should have the same right, or at least abolish 'abstain' for any vote in parliament.
People care, but they can't in good conscience vote for any of the above. It is not that their vote has not changed anything, it is that they know/feel that their vote is of no importance.
Maybe that should be addressed before we judge those that no longer want to participate in a system they feel is designed to be simply rubberstamped by voters in order to keep a sheen of legitimacy.
I agree that this is true for some voters… some are simply completely uninterested politically at all.
However, simply having a 'no confidence' vote isn't going to inspire them – since, once again, their vote won't have changed anything.
i have never met anyone who is not interested but i have many who simply state that they don't see a difference between any of them. And that is where the political parties fail.
At some stage the failure to attract voters is a problem created by parties who expect people to vote for soundbites and not on the result of their actions.
And partisanship has also something to do with this, and frankly that is a question that some should ask themselves, how many soft voters are now nowhere to be seen thanks to a lot of vitriol coming their way for not sufficiently supporting L and their excesses.
Voting is not just policies.
Question: ..
If chippys polling drops to Andrew little levels…
Signalling a rout..
Will he walk..?
And who would be his ardern to his little…?
According to twitter, they are to be replaced by the grand Grant Robertson, person beloved my some. thus no J.A effect. That card can't not be played again.
If you want to understand how a social media political marketing campign works:
Guardian Australia deconstructs how the No campaign organises its Facebook ads on The Voice referendum.
And see how cheap it is – under the $100k mark.
I listened to Bernard Hickey interviewing Danyl McLaughlin on the Kaka (25 mins), first on Fukuyama’s theory of vetocracy then current context here, folks becoming disillusioned with democracy due to leftist failure etc.
Around 22 mins in they got onto something else interesting: Danyl mentioned that mental health reform had failed due to govt doing suitable policy but the public service not having a clue what to do with the funding of it. He said the Infrastructure Commission issued a report to that effect – I never saw that reported in the media.
I know everyone always defaults to blind faith in democracy even when it fails but really folks ought to try to learn from those failures… https://thekaka.substack.com/p/matariki-special-interview-danyl#details
Jolly gd chat with JFKjr …head an shoulders over any other pres candidate imo
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGtwCvdCxxTFCkbFzHhKvRdTlSD?projector=1
Yr link just goes to google sign-in page.
Bugga sorry about that i got in the mail i guess i cant share it like that too bad its a podcast called ' All In ' four panelists + jfk
Do you mean RFK jr.? If so, he's very dangerous, as Samoa found out:
If Mehdi Hassan is going after him that just tells me the ' establishment ' thinks he's "very dangerous " as in a threat to them .
Kennedy's a killer of Samoan children.
He's also a narcissistic ex-junkie who traded smack for an addiction to himself, is proud of his own ignorance, and has all the confidence that goes with a lifetime of privilege, excess, and special treatment.
Of course you think he's …head an shoulders..
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-robert-f-kennedy-jr-distorted-vaccine-science1/
Head an shoulders etc
Yep intelligent courageous and despite a fairly acute voice impediment articulate can speak for hours knowledgably off the cuff isnt afraid to say hes wrong or made a mistake or needs to think about something a bit more has humility and compassion [ unlike some !! ]
This judge needs to be removed from the bench.
Judge says public, police and him are sick of the kid offending (last time while out on bail for previous offending).
Judge then promptly discounts sentence down to 14 months and gives him home detention and name suppression! FFS!
So he will probably be out in the public again breaking the law!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/retail-crime-almost-400-ram-raids-in-six-months-judge-tells-young-offender-the-public-have-had-enough/L7X4UDED5FB5PD74DEK7NJ5BZU/
Yes but if you put them in jail for 5 years that is a million dollars we all have to pay.
Remember the kid has already been on electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements.
If his name becomes known he will be labelled for life-it doesn't exactly help trying to turn him into a useful member of society. Neither does slamming him inside for 5 years.
A million? More like $600,000. Either way, probably a bargain considering the havoc he may cause before his short brutish life comes to an end.
It seems that the current round of offending before the courts occurred while he was on this strictly monitored bail for previous crimes…. so not very effective, was it….
We have no evidence, either way, whether he has been charged with other crimes committed while on bail for this offence.
He committed this ram raid while on the "electronically monitored bail for a year, presumably with strict reporting requirements." that you mention so a fat lot of good that was!
I believe it costs around $193k a year to keep someone in jail, but having him out in the community is costing a lot more than that.
You and Grannie completely missing the point of judges and a justice system there. What would it look like if your court of public opinion set judicial sentences on the basis of a social media story, or a done-once-over-lightly Herald article, as you are doing here? Not much need for judging then. Just rubber-stamp the writ for hanging.
Clearly the judge had reasons for their sentence that you do not know about.
The kid was doing the ram raid while out on bail! Do you really think being on home D he will not commit another crime?
https://twitter.com/HaydenDonnell/status/1679349333416906752
Fran Drescher, Actors Guild negotiator with entertainment bosses, rallies union members in strike action.
Guardian article and Drescher's speech
Drescher says this is a crossroads for many workers, not just actors and screenwriters. She describes the industry as having changed the business model fundamentally with streaming services, while not accepting that the payment structures for creatives need renegotiating. Examples are the lack of residual payments for digital media. AI challenges the future of creatives as well.
I agree disruptor tech needs to be critiqued, challenged, and reigned in because personal profit driven people will always take advantage of artists and workers, but this industrial action is really tough on film crews, many of who are not unionised/syndicated because it’s very expensive in the US. And globally crews have zero worker protection (in NZ see the Hobbit law).
On the surface it seems incongruous for headline wealthy actors to be walking out of London premiers midway because 'they are the victims' but in a way it generates huge publicity for workers rights.
There will be real pain for ordinary film crew workers and their families because of the disruption to productions but the long view is a chance to set some real ground rules for the new era of entertainment consumption, ie streaming, AI content etc.
I went to Indiana Jones: Dial of Destiny the other day and the first 20 mins shows a young Harrison Ford (he's now 81 years old). The first few shots you can tell it's CGI but after that you don't notice. A sign of things to come…
MSNBC interviews Drescher in more detail
Two examples of AI used to steal from performers, in comments under this video:
It’s essential for creatives to get fair payment, as most of the 160,000 AG union members cannot support themselves on their acting work alone, and they have to cover audition and presentation costs.
Gloriavale lawyer interviewed on 3News gave the govt a roasting. He meant the departmental heads involved. Negligence, delinquent behaviour is my framing of his gist. Newshub doesn't have it onsite yet.
He's disgusted the Nat/Lab duopoly have allowed a cult to get away with slavery in Aotearoa. Correctly so, it seems. PM & ministers will look around wildly, going "We're not responsible. Just because it says so in our constitutional law doesn't mean it's true!"
[Link required]
Newshub haven't posted it yet.
Is this the interview?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/07/lawyer-for-gloriavale-six-takes-aim-at-govt-in-anger.html
It was posted yesterday.
Yeah, that's the one. Funny, I scanned the front page of Newshub last night & again this morning and it wasn't there…
Thing is, his critique of Labour hinges on whether it is reasonable or not. I'm agnostic. I can see how the PM may reasonable respond "Their slavery was a matter of opinion which the court decision may have changed. I'll seek advice from our lawyers, but it may require a Supreme Court determination."
It was published last night shortly after 7 pm. With the short news cycles, news items get pushed down & off rapidly. To find an item you often have to put some effort into it and search, not simply scroll up & down the main page (aka ‘scanning’).
The onus was on you to put the effort into it.
onus
Then why don't you apply the same standard to all the other commentators onsite here who regularly post about the news without links??
I do, when I spot them and have time to respond, e.g., https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-06-2023/#comment-1955332 and https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-12-07-2023/#comment-1959454.
Why are you behaving as a belligerent little child?
debunking conspiracies aotearoa hosts spiderhoof's tiktok of National's debt blowout on the back of election promises in their last government.
View The debt… tiktok.