Under MMP Labour and the LibDems (43.8 versus 43.6) would have had the same number of seats as the Conservatives and could have formed a government with the SNP, Greens and PCymri.
Yeah, but they don't have mmp, and it sits as a humiliating defeat for Momentum's labour, made even worse by the simple fact they lost to Johnson and the fractured conservative party he was sleepwalking to the morgue of political ineptitude.
The good news is that Brexit may fuck the conservatives over the medium, and Momentum might start to take some constructive criticism and learn how to work more broadly. Yes, I am overly optimistic today.
I can't see how brexit is going to harm the new government. They kicked out all the euro sceptics before the election, so whose going to stop Boris pushing through a leave vote?
Even under the current system if you had 7 people in a room 4 of them would have voted for Boris and 3 of them would have voted for Corbyn under the GE19 result.
A guy did a study of the social media advertising in the UK election that showed that the Tories lied 88% of the time where Labour never lied (google it-I think it was in The Independent).
When 2 of the people who voted for Boris, on hearing this, cross the room to join the Corbyn voters making it 5-2 to Corbyn.
I ran the numbers through the NZ MMP calculator in a rudimentary way. Cons vs L/LD was an exact match, 60 seats each. Didn't do the more complicated maths of factoring in seats vs party vote, but I think it's clear that the left would get to form govt under MMP (assuming we think the LDs are left).
Edit
Thanks for that weka I wondered. I noticed that the vote count was I think around 67% and down on 2017. I wonder if for this type of crucial vote, if they had MMP would they have pulled more to the ballot.
conversely Brexit may well have increased the turnout….I would suggest many of those northern voters wouldnt have bothered if they wernt passionate about 'leave'…so passionate in fact they voted Tory
true, although that could have been offset but the people who are just completely sick of the whole things. So hard to know (don't know if they survey this).
Well, I've used the term 'hard left'. And I've been called a RWNJ here. But I've only used 'hard left' to describe those who apparently think Greens are neoliberal sellouts or there's no difference between National and Labour or Repugs and Democrats are equivalent.
The omission would seem to be that the article does take into account the differences between the electoral systems employed in the UK, the US, Australia and us.
the electoral systems are largely irrelevant to the issue…MMP hasnt reduced disengagement nor has it created broad based parties, indeed in some respects FPP (or electoral college) provides incentive for broad based parties.
Margaret Thatcher was (half) wrong when she said theres no such thing as society….there is a multitude of societies
Yes saw those stats….the disengagement I believe is unrelated to the system employed and those numbers would tend to support that….the type of system probably impacts WHEN the compromise occurs however, in FPP the compromise occurs within the parties (ideally) whereas with MMP the compromise occurs at coalition agreements (or bill by bill), but compromise there will be or governance becomes unstable (revolving door PMs ring any bells?)
OK, if you're looking for glaring omissions in Cooke's piece:
They tried that with Obama and got very little lasting policy wins for it – maybe you need to have lived in the US to appreciate it, but Obamacare really was a BFD. Not only did it deliver actual healthcare to millions in desperate need of it, it's also kept healthcare inequities right to the front of the national conversation since it passed.
The point being that those out at the fringes don't recognise when they actually get a big win, nor do they appreciate what it takes to put together the coalition needed to achieve a big win.
And sometimes we do not recognise who the 'win' most benefits – for example Working For Families being an ongoing subsidy for employers, delaying any transition to a higher wage economy that would require lifting their game.
Yeah, that sort of dog's breakfast of an idea so loaded with hidden inequities and unintended consequences really doesn't help with achieving real lasting progress.
I liked that he posed the where to from here question & answered it by suggesting a bit less ironic Stalinist trolling and infighting. I hadn't realised UK Labour actually does spice up its stalinism with irony. It puts them a rung above NZ Labour on the intellectual ladder, eh?
Maybe – depends on interesting political events really. Have had domestic projects to work thro in recent months. I took the plunge & renewed my membership in the GP this morning after mulling it over for most of last year. The old question of whether it's best to be inside the tent pissing out or outside pissing in…
Tomorrow Corbyn. Next year Sanders. And if that transpires and you think pop media has been complete arse during these days of Trump, then trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet.
Somehow I doubt that Boorish cares enough about Assange to lean on the judicial process one way or the other. And I'll guess the UK judiciary cares enough about maintaining an image of independence that they wouldn't react well to being leaned on.
Furthermore, the whole point of charging Assange and ensuring he remains locked up is to intimidate anyone else thinking of leaking and publicising embarrassing information. That purpose is served just as well by Assange being in a UK slammer as it is him being in a US slammer. So I doubt BloJo will be getting any kind of hurryup from the Tinyfingers Twittertwat.
[Another dim troll who cannot read or simply ignores things, which are two hallmarks of stupid trolls. If you have anything to say here, which is extremely doubtful, there is OM for you]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
If winning means the UK dissolves with Brixit and the Scots form a new country within the EU and NI is on the road back to Ireland (thanks to the boarder issues) and also within the EU – then yes "the English" won – but won what exactly?
It looks like they will lose a shitload of territory, resources and income.
I am looking at financiers and snake-oil merchants selling the product 'insurance swaps'*/ derivatives to Hopeful Farmers.
Swaps are derivatives, which are contracts between you and Westpac that may require you or Westpac to make New Zealand dollar payments to one another. The amounts that must be paid or received (or both) will depend on the level of the underlying fixed and floating interest rates.
eg NZ$ interest rate swap rates are determined by the rates on NZ government bonds and the demand for paying or receiving the fixed rate. A gauge of the level of demand is the difference between the NZ government bond rate and the swap rate, known as the "swap spread".
The major influences on the level of demand are …
– corporate borrowers, who have floating rate borrowings;
– banks, who also want to match fixed rate mortgages against their floating rate borrowing; and
– issuers of fixed rate NZ$ bonds, who typically want to pay the fixed rate.
However, because the New Zealand economy is really just "a housing market with a few other bits tacked on", the biggest influence on New Zealand swap rates usually comes from banks working to manage their mortgage rate risk.
Cant say I really understand the British system but is it true this is one of the worst results for Labour since god knows when? Seems to me like Corbyn really needed to step down like Andrew Little did but do they have a Jacinda type person to takeover?
Chester Borrows – I didn't know there was so much depth in his thinking. He sounds like a good guy who is on a path that leads out of our present immoral, judgmental morality – a path that many of us could wish to follow.
Borrows says he really enjoyed his police career which ended up lasting 24 years and encompassed some major events in New Zealand history.
His first choice for Bookmarks was the Bible. He comes from a religious family and is himself a self-identified Christian, but says he doesn’t like religious people.
“I like the bits of the Bible that I agree with and fit in with my thinking, like most Christians. I know that over the years I’ve changed my view on things as they relate to my faith and I think I recognise more and more that the Bible was written in a certain context.”
He says Jesus Christ sets a good example about overturning commonly held and entrenched views and political structures which conservative Christians could take a page from when it comes to things like gay marriage and the place of women in society.
“I think the other thing I like about the Bible is that it’s very clear Jesus was a politician and was very good at politics. He knew how to play the game.”
Indeed remarkable! Only the oldest group would have a political consciousness formed back when Britain was independent of Europe, right? So the boomers are confident of returning to a status that worked historically, whereas for the younger generations it probably feels like a leap into the unknown.
If I was a Tory grandee, seeing less than a quarter of voters aged 18-34 voting Tory would make me despondent, fearing for the future of the party. I wonder how few of them, glorying in the decisive mandate just achieved, have noticed the ominous trend.
That's a truism. ‘If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.’ Falsely attributed to the prior Winnie (https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/quotes-falsely-attributed/) "Paul Addison of Edinburgh University made this comment: ‘Surely Churchill can’t have used the words attributed to him. He’d been a Conservative at 15 and a Liberal at 35!"
But I suspect social science research has indeed established the effect as a general trend. I'd rather frame it as broad-mindedness. I concede that dilutes the point. I'm no longer the resolute foe of the political right, due to understanding them better with age (but still tend to view them with just as much contempt).
Dennis – to my mind that fake truism was made by a shallow social-climber trying to justify his/her own changes of view. Youngsters are prone to rebellion and questioning, so at that age the manipulative social-climbers will chime in with the majority, and often appear to lead the charge, because they seek prominence.
Later on, these social-climbers are the first to switch sides, continuing to feather their own nests by new-found 'understanding' of right-wing greed, because they sense that they will remain popular by joining the solid status quo. They are shallow, hollow men, who have actually betrayed the 'brains' they claim to have.
People with true Socialist principles stick with them through adversity, and remain principled, showing far more depth of thought than the shallow social-climbers.
'People with true Socialist principles stick with them through adversity, and remain principled, showing far more depth of thought than the shallow social-climbers.'
That reminds me of Margaret and Jim Thorn who were a beacon of light for ardent socialists.
The guardian shows protesters who are unhappy with the election result clashing with police. Why does the left wing do this & shoot themselves in the foot ? Can they not accept democracy or is it noise & protests they think should determine how the UK should be run ? You don’t see this from the right after an election loss, but if anyone has evidence that the right does the same thing I would appreciate it.
Questions Bazza64. I guess the left aren't as good losers as the right. The left have got less to start with, and when they lose an election, they feel it right through their bodies from head to toe.
A six-year-old boy walked nearly 2km early this morning to get help for his mother, after their vehicle crashed into a river on the West Coast….
Sergeant Mark Kirkwood said a full scale search and rescue operation was launched involving volunteers, Fire and Emergency, Surf Life Saving, the Coastguard and jet boaters.
The woman was found about five hours later, about 7.30am, on a beach north of the rivermouth.
She was being treated for hypothermia in Greymouth Hospital, police said.
.@cenkuygur has been a longtime fighter against corruption. However, our movement is bigger than any one person. I hear my supporters who were frustrated and understand their concerns. Cenk today said he is rejecting all endorsements for his campaign and I retract my endorsement.
Principled tory prick gets caught with his fingers in the till.
Bye..
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer is resigning.
But he says he will stay on as leader until his replacement is chosen and continue to serve as MP for Regina—Qu’Appelle.
His resignation comes as a direct result of new revelations that he was using Conservative Party money to pay for his children’s private schooling, according to Conservative sources who spoke with Global News.
Senior Conservatives say the expenditures were made without the knowledge or approval of the Conservative fund board, including the chair of the board.
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Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The Old Guard, new to Netflix, is a resounding success because it doesn’t focus on what makes these heroes great, it focuses on what makes them human, writes Sam Brooks.The climax of Netflix’s new movie The Old Guard shouldn’t be anything new, but it feels exhilarating. The titular old guard, ...
A new Green Party announcement heralds a fast-exit out of fossil fuels through a massive state housing solar panel installation programme, a ban on new coal boilers, and the shifting of a target for renewable energy Solar panels and batteries would be installed in 30,000 State homes to create a "virtual power plant" if ...
As yet more male-led festival lineups are announced, Shaquille Wasasala, aka halfqueen, writes an open letter to the industry.To those whose career it is booking talent for music festivals, punters, and people who listen to music.As a DJ and artist who exists at many intersections that directly inform my lens ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot pens topical verse every Sunday. This week: disgraced MP Hamish Walker.Showing promise The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is true, post on Facebook that he had been door knocking in Mataura when he hadn’t. He lied. The MP for Clutha-Southland did, it is ...
It’s one of the most commonly used weedkillers in the world, but pressure to phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate could force us to come up with alternatives quickly. Listen to the full episode of Two Cents Worth below. Subscribe to Two Cents' Worth for free on Apple ...
The Covid-19 crisis has exposed gaps in the funding of early education that we should be bold in responding to, writes Sue Cherrington of Victoria University of Wellington Early childhood education has been in the media a great deal over recent weeks, initially with positive but increasingly with negative news reports. ...
It’s an economic theory that advocates tout as a solution to governments’ debt crises, but critics warn is a recipe for hyperinflation. Either way, modern monetary theory is getting a lot more attention in the era of Covid-19.Two big economic ideas have captured the popular imagination during the Covid-19 pandemic: ...
For one hour a week the supermarket lights are dimmed and the music stops. And it’s a kind of triumph, writes Michelle Langstone.I thought there’d been a power cut. The lights were out at the entrance, so you arrived into a kind of gloom. There was no music, and no ...
It’s no secret that New Zealand’s Covid-19 response was one of the world’s most effective. But to get an idea of how eagerly parts of our economy have rebounded post lockdown, take a look at our electricity demand data.Despite an impending wave of unemployment and looming fiscal challenges down the ...
In the second in the Spnioff’s Last on the list series, Dave King explains what inspired him to stand for the Act Party in Manurewa. At 20th spot on the list, if David Seymour’s party can win around 16% of the party vote, King is parliament bound.It wasn’t that long ...
Basketball is growing massively in popularity around the country, led by thousands of youngsters picking up the game every day. To The Line looks at what it’s like for New Zealand high school kids with hoop dreams.If there’s been a narrative rumbling away in the sports pages, it’s that of ...
Unbelievable. A first-rank world leader picks a needless fight with blameless allies, thus imperiling their unity. But that’s General de Gaulle for you.Impressive work, even by his standards. In 1967, Canada was to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge (their Gallipoli – except that they ...
From RNZ Saturday Morning Described by a Guardian reviewer as “superb hate-reading”, writer and columnist Anand Giridharadas‘s latest book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World investigates the hypocrisy of billionaire “do-gooders”. He questions how and why we have become reliant on the philanthropy of the super-rich ...
The Professional Hunting Guides Association is welcoming the High Court decision on DoC’s controversial tahr campaign. The High Court in Wellington was asked on Wednesday by the Tahr Foundation for a judicial review of DoC’s plan to kill thousands ...
With the 2020 general election nearly three months away, a new campaign is asking voters to vote in line with the future. Vote Climate 2020 aims to highlight the opportunity to build momentum behind climate change, ensuring climate justice is a key election ...
“ACT will target the gangs by hitting them where it hurts – their pockets,” according to ACT Leader David Seymour and Firearms Spokesperson Nicole McKee. “New Zealanders deserve to be safe and secure, but violent gangs are a scourge on our ...
Waffles don’t need to be sweet – these cheese and onion numbers make an excellent savoury breakfast with an egg, or an equally tasty dinner with leftover mince.It’s easy to default to sweet breakfasts without thinking. At least that’s the case in our household, as porridge or bircher muesli is ...
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times.Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...
Let’s not allow the focus on big-budget infrastructure projects to detract from the vital role public transport will play in revitalising our cities in a post-Covid world, says Greg Pollock.The recent match between the Blues and the Hurricanes was one of the world’s first major post-lockdown sporting fixtures. It was ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change.It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately ...
So-called dirty deals have been roundly denounced over the years. Hayden Donnell argues that they need to be normalised, and even embraced, in September’s election.Just before the 2011 general election, Patrick Gower was confronted with a political act so stomach-churning, it forced him to abandon his trademark reserve. John Key ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Connor, Lecturer, James Cook University While many people may enjoy a game of backyard cricket, only a few go on to become elite professional batsmen in Australia. Cricket batting is example of what human skills can achieve. The fastest bowling delivery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native ...
CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University In Hidden Hand, China scholars Clive Hamilton and Marieke Ohlberg examine the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Europe and North America in a similar way to how Hamilton dissected the CCP’s influence ...
“I can see why people are fed up, many are wondering how to clothe and feed their kids, or how they are going to pay their rent next week and still others are wondering what has happened to our beautiful Kiwi Way of Life. Well no party in parliament ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine. Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for ...
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...
The government is extending border exceptions to allow overseas victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their support people to attend the shooter's sentencing. ...
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...
SAP has released to the public a policy paper, “Helping Kiwis get back to work: How data and technology can drive a bigger, better, faster economic recovery.” ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel.Mermaids When you lose grip and start to drift.The first thing you’re supposed to do issteer into it or steer away? Not all mermaids are royaltysomeone needs to audit the oceanprovide cashflow projectionssome mermaids are actuallymiddle-aged accountants named Stephendreaming of a land-view holiday home. I saw a ...
Want to work for The Spinoff? We’re looking for someone to fill an exciting new role based in our Auckland office. We’re looking for a video and podcast content manager: an experienced writer or sub-editor with a strong understanding of social media to manage our video and podcast content across various channels. ...
National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also received four unsolicited emails. ...
By RNZ News Opposition National list MP Dr Jian Yang has announced his retirement from New Zealand politics and says he will not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. He said politics was “demanding” and he wanted to spend more time with his ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Open mike 14/12/2019 
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Damn that democracy!
[Damn those fake lefty trolls]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Another person who doesn't understand plurality versus majority
Conservatives 43.6
Labour 32.2
LibDems 11.6
Under MMP Labour and the LibDems (43.8 versus 43.6) would have had the same number of seats as the Conservatives and could have formed a government with the SNP, Greens and PCymri.
Yeah, but they don't have mmp, and it sits as a humiliating defeat for Momentum's labour, made even worse by the simple fact they lost to Johnson and the fractured conservative party he was sleepwalking to the morgue of political ineptitude.
The good news is that Brexit may fuck the conservatives over the medium, and Momentum might start to take some constructive criticism and learn how to work more broadly. Yes, I am overly optimistic today.
I can't see how brexit is going to harm the new government. They kicked out all the euro sceptics before the election, so whose going to stop Boris pushing through a leave vote?
I fully expect Brexit to happen. The theory is that as time goes by and post-Brexit causes increasing problems, the Cons will be blamed.
Yes but they should have MMP-its called fairness.
Even under the current system if you had 7 people in a room 4 of them would have voted for Boris and 3 of them would have voted for Corbyn under the GE19 result.
A guy did a study of the social media advertising in the UK election that showed that the Tories lied 88% of the time where Labour never lied (google it-I think it was in The Independent).
When 2 of the people who voted for Boris, on hearing this, cross the room to join the Corbyn voters making it 5-2 to Corbyn.
Nobody in the UK had any illusions about Boris' honesty…and they voted as they did
I ran the numbers through the NZ MMP calculator in a rudimentary way. Cons vs L/LD was an exact match, 60 seats each. Didn't do the more complicated maths of factoring in seats vs party vote, but I think it's clear that the left would get to form govt under MMP (assuming we think the LDs are left).
Saw this
Interesting. Who would Labour choose in addition to the LDs? (or, who would they seek to exclude ;- ) )
Edit
Thanks for that weka I wondered. I noticed that the vote count was I think around 67% and down on 2017. I wonder if for this type of crucial vote, if they had MMP would they have pulled more to the ballot.
(2017 – The turnout as a percentage of enrolled electors is 79.8% (2014 – 77.9%).
https://elections.nz/media-and-news/2017/new-zealand-2017-general-election-official-results/
I'm guessing that Brexit is a driver for low turn out, but I agree that MMP would probably raise it.
conversely Brexit may well have increased the turnout….I would suggest many of those northern voters wouldnt have bothered if they wernt passionate about 'leave'…so passionate in fact they voted Tory
true, although that could have been offset but the people who are just completely sick of the whole things. So hard to know (don't know if they survey this).
Henry Cooke has attempted an analysis of the Left with one glaringly obvious omission: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/118180532/the-left-keeps-losing-winning-will-take-new-friends
You're such a tease. Which glaring omission are you referring to?
whats the omission?
The omission was omitted?
Deliberately or accidentally, in your opinion?
Prob to get people to read it and see something that is clear to you but not (it seems) to them.
personally I doubt they read it.
It’s not clear to me and I’d welcome feedback. Seems I started it off in a clumsy way and even if people read it they may now be trying to find Wally.
As far as I can see theres not so much an omission as a misnomer…centrism.
The problem is not so much along a spectrum but rather the multitude of enclaves….and ne'er the twain shall meet
Not seeing your omission as such, but does anyone other than righties use the term 'hard left'? Much less apply it to Greens.
Well, I've used the term 'hard left'. And I've been called a RWNJ here. But I've only used 'hard left' to describe those who apparently think Greens are neoliberal sellouts or there's no difference between National and Labour or Repugs and Democrats are equivalent.
The omission would seem to be that the article does take into account the differences between the electoral systems employed in the UK, the US, Australia and us.
Ah. Am so used to that by now from our media that it did not even register. 🙂
the electoral systems are largely irrelevant to the issue…MMP hasnt reduced disengagement nor has it created broad based parties, indeed in some respects FPP (or electoral college) provides incentive for broad based parties.
Margaret Thatcher was (half) wrong when she said theres no such thing as society….there is a multitude of societies
http://archive.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/snapshots-of-nz/nz-social-indicators/Home/Trust%20and%20participation%20in%20government/voter-turnout.aspx
Based on that, voter turnout has declined since MMP was introduced. 2017 ticked up slightly to 79% (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_voting_in_New_Zealand), but that was still well below the turnout from 1981 through 1996.
@ Paddington
Yes saw those stats….the disengagement I believe is unrelated to the system employed and those numbers would tend to support that….the type of system probably impacts WHEN the compromise occurs however, in FPP the compromise occurs within the parties (ideally) whereas with MMP the compromise occurs at coalition agreements (or bill by bill), but compromise there will be or governance becomes unstable (revolving door PMs ring any bells?)
OK, if you're looking for glaring omissions in Cooke's piece:
They tried that with Obama and got very little lasting policy wins for it – maybe you need to have lived in the US to appreciate it, but Obamacare really was a BFD. Not only did it deliver actual healthcare to millions in desperate need of it, it's also kept healthcare inequities right to the front of the national conversation since it passed.
The point being that those out at the fringes don't recognise when they actually get a big win, nor do they appreciate what it takes to put together the coalition needed to achieve a big win.
And sometimes we do not recognise who the 'win' most benefits – for example Working For Families being an ongoing subsidy for employers, delaying any transition to a higher wage economy that would require lifting their game.
Yeah, that sort of dog's breakfast of an idea so loaded with hidden inequities and unintended consequences really doesn't help with achieving real lasting progress.
I liked that he posed the where to from here question & answered it by suggesting a bit less ironic Stalinist trolling and infighting. I hadn't realised UK Labour actually does spice up its stalinism with irony. It puts them a rung above NZ Labour on the intellectual ladder, eh?
Good to see you again Dennis Frank. Keep coming?
Maybe – depends on interesting political events really. Have had domestic projects to work thro in recent months. I took the plunge & renewed my membership in the GP this morning after mulling it over for most of last year. The old question of whether it's best to be inside the tent pissing out or outside pissing in…
This election prediction didn’t age well:
How long till Assange heads to the US now Boris is in charge.
[If you’re going to quote you have to cite.- weka]
This one too… from Bills post
mod note for you James.
Sure – it was quoting bill from a couple of days ago – I’ll link and cite when I get home.
Somehow I doubt that Boorish cares enough about Assange to lean on the judicial process one way or the other. And I'll guess the UK judiciary cares enough about maintaining an image of independence that they wouldn't react well to being leaned on.
Furthermore, the whole point of charging Assange and ensuring he remains locked up is to intimidate anyone else thinking of leaking and publicising embarrassing information. That purpose is served just as well by Assange being in a UK slammer as it is him being in a US slammer. So I doubt BloJo will be getting any kind of hurryup from the Tinyfingers Twittertwat.
We won, you lost – eat that.
[Another dim troll who cannot read or simply ignores things, which are two hallmarks of stupid trolls. If you have anything to say here, which is extremely doubtful, there is OM for you]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
If winning means the UK dissolves with Brixit and the Scots form a new country within the EU and NI is on the road back to Ireland (thanks to the boarder issues) and also within the EU – then yes "the English" won – but won what exactly?
It looks like they will lose a shitload of territory, resources and income.
I am looking at financiers and snake-oil merchants selling the product 'insurance swaps'*/ derivatives to Hopeful Farmers.
Swaps are derivatives, which are contracts between you and Westpac that may require you or Westpac to make New Zealand dollar payments to one another. The amounts that must be paid or received (or both) will depend on the level of the underlying fixed and floating interest rates.
.
There is a lot of understandable sense to be gained from reading – https://www.interest.co.nz/charts/interest-rates/swap-rates
eg NZ$ interest rate swap rates are determined by the rates on NZ government bonds and the demand for paying or receiving the fixed rate. A gauge of the level of demand is the difference between the NZ government bond rate and the swap rate, known as the "swap spread".
The major influences on the level of demand are …
– corporate borrowers, who have floating rate borrowings;
– banks, who also want to match fixed rate mortgages against their floating rate borrowing; and
– issuers of fixed rate NZ$ bonds, who typically want to pay the fixed rate.
However, because the New Zealand economy is really just "a housing market with a few other bits tacked on", the biggest influence on New Zealand swap rates usually comes from banks working to manage their mortgage rate risk.
Cant say I really understand the British system but is it true this is one of the worst results for Labour since god knows when? Seems to me like Corbyn really needed to step down like Andrew Little did but do they have a Jacinda type person to takeover?
Chester Borrows – I didn't know there was so much depth in his thinking. He sounds like a good guy who is on a path that leads out of our present immoral, judgmental morality – a path that many of us could wish to follow.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018726450/bookmarks-chester-borrows 11 Dec 2019
Borrows says he really enjoyed his police career which ended up lasting 24 years and encompassed some major events in New Zealand history.
His first choice for Bookmarks was the Bible. He comes from a religious family and is himself a self-identified Christian, but says he doesn’t like religious people.
“I like the bits of the Bible that I agree with and fit in with my thinking, like most Christians. I know that over the years I’ve changed my view on things as they relate to my faith and I think I recognise more and more that the Bible was written in a certain context.”
He says Jesus Christ sets a good example about overturning commonly held and entrenched views and political structures which conservative Christians could take a page from when it comes to things like gay marriage and the place of women in society.
“I think the other thing I like about the Bible is that it’s very clear Jesus was a politician and was very good at politics. He knew how to play the game.”
'Jesus knew how to play the game.' And won it even as he lost – his life.
Maybe left wing parties should avoid getting celebrities to back them, seems like the death knell in US & UK elections.
Next time Lilly Allen, Hugh Grant, Beyoncé etc should ask the punters to vote Republican or Conservative & then might get the result they want ?
OK Boomers.
Indeed remarkable! Only the oldest group would have a political consciousness formed back when Britain was independent of Europe, right? So the boomers are confident of returning to a status that worked historically, whereas for the younger generations it probably feels like a leap into the unknown.
If I was a Tory grandee, seeing less than a quarter of voters aged 18-34 voting Tory would make me despondent, fearing for the future of the party. I wonder how few of them, glorying in the decisive mandate just achieved, have noticed the ominous trend.
Do we know if people vote more conservatively as they age? I'm guessing they do.
That's a truism. ‘If you’re not a liberal when you’re 25, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative by the time you’re 35, you have no brain.’ Falsely attributed to the prior Winnie (https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/quotes/quotes-falsely-attributed/) "Paul Addison of Edinburgh University made this comment: ‘Surely Churchill can’t have used the words attributed to him. He’d been a Conservative at 15 and a Liberal at 35!"
But I suspect social science research has indeed established the effect as a general trend. I'd rather frame it as broad-mindedness. I concede that dilutes the point. I'm no longer the resolute foe of the political right, due to understanding them better with age (but still tend to view them with just as much contempt).
same with me, although it hasn't made my voting more conservative.
Someone just pointed out to me on twitter that lefties die younger than conservatives, so that will alter the 65+ demogaphic.
Dennis – to my mind that fake truism was made by a shallow social-climber trying to justify his/her own changes of view. Youngsters are prone to rebellion and questioning, so at that age the manipulative social-climbers will chime in with the majority, and often appear to lead the charge, because they seek prominence.
Later on, these social-climbers are the first to switch sides, continuing to feather their own nests by new-found 'understanding' of right-wing greed, because they sense that they will remain popular by joining the solid status quo. They are shallow, hollow men, who have actually betrayed the 'brains' they claim to have.
People with true Socialist principles stick with them through adversity, and remain principled, showing far more depth of thought than the shallow social-climbers.
'People with true Socialist principles stick with them through adversity, and remain principled, showing far more depth of thought than the shallow social-climbers.'
That reminds me of Margaret and Jim Thorn who were a beacon of light for ardent socialists.
https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4t16/thorn-margaret
what % of each age group voted?
Unfortunately the graph does not show the percentages that belong to each cohort.
The guardian shows protesters who are unhappy with the election result clashing with police. Why does the left wing do this & shoot themselves in the foot ? Can they not accept democracy or is it noise & protests they think should determine how the UK should be run ? You don’t see this from the right after an election loss, but if anyone has evidence that the right does the same thing I would appreciate it.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2019/dec/13/not-my-prime-minister-protesters-clash-with-police-after-boris-johnson-elected-video
Questions Bazza64. I guess the left aren't as good losers as the right. The left have got less to start with, and when they lose an election, they feel it right through their bodies from head to toe.
There is a substantial history of violent right-wing protests in, dare I say it, Venezuela.
You can find good examples and explanations of the phenomenon in Pilger's War on Democracy.
Hopefully good news.
New Zealand West Coast 12:26 pm today
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/405498/boy-goes-for-help-after-mum-swept-downriver-on-west-coast
A six-year-old boy walked nearly 2km early this morning to get help for his mother, after their vehicle crashed into a river on the West Coast….
Sergeant Mark Kirkwood said a full scale search and rescue operation was launched involving volunteers, Fire and Emergency, Surf Life Saving, the Coastguard and jet boaters.
The woman was found about five hours later, about 7.30am, on a beach north of the rivermouth.
She was being treated for hypothermia in Greymouth Hospital, police said.
Be best, right?
/
Of course Bernie didn't say say he was wrong to to endorse this pig in the first place.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-rescinds-endorsement-after-womens-groups-blast-misogynist-cenk-uygur
Your woke misrepresentation of this guy is really quite despicable joe90.
People change and grow up. To reach back and pick pick stupid things they have done – is really quite pathetic.
Yeap cenk was a misogynist prat when he was younger – guess what, he did actually grow up and see the error of his ways.
Shame people like you can't accept that.
His 2016 riff about how it's all A okay for men to rate young women on their doableness was something he did when he a young misogynist prat?
Principled tory prick gets caught with his fingers in the till.
Bye..
Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer is resigning.
But he says he will stay on as leader until his replacement is chosen and continue to serve as MP for Regina—Qu’Appelle.
His resignation comes as a direct result of new revelations that he was using Conservative Party money to pay for his children’s private schooling, according to Conservative sources who spoke with Global News.
Senior Conservatives say the expenditures were made without the knowledge or approval of the Conservative fund board, including the chair of the board.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6288286/andrew-scheer-resignation/
Funny as anything, Jacinda does not realise that the more she hugs actual voting Kiwis are turned off.
[You may not have been hugged enough, which is why you are a troll and a huge turnoff]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Not if she wins over the non-voting 20%