Open mike 15/03/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 15th, 2019 - 102 comments
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For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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Step up to the mike …

102 comments on “Open mike 15/03/2019 ”

  1. bwaghorn 1

    79 people dead in 10 years from police chases.
    It’s time to stop.
    I dont blame the cops they are doing their job . But it isnt worth it.

    • BM 1.1

      Automatic 1 year in prison for anyone who runs from the police.

      People need to know that if you run you will pay a high price, at the moment with the wet bus ticket criminal system we’ve got, people try their luck because if you’re caught there’s no real punishment.

      • bwaghorn 1.1.1

        Aagh so double down on stuidity?? Not surprisingly from a right winger.
        They’ll run harder dont ya think.

        • James 1.1.1.1

          Of course – tell the police to ignore them and remove any consequences for the baddies.

          That will make them pull over.

          • bwaghorn 1.1.1.1.1

            Innocent lives to catch a car thief that they will more than likely get at some point down the track .
            Not worth it really .

        • BM 1.1.1.2

          Nope, as I said, there’s no real punishment if you run, so you’ll try your luck.

          No punishment if you get away vs slap on the hand if you’re caught vs fine/PD for whatever made you run.

          Consequences of actions are what’s been missing from NZ for a very long time.

          A year in prison would make many think twice before they bolted.

          Obviously, a bit complicated for you bwaghorn, maybe you should stick to rooting sheep.

          • solkta 1.1.1.2.1

            Such decisions need to be made in seconds which does not leave time for thinking twice.

            • BM 1.1.1.2.1.1

              Just run an advertising campaign along the same lines as what was done for drink driving.
              “You run, you’re inside”.

              Once a few end up in the big house and with an effective advertising campaign, it won’t take before it’s ingrained into peoples heads that it’s not worth it.

              • Barfly

                “Nope, as I said, there’s no real punishment if you run, so you’ll try your luck”

                versus

                “79 people dead in 10 years from police chases”

                BM seriously??

              • riffer

                A cynical observation could be that the Police should run a campaign more or less saying the truth…

                “You run, we’ll chase you until we catch you or you die.”

                Wouldn’t make any difference but.

              • greywarshark

                BM
                You’re wasting your time here. You are sunk in your own propaganda.
                But you have a use. You demonstrate to active thinkers here, the large group of people who live their lives according to a recitation of learned directives which they chant whenever they feel discombobulated. It is a settling process and they can then proceed slowly forward like a giant tortoise surrounded by its shell. They don’t understand much and that is a great comfort to them though they don’t understand that either.

              • Hongi Ika

                Like + 100%

          • Hongi Ika 1.1.1.2.2

            Like + 1000%

        • Gabby 1.1.1.3

          The harder they run, the bigger they’ll crash waggers.

      • cleangreen 1.1.2

        BM.

        Do you ever do any research before you open your blogs?

        Police chases are not accepted in our ‘progressive regions of the world.

        I have spoken before about my personal experience while working in Canada during the 1969 era when there was a rash of Police chases then.

        There was a massive public rally to stop police chases and the pursuit by police was then abandoned as the young offender was often killed in the pursuit.

        Police and the Government in Canada also were very concerned about the safety of others on the roads were not harmed should they have continued the chases.

        No real negative effects were felt after then chases were abandoned.

    • ianmac 1.2

      A remark from one of the drivers who ran and survived a chase was, “I’d do it the same again.” Suppose the thrill of the chase is a motivation.

      • bwaghorn 1.2.1

        The od muppet killing himself I have no problem with . When said muppet kills the dizzy teens in the car with him or worse a complete innocent then it’s not worth it.

    • Incognito 1.3

      Maybe they should look into using drones instead of cars chasing cars.

  2. Jenny - How to get there? 2

    The Principal’s Association has issued a vaguely ominous public statement, (presumably motivated by a genuine concern), saying they cannot guarantee the safety of students who attend the climate protests. And threatening punitive action against students who do attend.

    The Principle’s Association say that their views are echoed by that of the police.

    Principals have told RNZ while the march’s message is commendable, they cannot guarantee students’ safety if they decide to attend…..

    ….The Secondary Principals’ Association is refusing to endorse tomorrow’s climate change marchand says studentsare likely to be marked as truant if they attend the protest.

    How it would be seen if the police or the authorities issued such a statement before any other public protest march?

    Admittedly, protesting is unsafe, going on strike is unsafe. It upsets the social order. It makes those in authority feel uneasy, they often don’t know how to respond to a perceived challenge to their power and authority.

    Somehow, I get the idea that in this case, the Principal’s Association’s concerns are motivated by more than just the safety of the students.

    Revealed by this statement:

    “There are lots of ways of putting pressure on,” he said. “A protest is one, it is global, it has got the newspapers, it is good, but what happens next?

    “Or is that just the fish and chips wrappers for next week?”

    This is a political statement. expressing a cynical subjective conservative viewpoint. ‘Protest is pointless, it doesn’t work’, 

    ‘protest is just fish and chip wrapping.’

    Also, suggesting that there are other ways of putting pressure on, but not suggesting any, is dishonest. What are these ‘other ways’?

    I think that if the Principal’s Association was really genuinely concerned about student safety at these protests, and worried about how they would get there safely, then they would have issued another statement entirely. (Let me paraphrase what this statement would probably look like)

    Because of our concerns about student safety at these protests and their travel arrangements, the Principal’s Association  urge our members to attend in solidarity with our students, to protect and guard them. We also urge schools to contact the organisers and offer to provide busses to make it safer for students who wish to attend these protests to get there.

    We are also urging those parents who can, to take the day off, and also attend as an act of solidarity with their children and as a further guarantee of their safety.

    Climate change is a safety issue. It makes us all unsafe. If the Principal’s Association was really concerned about their student’s current and future safety, then they would be doing their very best to make sure that these protests are as successful and safe as possible.

    Personally I wish these brave young adults all the best, and that their daring and courageous protest in the face of opposition from the authorities goes off without mishap.

    This is a view which is not shared by authoritarians, who are probably wishing for harm to befall them, so that they can say, ‘I told you so’. And, ‘It is best (and safer),to do nothing’.

    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384735/no-guarantees-on-safety-for-striking-students-principals

    • Andre 2.1

      One of mine is going. His mother offered to write whatever note he needed to mollify the school. His response was “Nah, getting marked truant and pissing off the authorities is part of the point.”

      • A 2.1.1

        I like this kid

      • Anne 2.1.2

        Sounds like he’s a chip off the old block!

        • Andre 2.1.2.1

          Nah. His head functions a whole lot better than mine did at that age.

          • Bewildered 2.1.2.1.1

            I am sure with that attitude he will be a great success

            • Andre 2.1.2.1.1.1

              He’s got fairly good judgement about when to keep a lid on it and when to let it loose.

              In any case, a more precise expression of what he was trying to say would be that taking away the risk of consequences makes it much less significant as a protest.

    • mauī 2.2

      I suppose it’s what you would expect from a collection of pointless authoritarian figures. “Getting in the way” springs to mind…

      The amount of pointless assemblies that we were put through while missing out on actual learning. Great to see the kids getting some of their own back and learning so much more today.

    • bwaghorn 2.3

      How does one counter argument put up by muppets like collins and garner that because people aren’t living a completely carbon free life they cant be activists for change . ?
      My view has always been it has to come from the top as little bits from the bottom will achieve nothing .

      • Andre 2.3.1

        Hand the microphone to AOC.

        “Living in the world as it is isn’t an argument against working towards a better future.

        The Green New Deal is about putting a LOT of people to work in developing new technologies, building new infrastructure, and getting us to 100% renewable energy.”

        https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/03/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mocks-report-green-new-deal-hypocrisy/3049218002/

        • Brewildered 2.3.1.1

          The educated response

          AOC is a ‘pompous little twit’ with a ‘silly’ climate plan, says Greenpeace co-founder. … But Patrick Moore, one of the original founders of Greenpeace, called her expensive plan “silly” and repeated his claim that she is a “pompous little twit.” “It’s a silly plan.

          [lprent: Silly is saying this without a link. This is your warning. Read the policy. ]

          • Andre 2.3.1.1.1

            Patrick Moore may indeed have been influential in the early days of Greenpeace. But his ideals and Greenpeace’s ideals parted company several decades ago. Not that that necessarily discredits him: these days I don’t think much of Greenpeace either. But it makes his trading on his long-gone ties to Greenpeace pretty dishonest.

            What does seriously discredit him, however, is his vocal climate-change denialism. Along with his other pro-corporate anti-environmental activities.

            https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/patrick-moore-climate-doubter/

    • A 2.4

      How ridiculous this all is. Climate change is unsafe and involves extinction.

    • Wensleydale 2.5

      It’s sad. The subtext to all this seems to be “Stupid children. You’re defying authority, accomplishing nothing and should be here at school learning important stuff like… how to throw a ball around a muddy paddock. Having principles or feeling passionately about things likely to affect your futures are both enormous wastes of time, and once we’ve finished raging impotently at your impertinence, we’re going to mark you down as absent. That’ll teach you!”

  3. Sanctuary 3

    The “important” Auckland schools are more concerned with brand perception than setting an example of democratic participation.

    • Incognito 3.1

      Schools used to be great institutions to teach obedience, complacency, and knowing your place (and rights) in society. Many a class war was fought in schools and the education system. Luckily, we have moved on from that.

      • Dennis Frank 3.1.1

        I went to Wanganui Tech before it changed it’s name to Wanganui Boys College (1964) but it continued to incorporate military drill as part of the instruction. So much for modernisation! I recall being made a corporal, and having to ensure that my rabble of ten other boys stood in a straight line.

        Having to do marching on a sweltering summer’s day was a pain in the proverbial. Fortunately deviation from short back and sides was forbidden, so the contaminating effect of the Beatles starting to grow their hair on the distant cultural horizon was inconsequential here.

  4. Gabby 4

    They’re covering their arses for when some lawyer parent comes after them for allowing young Nigel to jeopardise his partnership slot by getting filmed by Comrade Jian’s boys engaging in dissident activities.

    • bwaghorn 4.1

      It could be just pointing out that teachers duty of care only exists if kids are at school.

    • Anne 4.2

      Tell you what, back in the Cold War days it didn’t take much to be branded a dissident. I joined the Labour Party. That was enough to alert the ‘thought police’ to yet another potentially dangerous subversive on the loose among the populace. 😯

  5. patricia bremner 5

    I think a large number of parents will take their children park and accompany them then return them to school. The protest is at lunch time in Rotorua on the Village Green.

    It surprises me how this is seen as a ‘One off’ This is just the beginning of civil action.
    Next target will be big emitters shakers movers and political groups.

    Watch as these organised youth promise their 18 year franchise to a political group who promise to enact carbon limiting laws, and push for new strategies.

    is the beginning of a political world wide change unlike any other in history.
    It is not only the climate that has changed, it is the perception of wisdom with age.
    We have fed our wants at the expense of their future needs and they have lost trust.

    Those who are throwing ‘wagging’ comments are deliberately playing the age card.
    That won’t wash with such informed youth, and they also understand some might damage their careers through obvious support, so they have approached seniors in the related science fields to speak on the day

    After all we caused this through political choices, so who are we to say yay or nay?
    I hope this is a unifying electrifying moment in Gaia’s history..as we have made her sick, perhaps the concerted actions of the young will improve her health.

    I intend to go to support. I hope others will do the same.

    • Anne 5.1

      I love it. They are the new generation of the 60s and 70s. I hope they look to that generation of young activists for support and advice because as they grow older they’re going to need it. The establishment types – and they’re everywhere – can be ruthless and venal against those who have been pigeon-holed as ‘trouble makers’ – no matter how undeserved.

      Does anyone know if there is a march planned on Auckland’s North Shore?

    • greywarshark 5.2

      Patricia B
      True.
      This is long. If just a few read and offer thoughts they would be good to know.

      I have been thinking how we are not able to grasp the extent of our looming problems and seem to get narrower in our thinking, as at the same time our vista has open up with the ‘globalisation’ dumped on our hapless country with the capitualisation to capitalism with few restraints by personally ambitious Labour subversives and Treasury free-market devotees. We have been detached from the going-together mentality by the ‘ashpirationals’. What’s next for us is going to require some deep thought, and it needs to be across disciplines as they say in universities. And at the heart of getting the deep thought going is education, learning, discussion, workshops, conferences, then talking with the wider public and getting human-sized schemes going. Education at all levels, but particularly for today’s young is the most important thing in our land for their lives. Not just any sort of education though – but of facts and ideas and critical thinking and pragmatic idealism. Either aim above the present mark and think of how we can achieve the necessary plus a bit better, or look at the present and note whether policies still serve us well and formulate new ones that demonstrate to the country they offer new and better outcomes for all.

      I think too – taking the thoughts of education an young people further, that our concept of education has to change dramatically. This morning I heard criticism from Bahlie Huck? who I think introduced NCEA and National Standards (have to check on this to get my facts right) about present Labour Coalition initiated models to change education. Part is to take some control from Boards. About time – that way you get replication of the minds of middle-class accountants and university-educated wives, both rather narrow in their thinking outside their particular interests.

      It is obvious that my cohort’s education did not fit us to manage our lives and understand the likely future changes. We have been fed propaganda about how
      things would be, and so deeply ingrained has that been, that we are quite unprepared for this desolate future that has been devised while we were on our Rip Van Winkle paths.

      A different approach has to be taken from about age 9, based on understanding how they can be an agent in the world and have some choice about their own lives. Learning critical thinking, problem solving, how to run effective meetings so all participate and that good ideas and solutions can flow. Learn how to say why, and then find the reasonable answer. How to assess their own capabilities, and others’; their own tendencies and others.

      They need to learn ‘raw’ management of projects ie using paper and pencil and simple methods, working with a group using all their individual abilities, to think out a plan to make something, as the first part of two. The second is to make the thing, using raw skills ie not 3D printing. Teach people to be self-reliant first, then how to use new technology as well but know the basics and not be deferring to machines and technology all the time. Keeping the superiority of capable, imaginative human beings above that of smart machines – discriminating in favour of people; this is important. At present we are saturated in technology worship and it’s an addiction that is bad for the human race; compare it to alcohol, it is so satisfying, takes your mind away from cold reality, gives empty calories so little real food is eaten, and you get a malnourished lesser version of the once vital person.

      Then after five years of secondary education, the student goes into part-time work, doing apprenticeships, intern work, and back to school for part of the week doing some basic, and some specialised subject. Work and education are integrated. The young person finds out their natural abilities, but does a mix of physical work that is unskilled, some semi-skilled, and some requiring more advanced education. A well-rounded education of different tasks. And the result would be people making better political choices based on the needs of the country, plus their own needs and that of their age cohort, but with experience of others needs and wants, and that of the planet. It is necessary to understand that it is our nurturer not our bottomless treasure chest. It is time for us to grow up, as Mother Nature’s cupboard has bare shelves in it.

      Present education loads kids and parents with costs, among these for expensive uniforms, that have a competitive element to them relating to our school being different from yours and better. The children could dress simply in t-shirts with stick on labels denoting school, instead I was told over $100 for embroidered polo shirts for summer for an ordinary school. Basic shorts, skirts, trousers for cold winters, track pants even to bring practicality instead of fashionable ideas attaching social stigma to uniforms (woollen skirts trailing round girls ankles for the ‘good’ schools, or showing lots of leg with skirts and shorts above the knee for both genders.) Such matters make a difference to identity-finding young people. A set of uniforms, colour co-ordination for smartness and effective design for practicality with mix and match in design for choice. Seems a good idea but historical defiance to change.

      Children have been growing up faster, getting false sophistication and sexualisation, at too young an age as a precocious preparation for adulthood. Then they are denied a pathway to work and individual earning in our society. And this is growing with the use of robotisation, efficiencies and AI and what next? So we are keeping kids in a period of long childhood, denying them skills to make decisions and then a pathway to establishing their own lives, also sufficient security for starting life partnerships with a place to live in together. The young are being cheated. The education system has to stop its process of enabling this and help youngsters to learn how to learn what they need to know, and comprehend the routes to finding truth useful to good decision making. They need to gain confidence in their ability to think around their problems, even just how to recognise them, and know where to go for advice on their options. Parents can help, but in this fast-changing world, it is hard for them to know what to do, and they have to cope with change also.

      • patricia bremner 5.2.1

        Greywarshark, that is a thought provoking read. I think you are right about pen and paper problem solving, though I see the speed of thought of the visual world also. Reflection is not valued enough now.
        The awful events of today have left me feeling flat and more than sad…thanks for your response, a wee bright spot in a sad day.

  6. A 6

    Stuff is running an article about how you can be a millionaire by age 65 if you save $300 a week.

    No comments section so unfortunately no snarky comments to follow. Disappointing because they would have been the most interesting part of the page.

    • Wensleydale 6.1

      I’ve always suspected Stuff do a sort of ‘threat assessment’ before deciding on whether or not to allow comments. I’ve also noticed that comments on particularly controversial stories will on occasion mysteriously vanish into the ether.

    • Rosemary McDonald 7.1

      Isn’t she just what is needed in politics? Pity it seems like she is over it all and inclined to get out.

      • greywarshark 7.1.1

        She can sure get her point across. And speak fluently and understandably (even to the non Scots).

        • Rosemary McDonald 7.1.1.1

          ” And speak fluently and understandably (even to the non Scots).”

          It’s my father’s tongue. A Glasgow lad he was.

      • Sabine 7.1.2

        yes she is. She is very much what is needed.

  7. Dennis Frank 8

    Richard Harman has an update on the climate-change bill on Politik: http://politik.co.nz/en/content/politics/1524/Attack-on-Shaw-unlikely-to-stop-historic-compromise-James-Shaw-Todd-Muller-Zero-Emissions-Bill-Productivity-Commission.htm

    “POLITIK understands there are still some issues to be resolved; the most notable would appear to be the degree of political independence of the Climate Change Commission. It would seem that NZ First and National may be at odds on this.”

    “Though NZ First’s Manifesto seemed to call for an independent Climate Change Commission (which is supported by both Labour and National), it is understood NZ First want Parliament to be the ultimate setter of any climate change targets.”

    “National has a different vision. It sees the Reserve Bank as a model and wants the Climate Change Commission to stand above politics. Privately National MPs will say they want to avoid a situation in the future where the climate change targets could easily get hijacked by a Government dependent on the Greens for survival.”

    An interesting conundrum – I see merit on both sides of this. I trust James will rebound fast and tough it out. His mana as negotiator will depend on how he can finesse such a substantial impasse.

    “Muller remains optimistic that he and Shaw at least, can agree on the final legislation. If they can, it will be an historic achievement to surely rank alongside legislation like the 1993 Electoral Act or the 1988 Reserve Bank Act as an example of Parliament at its best, working on a bipartisan basis on an important piece of legislation.”

  8. Andre 9

    The senate votes 59-41 that there’s no border emergency to justify misappropriating funds to build a wall.

    https://www.vox.com/2019/3/14/18264306/senate-republicans-block-trump-emergency-resolution

    The immediate effect is precisely zero, because Tangerine Twitler will just veto it, and there’s not enough votes in either the House or the Senate for an override. It should be hugely influential when things get to the courts, however. The constitution explicitly says Congress decides how to spend money, the prez doesn’t. And now Congress has very explicitly said no to spending money to build a wall.

    To precisely nobody’s surprise, a number of Repug senators have proven themselves to be all mouth and no spine when it comes to respecting the Constitution and their oaths to protect it. Ted Cruz, Thom Tillis, Ben Sasse are among those notables.

  9. esoteric pineapples 10

    Huey Long is often claimed to be a populist at best and a fascist and corrupt at worst but I find him quite interesting in videos like this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hphgHi6FD8k

    • alwyn 10.1

      Why does that clip remind me of the famous Cunliffe speech in South Auckland?
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz1FLnPgJQw
      Huey was actually quite well spoken when he wasn’t in his full flow of populist rhetoric.
      Pity he was murdered though. Politics in the US might have been very different in 1936 if the Kingfish had still been around.

  10. Andre 11

    Some of many reasons Bernie won’t be prez.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/kfile-bernie-nationalization/index.html

    Seriously, if John Kerry could get successfully swiftboated out of thin air, what kind of smears will get conjured up when there’s actual substantial source material to start with?

  11. Siobhan 12

    More than 220 children abused in Oranga Tamariki care in 2018

    An investigation into abuse in state care has found more than 220 already-damaged children were further harmed in 2018.

    Of the reported abuse, 36 children were sexually harmed, 182 physically harmed, 35 neglected and 83 emotionally harmed by caregivers, family members, other children and Oranga Tamariki staff.

    The majority of the abused were placed with families they had remained with, or returned to, after state intervention; families said to be supported by Oranga Tamariki – Ministry for Children.

    Now lets see how much press attention this gets, or, for that matter, how much traction it gets on NZ Political Blogs.

    Bashing a politician over the head clearly isn’t ‘the New Zealand Way’…but having 220 CHILDREN bashed while under supervision of the State’…???….????….

    • Rosemary McDonald 12.1

      Hiya Siobahn.

      Yes….seemingly this latest report about incidents of abuse of children in state care is a no-go for many. I’m wondering why, as if it was released under a different government some sites would be running hot with ‘it’s all the Natz fault’ comments.

      Again….sigh….the headline will have been read and most shied away as we wouldn’t want it to look like The Current Mob are not doing any better than the last.

      Read the article folks…actually all three as the Herald, Stuff and Natrad covered it…
      the numbers are so high because Oranga Tamariki are using a different data gathering method…”The new findings, the first from Oranga Tamariki’s new reporting system on child harm, were described as “distressing” by chief executive Grainne Moss.”

      With that cleared up….I agree… all that palava because James Shaw was attacked and nothing about this headline is just bloody strange. And saddening.

      Stuff, like the Herald last year has done some decent long form articles about this national shame and has strived to go below the surface and seek information and opinion from a variety of people.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111266757/more-than-220-children-abused-in-oranga-tamariki-care-in-2018

      To address this…we as a nation are going to have to break down the usual tribal lines (political, socio economic, cultural etc) and put aside some of our usual prejudices.

      The last time I wrote here on TS about my family’s experience providing foster care I was told I was ‘part of the problem of abuse in care’. Such is TS, and it’s commitment to encouraging ‘robust debate’.

      Anyhoo…a million years ago as we sat opposite the selection panel after we applied to be foster parents we were asked what we hoped to contribute. Other than the obvious loving, safe, warm family environment stuff, we said we expected that while we were caring for the children (many, many children) CYFs would be supporting the parent(s) to make the necessary improvements in their lives so they can safely have their children returned.

      Naive. Much?

      IMO. Substance abuse would be the first on the list of contributing factors. Kiwis drink too much. Period. And many folk get seriously nasty when they’re pissed. The day that drinking (and using chemicals to get off ones face in general) is treated as socially unacceptable as smoking tobacco we will see a marked improvement in the lives of, well, all of us.

      • Siobhan 12.1.1

        greetings Rosemary,
        We too were foster parents for a number of years and I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest even with cross over of these stats and differing methodology, these numbers are way too low.

        Interesting to read your comment “CYFs would be supporting the parent(s) to make the necessary improvements in their lives so they can safely have their children returned.”..that stuff used to drive me nuts..especially when one of our foster kids mothers became a supposed ‘success’ story…while her kid, who was in care their whole life, was left to wander around, a total lost soul, once they turned 17. Like we said to the case worker..”You’ve had 17 years to prepare for this, how can there be literally NO PLAN in place.”.

        And, and I know this is a controversial topic, but I have met people who foster for the money. Which some people find ridiculous, because the allowances are not enough to cover proper care, but for some folk the cost of a child is negligible, it really is a money making venture.

        And the fact is the social workers can’t ‘afford’ to see the bad motives of some FP because there are simply no other options…a roof over the head is better than sleeping under a bridge…that’s about the state of things in ‘Gods Own’.

        • Rosemary McDonald 12.1.1.1

          Sadly, I doubt there is a cyfs horror story I either hadn’t experienced first hand, or heard first hand from someone else.

          You see to me…”success” would equate to having got your shit together enough so your child can return to your care…where that child almost invariably desires to be, however happy that child is with the foster parents.

          Don’t they know at cyfs that these kids grow up not understanding why they were not worth the effort?

          And yes. We encountered a few foster parents who somehow managed to do very well financially out of the system. We barely made ends meet…and we’re seriously good budgeters and smell of an oily rag types. Every dollar went to the care of the child/children. Some folk are much more adept at extracting $$$ from the system.

          We had the same expectations of, and most importantly for our foster children as we did for our own. More than once we were told by some ink-still-wet -on -their-degree childless social worker that this was unreasonable.

          • WeTheBleeple 12.1.1.1.1

            Shane

            He was 14 and he slept
            Curled up in our dog kennel
            Under an old cooking apple tree
            That had seen

            It was better, he said
            than the last foster care
            and the one before that
            and back through the years

            He had the prettiest longest eyelashes
            This side of the Caribbean
            and he
            Won hearts and minds
            and he
            Broke them again

            The prize, he said, is Doctor’s bags
            Chemists shelves
            And surgery swag
            As he lit out from his captors
            Once more

            He was caught then escaped
            Till too aged for such japes
            Then they took him to Waikeria
            To grow old.

    • greywarshark 12.2

      I fear that this is a statistic that is all-embracing, which is probably an activity which in turn would be part of the statistic.

      Does it include every sharp word spoken, or any time someone has touched one of the children? Where is the love in society?

      I remember the case of an anally-retentive teacher at a school camp treating a naughty boy as if he was an advanced pervert. He had dropped his trousers and mooned at some girls. She hustled him away, shut him in a hut on his own, and personally drove him back to his home in disgrace. And he would have been labelled for ever no doubt, certainly at his schools.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXAI51SnKaU

      The tight lipped mouths of the middle class improvers with their desire for ‘naice’ behaviour and ‘compliance’ with rules that other middle class women and men have written
      ensure that there will be a cycle of ever-tightening regulations to be broken. The more the stats, the more money they can demand, and the worse the situation appears.
      We know that bad things happen in some families. Having some officious official find you out for something and put a bad mark against you just makes people’s lives hell. Especially with the targets set under neolib welfare which are uncompromising and often inhuman.

      The middle class can neglect their children and give them little love and kind guidance, but look good from the outside. They may send their kids to boarding school at a fairly early age. They find time for their kids in school holidays and the children don’t know what normal family life is like. But appearances matter; they give brownie points. There are a number of UK authors who spent a considerable amount of time at boarding schools; their characters developed or were squeezed into odd shapes as a result. Robert Morley said about his old school, which asked him a number of times to visit, that the only reason to return would be to set it on fire.

      Yet another author who spent a considerable time at a UK orphanage which ruled with a long rein, Leslie Thomas, used to run away occasionally. Then when he was tired and hungry, he would go to the nearest police station and they would give him a jam butty and a cup of tea and take him home. He would receive a lecture and settle back into the institutional life again. He grew into a man with a sensitive nature, a sense of humour, a work ethic and wrote many popular novels.

      Helping kids, and their parents with options that they could choose from so as to finding some satisfaction in their lives and controlling their faulty behaviour would be a change of direction for these ‘welfare’ agencies. Probably now the recipients regard the officials as the enemy and their work just adds to the difficulties that parents face. Celia Lashlie had some ideas and was succeeding in helping people break through their familiar behaviours that cycled into violence and in the documentary made, as she knew she was dying she had tears in her eyes that she couldn’t stay on earth and keep on the good work that had promised so much. She castigated herself for not looking after her health as she advanced her project. What a great person. Anyone who is upset at the
      Oranga Tamiriki statistics, all of which need caring attention, and some are pitifully serious and not getting the full attention needed, could carry on Celia’s work.

      Celia’s Army – Be part of the change.
      (https://celiasarmy.nz/

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpfQXqZZS4E

      (https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/105573733/new-film-captures-the-legacy-and-final-days-of-social-justice-campaigner-celia-lashlie

      Lashlie’s cure to end cycle of crime
      28 Aug, 2010 9:29am
      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10669480

      Where is the Love? Was it just a lie?
      (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcHPNUN-U8E

      • gsays 12.2.1

        Celia gets 5 stars from me, the courage shown by Ms Lashlie, both in archive footage, her actions in and and out of the prison system and in the interviews leading up to her death is inspirational.

        A true kiwi hero.

      • Rosemary McDonald 12.2.2

        I just read the Herald article you linked to GWS….

        “She wants to crack open the apathy of the average person who has no idea what really goes on, and because she believes we are in the mess we’re in because we are training people to disassociate from emotion.

        From prison officers to social workers, people are told to work by the book and to leave their heart, soul and intuition at home, she thinks.

        Sure, the book is grim reading, she says, and of course there are extraordinary people out there doing extraordinary things.

        But she is “over ” the superficial debate and she is “over” CYF acting like bullies.

        She is critical of the Government’s new push for the faster permanent placement of children, which will leave in its wake, for some, a burning anger and resentment and a pathway to prison. ”

        I was wondering why I had not read that before as it is something I would have most definitely remembered. Hmmm… August 2010 my partner hospitalised as he battled leukaemia.

        Thanks for posting that link. Now…must try to buy that book…

        • greywarshark 12.2.2.1

          I was thinking about you this morning Rosemary. Hoping you are going well.

  12. Gosman 13

    Don’t want to blow my own trumpet (Oh alright, yes I do :-)) but I did call the Brexit Article 50 extension weeks ago.

    • Wensleydale 13.1

      Give yourself a pat on the head, Gossie. And a chocolate fish. It’s a genuine tragedy that your talent continues to go unrecognised by the unenlightened peasantry. As an ignorant prole myself, I feel naught but overwhelming shame. We can only aspire to one day scale similar heights of greatness.

      • Sam 13.1.1

        Gooie can have rat burgers to share with his rodent friends while they say to each other isn’t this better than crashing out of the EU in 2019.

        The rules are by definition 100% certain. However the EU outcome is also 100% certain. See every country in the EU now even Germany. They’re Economically fucked! Don’t fall for the EU propaganda and Remain narrative. Gooies idiocy = Your Demise. Good Luck!

    • left_forward 13.2

      O mighty Gos, your powers of prediction are f’king amazing! Like Wensley oracle, I prostrate myself before ye.
      [Apologies Wensley if that was not prostration].

    • Andre 13.3

      I am not worthy to roll in your spittle.

  13. greywarshark 14

    Chris Trotter is asking how NZ is getting on with its international relations comparing Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern.

    It was an insight which propelled Clark towards the “realist” school of international relations pioneered by Hans Morgenthau. At the heart of Morgenthau’s realism was his belief that the relationships between countries should be guided by an assessment of the power each is able to bring to the task of advancing and defending their national interests. Ethical considerations are not irrelevant to this sort of calculation, but neither are they pivotal. In Morgenthau’s opinion: “A good foreign policy minimizes risks and maximizes benefits.”

    Clark’s realism proved highly effective in advancing New Zealand’s national interest. She earned the respect of four-fifths of humanity by declining to join in the USA’s illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003. More impressively, she persuaded the Chinese to put their trust in New Zealand, and thus became the first western leader to negotiate a free trade agreement with the People’s Republic….

    This is a long way from Morgenthau’s realism. Absent from New Zealand’s current foreign policy is the constant and careful calculation of precisely how much diplomatic power is available to us at any given moment for the advancement of our national interest.

    I hadn’t heard about Hans Morgenthau. 1.31
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsfh7OOZM9c

    Structural Realism – International Relations 9m+
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXllDh6rD18

    Morgenthau’s life. 4m+
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnF7Ro_HI0
    An interesting man.
    Armenians and Turks – still sensitive today.
    Fraud breaker.

    Father of International Realism
    This graphically explains the man and his thoughts. 4m+
    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00jNQB39-0I

    • Cinny 14.1

      Grey, OT…

      Thanks for the post about the Living Wood Fair over in Golden Bay the other day, I heard back from the local paper today and the reporter there is going to do a piece on it 🙂

      Will post the link etc when it’s published.

      • greywarshark 14.1.1

        Beaut Cinny
        That’s good hive-minding or whatever.

      • Robert Guyton 14.1.2

        I’m looking forward to that article also, Cinny. I read all I could about the Living Wood Fair and am inspired to do something along those lines down here in Riverton next year. We have already a good resource with our forest garden venue, yurts and tipi, cob-oven, coppiced hazel and chestnut and lots of other “woodlander” stuff. I’m presently building a “hobbit hole”, shingled-roof in the form of a wizard’s hat, adobe floor and plan to wattle and daub the walls. Activities like those would interest folk who yearn to live in or near living trees, Imo.

      • marty mars 14.1.3

        Come over for it – awesome event. And you never know who you’ll meet 😊

    • Gabby 14.2

      So Helen bought a ‘first woman’ badge by selling out NZ. Bargain.

  14. Andre 15

    The Barbecued BLOTUS is now openly threatening violence on political opponents if things don’t go his way.

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/03/trump-tough-people-military-police-bikers.html?via=homepage_taps_top

    • alwyn 15.1

      On the other hand, and much to my surprise, the lower paid people in the USA appear to be doing better with Trump in charge. Incomes are picking up and the higher increases are in the lower income groups.

      This is an extract from a newsletter I get from Roy Morgan each day. The original article was in the AFR which is pay walled so there is no point in providing the link.
      If you do have access you can find it there.

      “Roy Morgan Summary
      Goldman Sachs estimates that growth in wages across the US economy is currently around 3.4 per cent, and 4.4 per cent in sectors with low wages. The investment bank’s research also shows that wages for workers in the bottom 50 per cent of the US wage distribution is rising by around four per cent a year, compared with about two per cent for those in the top half. The higher growth in low-income wages gained pace from mid-2018, in the wake of the Trump administration’s company tax cuts package”

      So we have the lowest group up by 4.4%
      The bottom half up by 4%
      The top half up by 2%
      Overall the average is up by 3.4%
      The increases have picked up since the tax cut in mid-2018.

      Well. Who would have thought it?

      • Andre 15.1.1

        So the Tantrump hasn’t yet broken the Obama recovery. How does that relate to the problem that he’s just seriously trashed the democracy norm that threatening violence on political opponents is simply unacceptable?

      • greywarshark 15.1.2

        If they have less lower cost imports coming into the country and citizens have turned to buying USA manufactured stuff, and that includes some manufacturing outlets on islands that are included in USA overlordship, maybe that’s why they are better off. Simple economics would then cause a rise in demand for workers and willingness to pay some more. Good for the USA. Do they agree with other countries having the same opportunity within their borders?

  15. greywarshark 16

    Economics as we’ve got them shoved up our noses and /or other orifices. We have in the backs of our minds TIAA.

  16. greywarshark 17

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

    Kate is the author of Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist which sketches out a regenerative, circular economic model that, she says “meets the needs of all within the means of the planet”.

    Kate Raworth will be in New Zealand in May, in conversation with Rod Oram speaking about Doughnut Economics at 7pm on Monday May 13th, opening the Auckland Writers Festival.

    This woman is good looking and a great thinker and seems a consummate leader in the making. She might be able to lead us to a different watering hole, and get our leaders to drink there, instead of the usual clustering place where they all get tanked up on their shitty misleading mechanical methods that they are so stoked up with.
    And that leave us floundering, but that is the triumph of the individual over the masses.

  17. Andre 18

    😆

    I know most people are humour-exhausted about the least-self-aware most-projectionist buffoon ever, but trust me, this one’s still good for a smile …

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-beto-orourke-hand-insult-twitter_n_5c8ad1ebe4b0d7f6b0f13cf0

  18. Poission 19

    Breaking news shots fired at mosque in chch.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111313238/evolving-situation-in-christchurch

    Beware the ides of march.

  19. mosa 20

    Can’t pick up my friends son from school as it is all locked down.
    https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384790/shots-fired-at-mosque-in-central-christchurch

  20. mpledger 21

    Saw this on a blog about the college cheating scandal.

    Admissions Scandal: When Entitlement Buys Acceptance

    Overriding all this is the research showing that wealth and power corrode people’s moral compasses. Many studies show that the privileged act less ethically than the rest of us. They get their way in so many areas of life, they begin to feel that it is their due. Studies show that people driving expensive cars are less likely to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks than people driving less expensive cars. Rich people are less empathetic and compassionate toward people in distress. They are less adept at recognizing others’ emotions. If told that they may help themselves to candy in a bowl, but whatever is left over will be given to children, the wealthy will take more than others. They are more likely to endorse greed as good, to cheat in order to win a contest, and to negotiate unethically. People who are powerful are more likely to make moral decisions based on rights and self-interest rather than broader concepts like duties and obligations, caring and purity. Some studies show that children of wealthy people tend to be like their parents; whether they are in kindergarten or college, they tend to be more selfish than their peers.
    https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/admissions-scandal-when-entitlement-buys-acceptance

  21. Stunned Mullet 22

    Did you take special lessons in how to come across as a complete cunt or does it come naturally ?

    [lprent: Don’t be a completely ridiculous fuckwit.

    There are quite a lot of activists that I know who have been under surveillance, arrested, infiltrated by police for no particularly obvious reason bearing in mind that most of their activities were legal and the others were arguably in the public interest. In particular my niece.

    As far as anyone could tell, the real organised nutters seldom get that type of attention. If you have any evidence to the contrary then bring it up. Otherwise this looks to me to be simple diversion. Sending to OpenMike ]

    [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.]

    • Stuart Munro. 22.1

      Decades of surveillance of harmless folk like Keith Locke make people cynical.

      • Stunned Mullet 22.1.1

        I am sickened by those who carry out such attacks. I am also sickened by those who take the opportunity for a smart assed quip.

        Make no mistake. This is a black day for this country.

        • Jilly Bee 22.1.1.1

          Talking about smart assed quips – have you had a look at Kiwiblog Stunned Mullet, I was almost tempted to log on so I could comment, but thought the better of it. I thought Sanctuary’s comment was rather pertinent.

          • Stunned Mullet 22.1.1.1.1

            Yes I saw this at Kiwiblog…

            ‘David Farrar
            This is a time for kindness and humanity. Few people in NZ will not be shaken by this. Let’s support each other and remember that our common humanity is far stronger than our differences.

            If we want to make a difference today, do it with kindness.’

            and this

            ‘Simon
            Fucking terrible. Looks like the worst day in NZ since Aramoana. Maybe worse.

            Hopefully the Police here in Auckland patrol the Mosques in solidarity.’

            • Sam 22.1.1.1.1.1

              The concerns of other online message boards do not concern us.

            • In Vino 22.1.1.1.1.2

              I am inclined to agree with Jilly Bee. Who is a troll like Stunned Mullet to assume a bullying attitude and think he should set the tone? I found Sanctuary’s remark quite pertinent, and disagree with SM.

            • greywarshark 22.1.1.1.1.3

              If you were truly sensitive Stunned Mullet you wouldn’t use the c word.

        • Stuart Munro. 22.1.1.2

          I thought Sanctuary was pretty much on the mark.

          This appears to be a coordinated attack, so the random nut defense doesn’t quite work this time.

  22. Roflcopter 23

    It took 4 posts … must be a new record.

    [lprent: Banned for 2 weeks for stupid flamewar diversion. That was a completely legitimate comment. ]

    [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.]

  23. Muttonbird 24

    I wonder if Jordan Williams of the Tax Dodger’s Union is going to blame the left for this like he did after the attack on James Shaw.

    [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.]

  24. greywarshark 25

    Woman in hospital recovering from surgery who had protection order out against man, raped as she prepared to have a shower. Apparently women have to decide early whether to have anything to do with a certain man because once you are in his sights you can never be free again. And you have to prove you don’t want to have sex even when you are in a hospital bathroom. Then the law happily keeps letting the bugger out of prison to continue the harassment and attacks. It’s a life sentence for some victims.

    Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie said the defendant had a history of assaulting females.
    ‘‘[His criminal history] indicates a consistently violent approach towards women.’’

    Counsel Sonia Vidal said his previous convictions should not be considered and there was ‘‘no additional violence associated to the intercourse’’.

    Judge Callaghan said there could be no ambiguity over the issue of consent.
    ‘‘She said very clearly ‘no’ for him during all intercourse.’’
    The judge sentenced him to eight years and one month and issued him with a warning under the three-strikes legislation.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/southland/man-jailed-raping-woman-hospital

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    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
    Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024  Acknowledgements and opening  Morena, Nga Mihi Nui.  Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau  Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
    The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee.  “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
    Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today.  “The Amendment Paper represents ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
    Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
    Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
    The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Trustee tax change welcomed
    Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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