Yes! Maybe time to go fill up the car today. Good move by Labour reducing the petrol tax. We all know they hate reducing any tax, but it was really needed. I just hope that in a few weeks time the price hasn't risen more than the temporary 25c reduction.
Public transport move unexpected but also a great move. Hopefully encourage more to use.
Last year the Government unveiled its proposals and invited the public to have its say, including creating a new criminal offence with harsher penalties and protections for more minority groups.
Faafoi had planned to introduce the laws to Parliament early this year but told Newshub this had been delayed. He said much care needed to be taken because "we also don't want to inflame the very issue that we are trying to fix here".
Foon said he had written to all the ministers involved, with mixed responses and only some replying. "If I, as a Commissioner tasked with following up these matters, cannot get a response, what hope is there for our concerned communities?"
There's always hope. They ought to keep hoping for the best. For the govt it's just a matter of being engaged with higher priorities. Foon knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease so he squeaks loudly. Trouble is he's drowned out by louder squawks.
There's an immense design problem with legislative change. It consists of an elephant in the room that law reformers don't want to look at: the lack of prosecutions under the current law. The media has amply reported that hate speech is already illegal – what part of this don't these people understand??
You can't reasonably expect govt & public service lawyers to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Complainants ought to get real. Launch their own prosecutions against hate speech using the law designed for that purpose. This ain't rocket science. And really, why can't Foon figure it out? I would have thought he's the ideal person to be leading any prosecution on behalf of targeted ethnicities.
Robert Habeck is a novelist, philosopher, and the German equivalent of our minister of finance:
After the Greens agreed to form a traffic light coalition government with the centre-left Social Democrats and liberal Free Democrats, new Chancellor Olaf Scholz named Habeck as Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Vice Chancellor in December 2021, making him one of the most powerful politicians in Europe.
And he's part of the hinge between Germany and Russia now.
In an interview reflecting the moral pressure Germany is under to do more, the country’s Green economics minister, Robert Habeck, admitted Europe in the past had fed Ukraine false promises, but said Germany could not afford “the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs” that a full energy embargo would require. He said Germany at best could be freed of Russian coal by the autumn, of its oil by the end of the year, but could set no date for ending German reliance on gas.
The impasse is leaving senior allies of Zelenskiy feeling frustrated, and appealing to the UK and the US to use the G7 to try to persuade the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to sign up to a western timetable to end dependence on Russian energy.
The frustration with the German position is such that Zelenskiy is willing to turn to one of Scholz’s predecessors, Gerhard Schröder, to act as a mediator with Putin. The former chancellor has accepted the role, possibly to salvage something from the ruins of his reputation, and reportedly had talks with Putin last week.
However another dictator is poised to rescue the west:
In a game of geopolitical chess with Russia, Biden is already working to find alternative oil supplies. For now he is trying to fill the shortfall through drawing on the US reserves, oil from Venezuela, the world largest oil producer, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
White House officials were in Caracas for the first such talks in 20 years. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro government has signalled its willingness to cooperate with the White House by releasing two political prisoners in a goodwill gesture. Venezuela’s oil output could rise by at least 400,000 bpd, the country’s petroleum chamber said on Friday.
All hail the saviour! Biden ought to invite Maduro to the White House & host him with a military parade of goose-steppers. Dictators love that stuff!
Benefits rates also increase as the second part of the increases announced last year come into force – I think my supported living allowance goes up $23 per week on 1 April
Yes, the 23 NZD that is the last payment to finally pay the increase that the WEAG demanded in 2019.
All benefit rates will increase by $20 a week from 1 July this year. A second increase will occur on 1 April next year that will see main benefits lifted in line with a key WEAG recommendation. Families and whānau with children will also receive a further $15 per adult per week.20/05/2021
again, this too is nice, but a few years late and now several tens of dollars short. And considering that it will be tacked on the main benefit, fringe benefits will be reduced accordingly to make up for the windfall and chances are benefits are still no better off, in fact my be worse of.
But an effort has been made, and i really hope that this will be enough for a while to make your life a bit easier.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
Starting in Arpil for three month. It is nice, but again, its neither here nor there, just a wee little temporary relieve. By then the 25cnts discount on the tax on gasoline will be nill and voided.
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
nothing for families on the benefit?
1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
all of these 'increases' are nice, but too little very much too late, an in fact will do nothing much to change anything, same as te min wage increase last year did not do much, nor the one the year before. Why?
Because there is no way any government can increase the Min Wage / Benefits / Super enough to make inflation go away, in fact it feeds into inflation, and people still are a few hundred dollar short for food and essentials after paying rent.
What is missing on your list are the important things.
rent control
proper tax reform, revisiting of tax brackets.
affordable housing for people who are on a fixed to low income
affordable food
affordable long term public transport so as to build a proper alternative to private transport.
But, another layer of sugar was applied to the stale cake of 'Non reform' and some like a good sugar rush, never mind the headache afterwards.
The point is that without meaningful reform you can increase the benefits every other month and htey would still not hold up. Case in point hte first 25 NZD i ncrease came curtesy of National, and that too did fuck all.
Public transport is not used because it is too expensive and always was. I am a public transport user as i never owned a car in NZ. I used to live close to work and walk as that was cheaper then running a car and spending x amount of hours in traffic.
The half price announcement is good, but made bad by not starting immediately and then only for three month. That is just pretending to do something, that's not even a band aid.
The budget……lol. Mind there is another poll to come for sure, and that too will reflect the compassionated and considerate movements of this government, it will move compassionately and considerably down. 27.8% is the low of Cunliffe, Little would have been even lower, so lets wait and see. Shall we?
Can you please list the houses build, vs houses sold and houses demolished. Please, that would be nice if you could actually provide proof for that point.
Re Housing, the biggest need currently is getting our population into affordable and suitable housing; and social housing needs continue to grow. THe scale of need is such that I believe we need to go back to something like the State Advances Corporation system – issuing loans at say 0.5% above government stock rates, requiring payments of a percentage of earnings which remains fixed for say 20 years, for up to 90% of the cost of a dwelling. Someone is currently paying the $6 billion that banks made last year – perhaps some of that can be reduced by removing difficult clients from seeking bank loans . . .
The delay is probably to allow systems to change fares and test changes,
Technology sometimes slows change.
(Was watching a documentary of London Underground where they had a (temporary) mechanical scheduing system instlled just after the second world war. It was the most reliable part of the whole, even in the early 2000's)
I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. I love public transport as i positively hate driving and owning a car. Eww. Literally. Trams, busses, shuttles, le chemin de fer, trains, and bicycles, are my mode of transportation of choice. Cars are something that i rent when i can't have the other stuff.
This is the first time they even contemplate it. So i guess i am applauding 'baby steps', while shaking my head at the temprorarinessness of it all.
Public transport fees need to be looked at, honestly and with affordability in mind, and we are not doing that. And if changing the software is in the too hard basket, the Government could include a tax rebate for those that use it to go to work and ship their kids to school. At the end of the year via the tax return. Maybe that is easier. After all, to some extend it is a business expense for workers and families.
Edit: And doing it right now does not seem a concentrated push to make public transport more attractive and affordable but just a wee things to shut up noises about high cost of living and being perceived at doing something. Polls and such demand actions, not foresight and anticipation of stuff happening, but polls that trend the wrong way.
"I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. "
Me, too. I am cynical about this scheme, because it seems an easy move with little cost, and limited benefit.
I also believe that public transport in Auckland needs to be improved in terms of getting better service and security, particularly in the outer regions. My family did use public transport to get into Auckland for tertiary study (pre Covid) and the cost was high, and the reliability and service mediocre.
I'm guessing they are still working on the 2022 budget and will need time to adjust things for a longer term change. In the meantime, we have three months to see what the uptake of PT is, and to lobby for making it permanent. This is how change through parliament can work well.
Greater Auckland use their influence to argue against free public transport, never once considering how much relief it will possibly give to some of the financially distressed households in Auckland.
As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to raise lower incomes, we need to also design strong policies and strategies to reduce essential costs: housing, transport, food and utilities.
I attended a few transport public lectures back in the day, with Matt L as a guest speaker. He was consistently dismissive of the topic when it was brought up.
Given that I come from a perspective that many Auckland households are struggling financially, I never heard that addressed either in person or on their blog posts, which are really well structured in terms of identifying points, which they then dismantle or discuss. However, that also often limits discussion to just those points.
Today's post seems fairly neutral, but public transport has declined – as you would expect – since the pandemic, and public transport is always championed on GA.
There are considerable improvements that could be made in terms of service and security though, especially in the farther reaches of Auckland. So, although I would support free public transport, it must be accompanied with addressing regional inequity in terms of access and quality of service.
I posted the search link because I understand I read their posts through a particular lens, and others may see it differently.
Increases (above and beyond the normal inflation adjustment) to all benefits from 1 April 2022 were announced in the 2021 budget.
While increases to the MW are inflationary, they still result on those on the MW being better off … unless rent increases (constrained by a limit to one increase a year). Landlords increase rents based on the wider market, and or knowledge of the tenants income.
Not uncommon around the world. The legacy of rivers being used for transport and ports. New Orleans is a classic example, and man's wrestling to control the Mississippi catchment is a fascinating story.
Just saw a photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy on the front lines of Odesa. We live in interesting times when 73 year old French philosophers go into bat for the defense of freedom!
Marina Ovsyannikova ran on to the set of the Channel One transmission shouting: ‘Stop the war. No to war’
An employee on Russia’s state Channel One television has interrupted the channel’s main news programme with an extraordinary protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One, burst on to the set of the live broadcast of the nightly news on Monday evening, shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.”
She also held a sign saying: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.” It was signed in English: “Russians against the war”.
The news anchor continued to read from her teleprompter speaking louder in an attempt to drown out Ovsyannikova, but her protest could be seen and heard for several seconds before the channel switched to a record segment.
Resilience tech can be viable with a simple design:
Since Energy Vault established its successful prototype in Switzerland in 2020, the company has pivoted from the tower model design, which could reach up to 200 meters in height, to 20-story modular buildings it calls "Energy Vault Resiliency Centers."
Bricks will move up and down inside the building on trolleys, controlled by an artificial intelligence system that identifies optimal times for charging or discharging energy, depending on supply and demand.
The centers will vary in footprint, possibly covering between 1.5 and 20 acres depending on the storage capacity, he adds. But they are likely to be installed in places where space isn't an issue, such as near existing wind or solar plants.
In February, Energy Vault listed on the New York stock exchange, raising approximately $235 million. It recently announced that actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio had joined the company's strategic advisory board.
This year, Energy Vault will start building resiliency centers for DG fuels, which wants a continuous supply of renewable energy to create green hydrogen fuel for the aviation industry. It has also signed deals worth up to $880 million with companies including Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, metal smelting company Korea Zinc, and mining giant BHP. With this backing, Piconi is confident Energy Vault can help to accelerate the energy transition.
So far, customers have signed up to projects that equate to 2.5 gigawatt hours of energy storage — a significant addition to the 17 gigawatt hours of battery storage that Wood Mackenzie estimates is currently in operation in the US.
Interesting. I liked the UK one using old mine shafts, but can see how that would be limited. Might still be useful though.
But a large open cast pit might be the go for a bigger one – difficult to complain about sightlines if it's at or just below ground level. And give it a roof with solar panels for generation as well as storage.
A Supreme Court spokesperson said that senior judges had refused Assange’s bid to challenge the decision as his case did not raise “an arguable point of law”.
The ruling appears to exhaust Assange’s legal avenues in the UK to avoid extradition, however he could still seek to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Western media and opinion makers detailing censorship in Russia, should perhaps devote 10% of their column inches and screen time to accurately reporting and analysing this situation.
And last night TVNZ repeated the lie that a Russian tank had crushed a civilian car in Kiev, as if it was breaking news
They first aired that , our own TVNZ, on the 26th , 2 days into the invasion when no tanks were anywhere near the inner streets of Kiev , but the footage had been circulated on social media, and TVNZ picked it up from whatever scumbag news aggregate they subscribe to.
That is actually a bonus for Assange – If they had agreed to hear it they would eventually have declined the application while another year or so went by of him being imprisoned . This way he will hopefully have a chance in a fairer Court.
The survivor who was shot 9 times and is completing his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch today got good coverage on TV1 Breakfast TV show. He was exceptionally dignified.
Will you lead the charge against the odious Trump man Peter Thiel please, or perhaps James Cameron ,Graeme Hart, or Richard Chandler who made his fortune at the expense of the Russian people?
The 2.5 million refugees (and climbing) need some place to live! So thoughtful of the benefactors of their counties aggressor to prearrange accommodation for them. 🙂
One would have thought that after investing so much of yourself into the debunked Trump/Putin conspiracy theory, only to be humiliated right out in public for that unquestioning support, that you might be even just a tiny little more circumspect going forward…but nope, I guess that critical thinking, historical context or any type of nuance at all just isn't your bag…but to be fair, again you are far from being alone in your unquestioning enthusiasm to march in step yet again.
I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked. But outside your small coterie of Putin dupes there has been a shift away from treating Putin like a modern liberal, and a return to seeing him as a recrudescent Stalinist.
Steele, who you were at pains to rubbish, has proven to have been a rather reliable source, and is much in demand for his expertise. Here he is addressing the Oxford Union.
"I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked"…..yeah I know that some of you have committed yourselves so fully into, and therefore internalized so deeply into yourselves that cult of stuff and nonsense, that you could never turn back….well not without some sort of professional help anyway.
@Molly, "while trying to understand how we got to this point."…I agree completely, unfortunately our friends Munro, Macro, Frank etc have shown no interest in the history, murky origins and devious Geo-Political machinations that underlay this tragic war….though to be fair they only reflect most of the worlds media own lack of interest, and as they only ever regurgitate what they are told too, and have been doing so for years, why should anyone expect anything else from this lot? monkey see, monkey do I guess.
I don't believe I have witnessed even one of them have an original thought cross from one side of their cranium to the other in matters of geo politics in the entire time I have been on The Standard.
The matter in dispute between the Putin dupes and I, is the acceptability of repeating propaganda uncritically. The most aggressive Putin trolls on this site, routinely attack any occurrence the western press dare to report, as well as the ones that maintain the highest standards themselves, like Reuters. This process is designed to create a false equivalence – if all media lie, propaganda is suddenly on an equal footing with fact based journalism.
Understanding how we got to this point is not complex – with the collapse of the Soviet Union, western powers assumed the cold war was over – and it was, briefly, under Gorbachev. Once the old party cadres regained power however, they immediately turned isolationist, and the cold war resumed – while the West naively extended trade and friendship to the Stalinist Putin.
You will never see anything verifiable or explicatory from the wretched refuse of Putin's NZ propaganda team – their game is a spoiling game – dividing and confusing responses to allow Putin to get away with his atrocities. They have no friends in eastern Europe to use as touchstones for the veracity of the fake news sites they prefer, and though long on insults, they make unsupported and indeed unsupportable assertions about every fact that crops up. They have nothing that will increase our understanding of the causes or possible end points of the conflict – They are noise, not signal.
Or, make your own contact with expat Russian journalists – a surprising number have been obliged to flee, and they will give Putin’s propagandists short shrift.
The report concludes that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".[4][5][6]Investigators had an incomplete picture of what happened due in part to some communications that were encrypted, deleted, or not saved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete, or declined.[7][8][9] However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion"[10][11][12] but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts.[13][14][15] It also identifies links between Trump campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government,[16] about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations.[4] Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American".[17]
my bold
It's all well and good to focus purely on the first statement in that summary – as did Trump, his Repugnant supporters, Faux news, and of course the Russian propogandists, but there was ample circumstantial evidence to show that there was significant interference by Russian "influencers" in Facebook and other social media to attack, and upset, the democratic process and a fair vote, not just for the wealthy, but for all.
As of October 2019, around 15,000 Facebook pages with a majority US audience were being run out of Kosovo and Macedonia, known bad actors during the 2016 election.
Collectively, those troll-farm pages—which the report treats as a single page for comparison purposes—reached 140 million US users monthly and 360 million global users weekly. Walmart’s page reached the second-largest US audience at 100 million.
The troll farm pages also combined to form:
the largest Christian American page on Facebook, 20 times larger than the next largest—reaching 75 million US users monthly, 95% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the largest African-American page on Facebook, three times larger than the next largest—reaching 30 million US users monthly, 85% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the second-largest Native American page on Facebook, reaching 400,000 users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the fifth-largest women’s page on Facebook, reaching 60 million US users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
Troll farms primarily affect the US but also target the UK, Australia, India, and Central and South American countries.
Facebook has conducted multiple studies confirming that content more likely to receive user engagement (likes, comments, and shares) is more likely of a type known to be bad. Still, the company has continued to rank content in user’s newsfeeds according to what will receive the highest engagement.
Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code — the essential rating needed to enter the city’s shops, offices and public transport — was gone.
In a scene being repeated across the Chinese capital, a pop-up window now warned the app could no longer ascertain her coronavirus risk status.
[…]
Yu was one of thousands who showed up to Beijing workplaces or shopping malls this week only to find they were barred entry due to their health code status, as already-strict virus controls were ramped up ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Overnight, the city had quietly rolled out a new rule requiring everyone who had bought medication for anything that might be a Covid symptom — including fever, cough and throat dryness — to take a virus test before their health app status could be restored to green.
It seems even well educated people with good, well paying jobs just don’t fucking get it.
My SO's filthy that after all the planning and effort that went into systems to avoid incidents and maintain continuity, a halfwit knowingly exposed to a positive case on the job during the weekend turned up to work yesterday and swanned around un-masked.
A big loss for National. I would suggest Jacinda thinks about doing likewise, if she wants to set herself up overseas before the possibility of WW3 starting.
Well some say that the speechifying at Harvard is the PM going to Job interviews. WW3 started the day, WW2 ended it was called the Cold War. Which we have now started in earnest and with actual bullets and as always the little people do the dying, and the rich suits do the grand standing.
Mind, if we survive this war will we finally build a monument to the unknown Mother and child.
(Mother – adult human female having given birth to a child)
Great article in the Herald today about 3 waters by Shane Jones. Sorry behind a paywall.
At last the mainstream media are allowing a sensible rebuttal to the co-governance issue this government have tried to deceptively sneak in. I suspect the co-governance debacle will quietly disappear.
Recent publicity hinted at something unusual going on at the guy's school. The principal, said to be on leave, was a would be National election candidate. That he was beaten by Matt King might say something.
The logo for the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s (PM&C) “Women’s Network” has been taken down, after it was mocked on social media for its phallic appearance.
Rather than draw focus to the purpose of the Network – which, according to a description, ”promotes gender equality and supports members to succeed in their personal professional lives” – the logo ignited controversy when it was shared to Twitter on Sunday.
Many at first assumed the logo was a fake because of its overt resemblance to male genitalia, while others were furious that it detracted from the actual purpose of the Network.
I'm pleased there was some sort of explanation of what the objection was. Graphic design and logos are something I've been involved in.
I briefly glimpsed the article, saw there was controversy and looked at the graphic without reading any of the text and seeing the words 'phallic' and 'male genitalia.' My first thought was about symbolic breasts and that depicting women through that was the issue.
What would please me would be hearing that a woman was responsible for the design and it was approved by a team with female leadership.
Green Party co-leaders say they reported MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere to health authorities after they discovered she had breached pandemic restrictions.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Kerekere said she had travelled from her home in Tairāwhiti to Wellington by plane despite being a household contact of a Covid-infected person. She had been at Parliament yesterday.
Today she resigned from her Covid-19 Response portfolio, and would not hold the Health portfolio nor sit on the Health Select Committee until further notice.
Deliberately withholding life saving medical attention from someone who needs it is a crime.
It looks likely that the person who died at the Peka Peka farm anti-mandate camp, was infected with Covid-19. The death is being investigated by the coroner. Whether this person's covid infection was the cause of their death has yet to be determined.
….A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Coroner said the death was an active case with Coroner Brigitte Windley and police were investigating.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Yes! Maybe time to go fill up the car today. Good move by Labour reducing the petrol tax. We all know they hate reducing any tax, but it was really needed. I just hope that in a few weeks time the price hasn't risen more than the temporary 25c reduction.
Public transport move unexpected but also a great move. Hopefully encourage more to use.
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon calls out Government: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hate-speech-laws-race-relations-commissioner-meng-foon-calls-out-government-over-delays-three-years-after-march-15-attacks/NJCG5HWNUFDBEYELB45LQXHH6Y/
There's always hope. They ought to keep hoping for the best. For the govt it's just a matter of being engaged with higher priorities. Foon knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease so he squeaks loudly. Trouble is he's drowned out by louder squawks.
There's an immense design problem with legislative change. It consists of an elephant in the room that law reformers don't want to look at: the lack of prosecutions under the current law. The media has amply reported that hate speech is already illegal – what part of this don't these people understand??
You can't reasonably expect govt & public service lawyers to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Complainants ought to get real. Launch their own prosecutions against hate speech using the law designed for that purpose. This ain't rocket science. And really, why can't Foon figure it out? I would have thought he's the ideal person to be leading any prosecution on behalf of targeted ethnicities.
Robert Habeck is a novelist, philosopher, and the German equivalent of our minister of finance:
And he's part of the hinge between Germany and Russia now.
However another dictator is poised to rescue the west:
All hail the saviour! Biden ought to invite Maduro to the White House & host him with a military parade of goose-steppers. Dictators love that stuff!
What sort of stuff do unelected Presidents like Guaido,appointed President of Venezuela by the U.S….like?
cloak & dagger stuff…
useful idiot theory says you can always find one suitable on either the left or right side of the fence…
@ D.Frank..Here is a speech that I can only assume was written especially for you….
So you never get tired of wallowing in a mire of false assumptions? Why? 🙄
Important to note the scale and impact of all the government's $$ increases to New Zealanders from yesterday:
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
That assists 800,000 Kiwis
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
That assists a further 365,000 families with children
– 1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
That assists a further 300,000 people
Easily 2.5 million New Zealanders getting greater government funding in 16 days time.
Benefits rates also increase as the second part of the increases announced last year come into force – I think my supported living allowance goes up $23 per week on 1 April
Yes, the 23 NZD that is the last payment to finally pay the increase that the WEAG demanded in 2019.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/information-releases/cabinet-papers/2021/welfare-overhaul-work-programme-update/appendix-three.html
again, this too is nice, but a few years late and now several tens of dollars short. And considering that it will be tacked on the main benefit, fringe benefits will be reduced accordingly to make up for the windfall and chances are benefits are still no better off, in fact my be worse of.
But an effort has been made, and i really hope that this will be enough for a while to make your life a bit easier.
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
Starting in Arpil for three month. It is nice, but again, its neither here nor there, just a wee little temporary relieve. By then the 25cnts discount on the tax on gasoline will be nill and voided.
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
nothing for families on the benefit?
1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
all of these 'increases' are nice, but too little very much too late, an in fact will do nothing much to change anything, same as te min wage increase last year did not do much, nor the one the year before. Why?
Because there is no way any government can increase the Min Wage / Benefits / Super enough to make inflation go away, in fact it feeds into inflation, and people still are a few hundred dollar short for food and essentials after paying rent.
What is missing on your list are the important things.
But, another layer of sugar was applied to the stale cake of 'Non reform' and some like a good sugar rush, never mind the headache afterwards.
No other NZ government in 50 years has increased benefits on this scale.
Rent controls as a maximum rent rarely work.
No other government in 50 years has built more affordable housing. Not enough and the waiting lines are worse, but the building is happening.
Public transport use is currently only a substantial share of trips per day in 2 NZ cities: Wellington and Auckland.
I'll wait for budget to comment on tax bracket changes.
That is not the point of my comment Ad.
The point is that without meaningful reform you can increase the benefits every other month and htey would still not hold up. Case in point hte first 25 NZD i ncrease came curtesy of National, and that too did fuck all.
Public transport is not used because it is too expensive and always was. I am a public transport user as i never owned a car in NZ. I used to live close to work and walk as that was cheaper then running a car and spending x amount of hours in traffic.
The half price announcement is good, but made bad by not starting immediately and then only for three month. That is just pretending to do something, that's not even a band aid.
The budget……lol. Mind there is another poll to come for sure, and that too will reflect the compassionated and considerate movements of this government, it will move compassionately and considerably down. 27.8% is the low of Cunliffe, Little would have been even lower, so lets wait and see. Shall we?
Can you please list the houses build, vs houses sold and houses demolished. Please, that would be nice if you could actually provide proof for that point.
Re Housing, the biggest need currently is getting our population into affordable and suitable housing; and social housing needs continue to grow. THe scale of need is such that I believe we need to go back to something like the State Advances Corporation system – issuing loans at say 0.5% above government stock rates, requiring payments of a percentage of earnings which remains fixed for say 20 years, for up to 90% of the cost of a dwelling. Someone is currently paying the $6 billion that banks made last year – perhaps some of that can be reduced by removing difficult clients from seeking bank loans . . .
Might be a small thing to you, for others it is significant.
https://twitter.com/A_G_Hawkins/status/1503225624441208837
Indeed it is, and that is why i would have preferred that today the prices are already at half price and without a three month expiry date.
The delay is probably to allow systems to change fares and test changes,
Technology sometimes slows change.
(Was watching a documentary of London Underground where they had a (temporary) mechanical scheduing system instlled just after the second world war. It was the most reliable part of the whole, even in the early 2000's)
I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. I love public transport as i positively hate driving and owning a car. Eww. Literally. Trams, busses, shuttles, le chemin de fer, trains, and bicycles, are my mode of transportation of choice. Cars are something that i rent when i can't have the other stuff.
This is the first time they even contemplate it. So i guess i am applauding 'baby steps', while shaking my head at the temprorarinessness of it all.
Public transport fees need to be looked at, honestly and with affordability in mind, and we are not doing that. And if changing the software is in the too hard basket, the Government could include a tax rebate for those that use it to go to work and ship their kids to school. At the end of the year via the tax return. Maybe that is easier. After all, to some extend it is a business expense for workers and families.
Edit: And doing it right now does not seem a concentrated push to make public transport more attractive and affordable but just a wee things to shut up noises about high cost of living and being perceived at doing something. Polls and such demand actions, not foresight and anticipation of stuff happening, but polls that trend the wrong way.
"I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. "
Me, too. I am cynical about this scheme, because it seems an easy move with little cost, and limited benefit.
I also believe that public transport in Auckland needs to be improved in terms of getting better service and security, particularly in the outer regions. My family did use public transport to get into Auckland for tertiary study (pre Covid) and the cost was high, and the reliability and service mediocre.
I'm guessing they are still working on the 2022 budget and will need time to adjust things for a longer term change. In the meantime, we have three months to see what the uptake of PT is, and to lobby for making it permanent. This is how change through parliament can work well.
Greater Auckland use their influence to argue against free public transport, never once considering how much relief it will possibly give to some of the financially distressed households in Auckland.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/?s=free+public+transport
As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to raise lower incomes, we need to also design strong policies and strategies to reduce essential costs: housing, transport, food and utilities.
have you got a tl'dr precis of their objection to free PT?
I attended a few transport public lectures back in the day, with Matt L as a guest speaker. He was consistently dismissive of the topic when it was brought up.
Given that I come from a perspective that many Auckland households are struggling financially, I never heard that addressed either in person or on their blog posts, which are really well structured in terms of identifying points, which they then dismantle or discuss. However, that also often limits discussion to just those points.
Today's post seems fairly neutral, but public transport has declined – as you would expect – since the pandemic, and public transport is always championed on GA.
There are considerable improvements that could be made in terms of service and security though, especially in the farther reaches of Auckland. So, although I would support free public transport, it must be accompanied with addressing regional inequity in terms of access and quality of service.
I posted the search link because I understand I read their posts through a particular lens, and others may see it differently.
sent you an email.
Increases (above and beyond the normal inflation adjustment) to all benefits from 1 April 2022 were announced in the 2021 budget.
While increases to the MW are inflationary, they still result on those on the MW being better off … unless rent increases (constrained by a limit to one increase a year). Landlords increase rents based on the wider market, and or knowledge of the tenants income.
The lucky country.
https://twitter.com/QReconstruction/status/1501294218559512580?cxt=HHwWiICziefI1dUpAAAA
Build your third largest city at the base of a major river catchment …
Not uncommon around the world. The legacy of rivers being used for transport and ports. New Orleans is a classic example, and man's wrestling to control the Mississippi catchment is a fascinating story.
Bloody scary!
Just saw a photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy on the front lines of Odesa. We live in interesting times when 73 year old French philosophers go into bat for the defense of freedom!
And an equally brave person acting in Russia
oops! see Joe beat me to it![blush blush](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/embarrassed_smile.png?x42494)
Resilience tech can be viable with a simple design:
More.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/gravity-energy-storage-will-show-its-potential-in-2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_battery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_energy_storage_power_plants
Interesting. I liked the UK one using old mine shafts, but can see how that would be limited. Might still be useful though.
But a large open cast pit might be the go for a bigger one – difficult to complain about sightlines if it's at or just below ground level. And give it a roof with solar panels for generation as well as storage.
Julian Assange refused permission to appeal against US extradition by UK’s top court
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/julian-assange-us-extradition-appeal-b2035579.html#comments-area
Western media and opinion makers detailing censorship in Russia, should perhaps devote 10% of their column inches and screen time to accurately reporting and analysing this situation.
Yes it's disgusting…UK govt immoral out in the open..did RNZ even cover this today?
Can't find it, if they did.
No Adrian
And last night TVNZ repeated the lie that a Russian tank had crushed a civilian car in Kiev, as if it was breaking news
They first aired that , our own TVNZ, on the 26th , 2 days into the invasion when no tanks were anywhere near the inner streets of Kiev , but the footage had been circulated on social media, and TVNZ picked it up from whatever scumbag news aggregate they subscribe to.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/02/26/russian-tank-runs-over-ukrainian-civilian-car-driver-survives/
The story has long been exposed , by France 24, but the NZ public continues to be subjected to propaganda.
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20220303-chimeras-and-the-war-in-ukraine
In case the previous link doesnt work this one is much better, text rather than tedious video
https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220301-video-debunked-russian-tank-crush-civilian-car-kyiv
France 24 is a Rupert Murdoch channel ie fox news France.
Yep wasnt detailed but they did report it
That is actually a bonus for Assange – If they had agreed to hear it they would eventually have declined the application while another year or so went by of him being imprisoned . This way he will hopefully have a chance in a fairer Court.
I hope you are proven right.
Courageous.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1503445657805373446
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1503453014643949576
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/remembering-march-15-three-years
But tax cuts hog the limelight![crying crying](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/cry_smile.png?x42494)
The survivor who was shot 9 times and is completing his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch today got good coverage on TV1 Breakfast TV show. He was exceptionally dignified.
Respect!
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/14/mosque-attack-survivor-on-final-leg-of-360km-peace-walk/
Hoping this catches on…
https://twitter.com/AliceFromQueens/status/1503475138997719044?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Looks like it is.
https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/1503142677503692803
google translate
Excellent. Oligarchs and billionaires should not exist. Slay the dragons. Give the wealth back to the people.
Will you lead the charge against the odious Trump man Peter Thiel please, or perhaps James Cameron ,Graeme Hart, or Richard Chandler who made his fortune at the expense of the Russian people?
Oh pardon me , his thefts are to be celebrated
Will do, as soon as I can mobilise my 27 followers on twitter. In the meantime, I will continue to sledge the Government like it’s a piñata
Can't wait for our unhoused people to do the same to empty rich listers houses here in NZ. Liberate all the ghost houses for the homeless.
right on Sabine!
I'm with you,We have morality on our side
Better make sure no-one that has had a facist thought, or dressed as Hitler joins in, because,….
… they don't care about the cause, they just want the world to burn so they can rise out of the ashes.
Oh dear
No sense of irony?
You get that
nope, not with fascism and especially not on the 15 March.
I would have no problem with that
The 2.5 million refugees (and climbing) need some place to live! So thoughtful of the benefactors of their counties aggressor to prearrange accommodation for them. 🙂
One would have thought that after investing so much of yourself into the debunked Trump/Putin conspiracy theory, only to be humiliated right out in public for that unquestioning support, that you might be even just a tiny little more circumspect going forward…but nope, I guess that critical thinking, historical context or any type of nuance at all just isn't your bag…but to be fair, again you are far from being alone in your unquestioning enthusiasm to march in step yet again.
I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked. But outside your small coterie of Putin dupes there has been a shift away from treating Putin like a modern liberal, and a return to seeing him as a recrudescent Stalinist.
Steele, who you were at pains to rubbish, has proven to have been a rather reliable source, and is much in demand for his expertise. Here he is addressing the Oxford Union.
"I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked"…..yeah I know that some of you have committed yourselves so fully into, and therefore internalized so deeply into yourselves that cult of stuff and nonsense, that you could never turn back….well not without some sort of professional help anyway.
Fact free diatribe as usual Adrian.
Some nutritious fact for you: Russian Misinformation Is "A Military Assault” on the West | Amanpour and Company – YouTube
Just so you know the role you are playing in the dissemination of Putin's disinformatzia.
We can agree that the war is terrible, and needs to end – while trying to understand how we got to this point.
@Molly, "while trying to understand how we got to this point."…I agree completely, unfortunately our friends Munro, Macro, Frank etc have shown no interest in the history, murky origins and devious Geo-Political machinations that underlay this tragic war….though to be fair they only reflect most of the worlds media own lack of interest, and as they only ever regurgitate what they are told too, and have been doing so for years, why should anyone expect anything else from this lot? monkey see, monkey do I guess.
I don't believe I have witnessed even one of them have an original thought cross from one side of their cranium to the other in matters of geo politics in the entire time I have been on The Standard.
Big-nosed monkeys regurgitate MSM narrative…
It's fascinating how you dress up your credulity as superior knowledge.
Though of course my sources are actual people, not the msm – so you have only proven your ignorance yet again.
The matter in dispute between the Putin dupes and I, is the acceptability of repeating propaganda uncritically. The most aggressive Putin trolls on this site, routinely attack any occurrence the western press dare to report, as well as the ones that maintain the highest standards themselves, like Reuters. This process is designed to create a false equivalence – if all media lie, propaganda is suddenly on an equal footing with fact based journalism.
Understanding how we got to this point is not complex – with the collapse of the Soviet Union, western powers assumed the cold war was over – and it was, briefly, under Gorbachev. Once the old party cadres regained power however, they immediately turned isolationist, and the cold war resumed – while the West naively extended trade and friendship to the Stalinist Putin.
You will never see anything verifiable or explicatory from the wretched refuse of Putin's NZ propaganda team – their game is a spoiling game – dividing and confusing responses to allow Putin to get away with his atrocities. They have no friends in eastern Europe to use as touchstones for the veracity of the fake news sites they prefer, and though long on insults, they make unsupported and indeed unsupportable assertions about every fact that crops up. They have nothing that will increase our understanding of the causes or possible end points of the conflict – They are noise, not signal.
If you're interested in the causes of the war, this interview is at least informed: Professor David Marples: Putin’s true motives for invading Ukraine | RNZ
Or, make your own contact with expat Russian journalists – a surprising number have been obliged to flee, and they will give Putin’s propagandists short shrift.
Sometimes Adrian one needs to look at oneself in the mirror. Have you ever read the Mueller Report? This is a fair summary of its findings:
my bold
It's all well and good to focus purely on the first statement in that summary – as did Trump, his Repugnant supporters, Faux news, and of course the Russian propogandists, but there was ample circumstantial evidence to show that there was significant interference by Russian "influencers" in Facebook and other social media to attack, and upset, the democratic process and a fair vote, not just for the wealthy, but for all.
And a more recent independent investigation by MIT found Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before the 2020 election
This would give the butmuhfreedumb mob something to complain about.
https://twitter.com/lauriechenwords/status/1502920100193914881
Life in a real totalitarian state.
Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code — the essential rating needed to enter the city’s shops, offices and public transport — was gone.
In a scene being repeated across the Chinese capital, a pop-up window now warned the app could no longer ascertain her coronavirus risk status.
[…]
Yu was one of thousands who showed up to Beijing workplaces or shopping malls this week only to find they were barred entry due to their health code status, as already-strict virus controls were ramped up ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Overnight, the city had quietly rolled out a new rule requiring everyone who had bought medication for anything that might be a Covid symptom — including fever, cough and throat dryness — to take a virus test before their health app status could be restored to green.
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/01/30/not-easy-being-green-chinas-health-codes-define-covid-era-life/
Whatever it takes to stop this getting away on them.
https://twitter.com/yaling_jiang/status/1503034729209032706
we should have that here.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/463342/green-party-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-breaks-self-isolation-rules
It seems even well educated people with good, well paying jobs just don’t fucking get it.
My SO's filthy that after all the planning and effort that went into systems to avoid incidents and maintain continuity, a halfwit knowingly exposed to a positive case on the job during the weekend turned up to work yesterday and swanned around un-masked.
Exasperated is not the word.
Yep,lots of wilful negligence.
Say what!!
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/15-03-2022/simon-bridges-to-quit-politics-and-leave-parliament-in-the-coming-weeks
A big loss for National. I would suggest Jacinda thinks about doing likewise, if she wants to set herself up overseas before the possibility of WW3 starting.
Well some say that the speechifying at Harvard is the PM going to Job interviews. WW3 started the day, WW2 ended it was called the Cold War. Which we have now started in earnest and with actual bullets and as always the little people do the dying, and the rich suits do the grand standing.
Mind, if we survive this war will we finally build a monument to the unknown Mother and child.
(Mother – adult human female having given birth to a child)
Expressed so well Sabine – my respect![heart heart](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/heart.png?x42494)
Great article in the Herald today about 3 waters by Shane Jones. Sorry behind a paywall.
At last the mainstream media are allowing a sensible rebuttal to the co-governance issue this government have tried to deceptively sneak in. I suspect the co-governance debacle will quietly disappear.
I wondered who the man in the high vis vest was, throwing stuff at police in Wellington. A number of feeds and photographers got the action shots.
Turns out he's from the Far North where there seem to be quite a few with weird ideas. A teacher no less.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/abundant-life-school-staff-spotted-at-parliament-protest/UULLUZDA75Q2UGU4IJ32VL2JWY/
Recent publicity hinted at something unusual going on at the guy's school. The principal, said to be on leave, was a would be National election candidate. That he was beaten by Matt King might say something.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/abundant-life-school-seniors-in-limbo-after-closure-of-senior-school/EQV4SIBUEO2QBQOBHHB6U4ZSKI/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/nationals-five-enter-final-battle-for-northland-electorate/GZ3HGSQT74WFUHAE4PXQV5RZSY/
Surely they got the date wrong, and this article belongs to April 1st:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/controversial-womens-network-logo-taken-down-after-twitter-backlash/news-story/fd5e2d01baa384d2d5b4e20fe86fe0e1
Apologies. Tried saving to smaller size, but was unsuccessful.
I'm not going to say anything more about size, as I would likely incriminate myself…
Better now, after I've resized it? Size matters![cheeky cheeky](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/tongue_smile.png?x42494)
Thanks, Incognito.
(I deleted a couple of comments before posting, along the lines you mention
)
A dirty mind is a joy forever.
They even chose the same colour as the euphemistic emoji 🍆
Save the image, select it and pick your size![angry angry](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/angry_smile.png?x42494)
http://www.simpleimageresizer.com/
Thanks.![yes yes](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/thumbs_up.png?x42494)
I'm pleased there was some sort of explanation of what the objection was. Graphic design and logos are something I've been involved in.
I briefly glimpsed the article, saw there was controversy and looked at the graphic without reading any of the text and seeing the words 'phallic' and 'male genitalia.' My first thought was about symbolic breasts and that depicting women through that was the issue.
What would please me would be hearing that a woman was responsible for the design and it was approved by a team with female leadership.
There is an explanation of sorts, due to the design proforma (which I found later).
https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1503466149639786496
Greens deal to one of their own. If only Labour would do the same with Trev.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLW
Yes Jacinda is no Helen Clark or John key when it comes to disciplining party members who are out of line. We all remember David Clark over lockdown.
I'm sure Robert Guyton will be along to defend this Green party member shortly.
Green Party MP Elizabeth Kerekere breaks self-isolation rules (msn.com)
That link didn't work – somehow got truncated… https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLWASF3Y/
Remembering one of the worst massacres in NZ history. 15 March, 2019, 51 precious Kiwis were cruelly murdered by a sick and twisted white supremacist.
https://twitter.com/sammyhill78/status/1503459735215173632?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/AyaUmari/status/1503495950261981186?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/TamathaPaul/status/1503465566623141888?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Wonderful news! Now… how to get them out of Ukraine safely:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/463338/visas-for-ukrainian-new-zealanders-families-as-government-increases-aid
Even during the Vietnam war I can't recall a protest like this.
The sheer courage, not only has Marina Ovsyannikova sacrificed her job and career, she is also facing a possible 15 year jail term
This war can only end in one way. A humiliating defeat for Putin.
Deliberately withholding life saving medical attention from someone who needs it is a crime.
It looks likely that the person who died at the Peka Peka farm anti-mandate camp, was infected with Covid-19. The death is being investigated by the coroner. Whether this person's covid infection was the cause of their death has yet to be determined.