Big Corporations Now Deploying Woke Ideology the Way Intelligence Agencies Do: As a Disguise
by GLENN GREENWALD, 14 April 2021
The British spy agency GCHQ is so aggressive, extreme and unconstrained by law or ethics that the NSA — not exactly world renowned for its restraint — often farms out spying activities too scandalous or illegal for the NSA to their eager British counterparts. There is, as the Snowden reporting demonstrated, virtually nothing too deceitful or invasive for the GCHQ. They spy on entire populations, deliberately disseminate fake news, exploit psychological research to control behavior and manipulate public perception, and destroy the reputations, including through the use of sex traps, of anyone deemed adversarial to the British government.
But they want you to know that they absolutely adore gay people. In fact, they love the cause of LGBT equality so very much that, beginning on May 17, 2015 — International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia — they started draping their creepy, UFO-style headquarters in the colors of the rainbow flag. The prior year, in 2014, they had merely raised the rainbow flag in front of their headquarters, but in 2015, they announced, “we wanted to make a bold statement to show the nation we serve how strongly we believe in this.” ….
Thanks Morrissey. Interesting and frightening post. Police in UK do same for LBGTs rights. The Autistism foundation has spoken up that they don’t get the same acknowledgment from the police, although they apparently fear badly when they come into contact with police.
on a different but related note, for those who are concerned about freedom of speech, I draw attention to Harry Miller, an ex cop in the UK who was engaging in a debate on-line about the proposed gender self I’d bill in 2019. He written some negative tweets about the issue including what I thought was a tasteless poem. Next thing the police turn up at his work and he goes on a register of hate events, that can be accessed by people such as prospective employers. He is told he has committed no crime, so his tweets although tasteless imho, not a crime. But he is sent a document from the police headed crime repot. He takes the police to the High Court and wins. The judge describes the polices actions as Orwellian. It’s a long clip, but I will try and post it.
A disturbingly similar case to the police harassment of Harry Miller for thought crime is this one from the U.S., pertaining to the Queen of Woke herself….
That statement was not set to be fully rolled out until 2024, but Housing Minister Megan Woods said a “short-term solution” was needed ahead of it being fully implemented.
And a succinct denunciation of that recent Nat announcement:
Woods also critiqued National’s new policy of offering councils $50,000 for every house built over their historical five-year average.
She said because the money would not be front-loaded councils would still have to borrow to build infrastructure, and many councils were at their debt-limit.
Her Government’s $3.8 billion to support housing infrastructure would be front-loaded, she said, and more details would be available on it soon.
Councils are at their debt limit as a matter of policy, indeed they cant work without it. Its because of the way they use ' depreciation of assets' to fund their every day activities. Pipes dont depreciate as fast as edifices in the accounting process so are last on the list.
Wellington is prime example of this , every grand design for the city is approved quickly and even rebuilds are as grand as possible and loaded with upgrades
So the latest covid case security guard at MIQ (case B) hasn't been tested since last November even though we were told there was two week testing for all MIQ workers. Turns out that is BS.
"We don't have a systematic way until next week of being able to write a query into the system to give us information," said Tremain.
There is the problem IMO. Currently the system is open to human error and employees lying. They should have had this in place already.
wow, the weakest link broke, and its all the fault of the weakest link.
Was this a casual employee or full time?
Was this someone who ran a regular shift at the plague hotel or was called in any few weeks every other month for a casual shift?
was the employee provided time on the clock to get tested or was that a voluntary thing?
was the employee provided with a location to get tested and was that done by the employer?
How was the goverment contract formulated in regards to testing of staff that mans the plague hotels?
What are the fines for an employer who does not make sure its staff gets tested?
nah, its all the fault of someone at bottom of the bucket below the ladder. Sounds a bit like with the student KFC worker who was blamed for a whole heep of mishaps that came way of communications from schools, health department and ministry.
But i guess its much easier to bash down then to admit that maybe the ball was dropped at ministerial level.
No sure why you continue to give the employers a free pass. They are no doubt collecting top taxpayer dollar for this work and were to meet certain obligations for the good of the nation. They didn't do it.
Last bloody August it was clear that the 'private security contractors model ' was not working and it was announced that these vital MIQ personnel would be employed directly by M(O)BIE.
The numpties running this pantomime are only just getting their collective arses into gear and advertising for these positions.
It is the Ministry's fault and it is the Government's fault this shit is still going on.
Agree, I do remember the announcement after that incident. Interesting it was not a Covid infection or risk of infection incident.
In your second link it says the government was aiming to reduce reliance on private contractors by bringing in defence force staff.
JA did say they were looking to employ security guards directly:
Where we are using security guards, we're looking to directly employ them by MBIE who will train and pay a living wage. This will raise accountability and give more central control over procedures.
I guess this either wasn't possible or the private sector protested, not being able to clip the wage ticket.
Still believe the contracting companies have a lot more to answer for than is being asked of them.
I guess this either wasn't possible or the private sector protested, not being able to clip the wage ticket.
I guess its because M(O)BIE, like the MOH, have become so dependent on private contractors over the decades that they are almost incapable of doing their work any other way.
I know that the Ministry of Health, back in the mid 1990's, handed over all aspects of Disability Support Services to the private sector. They did not want the disabled, they did not understand disability and they happily handed over all but 'policy work' to private contractors. When shit got real and disabled New Zealander's were abused and neglected to death by these private contractors the Misery of Health claimed distance from these atrocities…'our hands are clean we are merely the funders'.
Disabled people and their families have fought, gone to court, written submissions and letters and participated in surveys and discussions and conferences and conventions and begged and pleaded with various Ministers from governments of all hues to step up and fucking take back control from what has been for decades a rogue ministry that runs along the lines of a fiefdom.
From what I hear…M(O)BIE is very similar.
Nothing but a complete purge of all Ministerial staff with 'service' of more than 2 years will fix this. If they survive that long in that work environment they are just as bad as the rest.
While agreeing the whole dysfunctional system needs to scrapped and started again i can see no viable way of doing so WHILE maintaining some semblance of organisation so in effect 'they' have won…the state has been rendered incapable and therefore is unable to challenge the private profiteers.
But in winning they will lose….unfortunately theyre going to take everyone else down with them.
Yes, the reforms of the 80s and 90s are still held up as best practice in efficiency. Of course they are not more efficient (how can they be with more people clipping the ticket?), just less effective.
It's interesting that calls across the board now are toward greater centralisation and less dependence on the private sector who clearly can't and won't do the job properly because of the profit motive.
Even the right wing are demanding greater government involvement in all areas of society and economy.
Perhaps one of the legacies of this pandemic will be a reset of services toward to good of society rather than for the profit of a few.
No one is claiming historical perfection but there was a capacity and capability that no longer exists and that is not going to end well for anyone….and we were warned.
40 years (less than) was all it took……it will take a lot longer to restore, if ever.
Yes, i have a job offer, you take it and contract out for me to do it, however, i am still liable for the fuck ups that you do considering that I am the one who wrote the original contract – and should have included penalties for every single one of your potential fuckups, so that i can cover my ass and pretend to have thought about everything.
And this is not a stupid leaky building issue where everyone can get to go in liquidation so as to avoid liablity, this shit gets out the country goes down to 4 again on the noise of your phone and how good will that do us?
So just please keep that in mind with your Business as usual attitude of lets blame the person on the bottom, rather then the one who contracts a job out cause cheap labour is them, or the one who took the cheap contract and is now running the show with the expected lowest paid people they can find.
Read my comments. The one at the bottom is an idiot, clearly. But his employer is more at fault because they didn't ensure the contract was fulfilled, ie ensuring the testing order was carried out.
You are letting the private operator off the hook here. Please do better.
But the system (if there was one) should have picked up when he told his employer he was tested (or when he lied as stated by Jacinda), that he was not, because it was not showing in the database stating who has and who hasn't been vaccinated.
Currently the system seems to be voluntary testing by the employees.
That sort of system wasn't in place. What was in place was a requirement for employers to ensure the testing order was carried out. It was then left to the employer to work out haw to do that.
They didn't.
Now that it has transpired that some workers and their employers have been lying about testing I guess a new government compliance system will be in place at greater cost to the taxpayer and less cost to business.
Yes. That sort of system wasn't in place but should have been. You cant rely on people to "just do the right thing voluntarily". It would be like saying to people at the airport when they arrive from overseas, "please just stay home and quarantine for 14 days, we trust you to do that".
I would only be happy if the contractor be held liable if, because of non compliance, a super spreader is being let loose into the community causing health and economic damage. Anyone in this forum who has a legal background able to tell us whether this is possible?
Yeah – whatever. Everything humans do is a mess – especially at the margins. I can't get exercised over the minutiae of execution – other than hope that they find the issues fairly early and have a commitment to trying to fix them.
And I know that there would be no meaningful difference in operational competence between one government and any other – they are all working with the same system and the same constraints. To support the Nats because you have been sucked into the myth of their superior competence would be delusional.
Rather than competence, what matters in our political choices is the ideology and intent of a political party. It's clear from the "what about the economy?" noises that National were making early in the pandemic, that they would have taken us down something more like the path of far-right genocidal lunacy we have seen with the Tories in the UK – though probably not quite as awful.
It's clear from the "what about the economy?" noises that National were making early in the pandemic, that they would have taken us down something more like the path of far-right genocidal lunacy we have seen with the Tories in the UK
Two week testing was available for all MIQ workers, so no it is not BS, that is a fail from you. This worker chose to not get tested and lie to his employers and the employers were not checking obviously. Having said that I think the Government needs to get more heavy handed on people flouting the rules. How many people do you know who don't scan when entering premises. I suggest heaps, doesn't mean the system isn't there for their use.
Just how the security guard went five months without a test remains unclear. In Parliament on Wednesday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the 24-year-old had "lied". His employer First Security said all its guards are "required to sign declarations that they are up-to-date with the COVID-19 testing requirements", but that it also has "current proof of up-to-date COVID-19 testing from all guards working at MIQ facilities".
Main said the employer's testing information didn't match what the Ministry of Health had, which is how they found out the worker hadn't been tested. She wasn't sure if the worker had provided actual proof of testing to his employer, or just lied about it.
"He was providing assurances. Each employer has a different way of keeping track of their employees' status – that's something they're required to do under the testing order, and each employer will do that differently."
From April 27, all border employers will be required to use a centralised register.
This was the system in place. By law employers are required to keep track of their employee's status under the testing order.
This seems reasonably sensible to me. To task employers with their own employees testing requirements rather than government having to deal with all 300 suppliers and their 4000 workers and test them all themselves. Again it looks like some employers and their employees got slack and cut corners.
The responsibility is now being taken away from them because, as usual, the private sector can't get anything important right. This at further cost to the taxpayer and greater profit to the private sector.
So basically the dude didn't just "lie", it's arguable that he committed fraud.
His employer First Security said all its guards are "required to sign declarations that they are up-to-date with the COVID-19 testing requirements", but that it also has "current proof of up-to-date COVID-19 testing from all guards working at MIQ facilities".
First Security have a pile of little chitties saying every one of their employees are up to date with tests. I hope FS have something more than that as their "current proof", because how many of those chits were robo-signed by staff who meant to get a test real soon, but never got around to it for five months?
So now everyone will need to get a receipt when they take the test, as the quickest bypass around privacy concerns and the practicalities of data matching.
Security is a pretty low wage job, mostly. Its ideal output is nothing, but if nothing happens, the clients get complacent and start cutting the budget until something happens.
This "all our people are regularly tested" is a tick-box requirement: cheapest way to tick it is to have a folder of staff declarations. In the service contract there'd be a clause of "all staff will be tested every x days", but no penalty. So as long as it's only one or two and the company can say it tried, the contract can't get turfed.
If it was more than a compliance formality (i.e. if an untested guard is discovered, that costs the security company a significant penalty fee) the company would coordinate the testing for each shift, at the workplace.
Funny story about that from another security company many years ago.
Guard got pinged for filing false checks on his route (lots of them run from site to site checking for break-ins and fires rather than being at one point all shift, company gets paid to check a building say 3 times a night) because apparently he "checked the building and found it fine" while fire service was still putting out a real fire. Turned out his super had also been doing days on the side gig and sleeping when he should have been checking up on whether the nightshift guards were doing their checks.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes ipsos custodes ad infinitum…
Now, if and I say if, a worker from First Security knowingly does not test and becomes a super spreader, can those who are unwittingly being infected sue the company for willful endangerment of health and/or life?
It would be interesting to know as I am sure that if the answer is yes, there will be an airtight system in place in ….hmmm lets say 10 minutes?
I'm not sure one can actually sue for criminal charges in NZ.
Maybe for damages if there was negligence.
But then who would one sue? A low wage employee? MIQ? The security company that assumed it could leave regular testing up to the employee to sort if not getting tested was gross misconduct?
Worse, part-way through her cross-examination, she is accused of making up the abuse.
Her ex-husband’s lawyer tells the judge Mrs P has “falsified evidence” on one of the ACC file notes attached to her affidavit. The altered document is a 20-hour report form, completed by a counsellor for the sensitive claims unit, on Mrs P’s first visit. The lawyer says she has managed to obtain the original version after gaining access to Mrs P’s entire confidential ACC file in preparation for the hearing.
Irrelevant information dragged before the court, and systemic abuse of this poor woman was the result. How does the court make up for that? Most people I know who have dealt with ACC “Sensitive” Claims have had to make statements of correction. That’s not a crime.
And it is not an infrequent occurrence although this story would seem an extreme example:
Psychopathic violent male abuses female and female is punished for… making up stories. Many of us have been down that road although not always a result of a domestic situation. It can be excessive abuse in the work-place or in a normal social setting. It never ceases to amaze me how often the perpetrators are believed over the victims by those who are supposed to be the experts/protectors/purveyors of justice.
A report by an economics consultancy firm [Infometrics] has found up to $24 billion worth of untapped global demand for New Zealand products…
He said the report highlighted the potential demand for main exports, but did not consider whether producers could meet that demand, and what capacity constraints may be in the way.
Interesting – looking at increasing the wine market? That needs water and if looking at Nelson, Tasman, who knows whether they will have enough for themselves without feeding another hungry water sponge of win similar to dairy. There is a dam in Tasman being built which I hope is not going to be siphoned away to dairy and will provide surety of supply for people as far away as Richmond. The horticulture people actually need it muchly to maintain a diversified growing area. Wine should not be trying for much expansion to avoid being over-exposed to one industry. The dam appears to have rotten rock underneath, which I think they were warned about, and is requiring more work, and top-ups and government has said no more. It may be that it has to be scaled back for safety – intelligent geological reasons.
Yet this report says that markets in traditional areas of wine supply are not 'saturated'. It sounds as if the report and thinking is based on growth before all other considerations. And of course it has to be transported there, though wine would be fine by sea as I suppose it travels now?
I suggest that this potential export figure is a bit over-egged, a pie in the sky one, and we need to work hard to keep up what we have, and work on a managed rise coming from new customers, and present products at a steady pace. Sending ice cream must be a no-no long term. Exporting the ingredients and making it in the target country like Indonesia with local labour and NZ hygiene would I think endear us to those customers.
As for logs, to avoid us having to compete against export prices for our own product, government is going to have to pull finger and buy back some land or young plantations at the appropriate market price for young trees. Of course we do need politicians who have some idea of how to manage the country, and avoid the two-tier inflation we already notice on wood for our houses, and on built houses.
The report mentions Australia suffering a setback on exports through its accord with China having been damaged. They will be looking for outlets and competing, possibly undercutting us, to get them. It is wise to not rely on trade with Australia, and not to set up a joint promotion or trading bloc with them to trade with other countries, as they will always renege from agreements when there are problems, and seek to get the best deal for themselves.
Anyone who is interested in our country's enterprises and exports is welcome to criticise. But I have been watching for decades and I think I have a reasonably good overview – short on details and expertise with stats and graphs though!
It seems an ugly lump of concrete passage on what had been a green park. And apparently it had to be in Auckland because most of the Erebus passengers had come from Auckland. They wanted to go as far as the Antarctic, so were prepared to travel that far themselves. Why not have it in Wellington in Parliament grounds, right by the people who were the type to bring the disaster about?
Why not have it in Wellington in Parliament grounds, right by the people who were the type to bring the disaster about?
There was only one entity to blame and that was Air NZ. Poor procedures on the part of the back-up staff caused the tragedy. Nothing to do with the pollies although Muldoon was instrumental in enabling the truth to be covered up in order to save the Airline's reputation. All of it done at the expense of the dead cockpit crew who had been given the wrong co-ordinates.
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The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
Last weekend brought the latest instalment in Stuff’s bravura satirical series Of course you can afford a house! Just dig deeper!I love how much their appreciation of humour has evolved in just a few short years since the days when I would get to produce, for a few meagre dollars, ...
Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
Ironically, a repurposed Auckland Ratepayers Alliance placard (with a demand for climate action on the front) featured at the recent climate march. Voting ratepayers don’t want ‘bureaucrats in cushy council jobs’ borrowing or increasing rates, even when the need for investment is becoming increasingly obvious. So is council cost-cutting a ...
The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
Saving The People From ... The People: The strangest aspect of the mass Israeli protests, from a New Zealand perspective, is that the judicial reforms proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would only confer upon Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, powers which the New Zealand House of Representatives has not only exercised ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. Speaking after ...
Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released its ‘synthesis report’, summarising six previous reports. Greenpeace says that the latest report confirms the industrial drivers of climate change, its dire planetary impacts, and ...
Phase One Ventures chief executive Mahesh Muralidhar has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Auckland Central for the 2023 General Election. “I want to thank our local party members for backing me to campaign for ...
On the holy terror and absolute love of parenting Picked up by Octavia outside the book shop, the kid and I clambered into the back, to the soundtrack of classic hits from what seemed to be a tape she was playing. We were thankful to get in. The sun ...
A new investigative series from RNZ reveals just how broken the government communications machine is, writes Duncan Greive.Investigative journalist Guyon Espiner is peeling back the lid on the world of external lobbyists and corporate affairs strategists employed by the public sector. His new series, being published on RNZ this ...
Fresh from a Melbourne rally that attracted neo-Nazi supporters, British anti-transgender rights speaker Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is scheduled to appear at two events in Aotearoa. So what’s the lowdown? Another controversial international speaker wants to visit New Zealand, and, as expected, reaction has covered the full spectrum from outrage to support. ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme was always a neoliberal, market-based, get-out-of-jail-free plan. Time to lead the way with Tradable Energy Quotas insteadOpinion: The old saying about news – that it’s always bad or it wouldn’t be news – is distressingly true for the climate, both in terms of this summer’s weather ...
The Detail finds out why a law change in 2017 has led to a proliferation of independent taxi drivers – and why they're leaving some passengers feeling ripped off Not all taxis are created equal. RNZ newsreader Evie Ashton found this out the hard way, after Dave Chapelle's recent show at Auckland's ...
Companies have tended to be louder in lobbying politicians against climate change mitigation rather than in favour of it. This election, that needs to change ...
H5N1 only sporadically infects humans - but it kills half of those who catch it. As the largest ever outbreak of the virus continues to rage, is New Zealand prepared?Special report: Kiwi scientist Robert Webster knew two things about the avian flu virus he dripped into his nose one day ...
The hat-trick hero of the Black Ferns’ 2017 World Cup win, Toka Natua is back in rugby – discovering the pros and cons of playing as a mum. And the double international is ready for her next chapter in France. There are the odd moments at training where Toka Natua’s mind goes blank ...
With a number of events planned down the length of the country, the scene at this weekend’s ‘Stop Co-Governance’ rally in Orewa could be just the first of many Social media erupted with pictures of distorted faces, pulled into expressions of anger or yelling gleefully into the camera. The mugshots ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Dan Himbrechts/Paul Braven/AAP The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday. I had a preview of both ...
Whether the anti-trans campaigner can enter the country without a visa is now up in the air. Controversy surrounds the upcoming visit by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner on a global tour who is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. During an appearance in Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images The controversial 2021 decision by the government drug-buying agency Pharmac to prioritise Māori and Pacific patients in its funding of two game-changing new diabetes drugs appears to have paid ...
The idea of the Greens flirting with National gets an airing before almost every election. It remains as much of a nonstarter as ever, writes Henry Cooke.This article was first published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. It’s far more reliable than clockwork. Every election cycle – often several ...
With half the value of all Lotto, Powerball and Strike tickets going to cyclone relief, the "Must-be-won" draw for $15.5 million on Saturday went to a Canterbury player. ...
Auckland’s mayor has taken aim at road closures and traffic disruption around the super city, revealing a plan to reduce road cones. Wayne Brown had previously pledged to clean up the city of road cones and set it out as an “immediate priority” for the council’s transport agency. Now, he’s ...
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Big Corporations Now Deploying Woke Ideology the Way Intelligence Agencies Do: As a Disguise
by GLENN GREENWALD, 14 April 2021
The British spy agency GCHQ is so aggressive, extreme and unconstrained by law or ethics that the NSA — not exactly world renowned for its restraint — often farms out spying activities too scandalous or illegal for the NSA to their eager British counterparts. There is, as the Snowden reporting demonstrated, virtually nothing too deceitful or invasive for the GCHQ. They spy on entire populations, deliberately disseminate fake news, exploit psychological research to control behavior and manipulate public perception, and destroy the reputations, including through the use of sex traps, of anyone deemed adversarial to the British government.
But they want you to know that they absolutely adore gay people. In fact, they love the cause of LGBT equality so very much that, beginning on May 17, 2015 — International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia — they started draping their creepy, UFO-style headquarters in the colors of the rainbow flag. The prior year, in 2014, they had merely raised the rainbow flag in front of their headquarters, but in 2015, they announced, “we wanted to make a bold statement to show the nation we serve how strongly we believe in this.” ….
Read more…
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/big-corporations-now-deploying-woke
A disturbingly similar case to the police harassment of Harry Miller for thought crime is this one from the U.S., pertaining to the Queen of Woke herself….
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/04/09/anti-war-activist-police-aoc-video/
To compound this horror/comedy, the former director of GCHQ
has been longlisted for the ….. (wait for it!)…. Orwell Prize…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0wC7c9Sywk
Harry Miller link as quoted in my above comment
Govt speeding up regulatory change to get more homes consented. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300277195/housing-government-looking-to-fasttrack-moves-to-force-councils-to-allow-more-housing
And a succinct denunciation of that recent Nat announcement:
Councils are at their debt limit as a matter of policy, indeed they cant work without it. Its because of the way they use ' depreciation of assets' to fund their every day activities. Pipes dont depreciate as fast as edifices in the accounting process so are last on the list.
Wellington is prime example of this , every grand design for the city is approved quickly and even rebuilds are as grand as possible and loaded with upgrades
So the latest covid case security guard at MIQ (case B) hasn't been tested since last November even though we were told there was two week testing for all MIQ workers. Turns out that is BS.
"We don't have a systematic way until next week of being able to write a query into the system to give us information," said Tremain.
There is the problem IMO. Currently the system is open to human error and employees lying. They should have had this in place already.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/covid-19-officials-still-investigating-why-security-guard-wasn-t-tested-as-jacinda-ardern-jumps-the-gun.html
wow, the weakest link broke, and its all the fault of the weakest link.
Was this a casual employee or full time?
Was this someone who ran a regular shift at the plague hotel or was called in any few weeks every other month for a casual shift?
was the employee provided time on the clock to get tested or was that a voluntary thing?
was the employee provided with a location to get tested and was that done by the employer?
How was the goverment contract formulated in regards to testing of staff that mans the plague hotels?
What are the fines for an employer who does not make sure its staff gets tested?
nah, its all the fault of someone at bottom of the bucket below the ladder. Sounds a bit like with the student KFC worker who was blamed for a whole heep of mishaps that came way of communications from schools, health department and ministry.
But i guess its much easier to bash down then to admit that maybe the ball was dropped at ministerial level.
We don't know how lucky we are……….
No sure why you continue to give the employers a free pass. They are no doubt collecting top taxpayer dollar for this work and were to meet certain obligations for the good of the nation. They didn't do it.
No sure why you continue to give the employers a free pass. And I assume you mean 'Why are you blaming the Govt and the Ministry?'
Bugger me fucking sideways….
After a privacy breach incident in August, the number of Defence Force staff at the hotels was boosted, and the government said remaining security guards would be employed directly by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in future.
Last bloody August it was clear that the 'private security contractors model ' was not working and it was announced that these vital MIQ personnel would be employed directly by M(O)BIE.
The numpties running this pantomime are only just getting their collective arses into gear and advertising for these positions.
It is the Ministry's fault and it is the Government's fault this shit is still going on.
This is like groundhog day.
Agree, I do remember the announcement after that incident. Interesting it was not a Covid infection or risk of infection incident.
In your second link it says the government was aiming to reduce reliance on private contractors by bringing in defence force staff.
JA did say they were looking to employ security guards directly:
I guess this either wasn't possible or the private sector protested, not being able to clip the wage ticket.
Still believe the contracting companies have a lot more to answer for than is being asked of them.
I guess this either wasn't possible or the private sector protested, not being able to clip the wage ticket.
I guess its because M(O)BIE, like the MOH, have become so dependent on private contractors over the decades that they are almost incapable of doing their work any other way.
I know that the Ministry of Health, back in the mid 1990's, handed over all aspects of Disability Support Services to the private sector. They did not want the disabled, they did not understand disability and they happily handed over all but 'policy work' to private contractors. When shit got real and disabled New Zealander's were abused and neglected to death by these private contractors the Misery of Health claimed distance from these atrocities…'our hands are clean we are merely the funders'.
Disabled people and their families have fought, gone to court, written submissions and letters and participated in surveys and discussions and conferences and conventions and begged and pleaded with various Ministers from governments of all hues to step up and fucking take back control from what has been for decades a rogue ministry that runs along the lines of a fiefdom.
From what I hear…M(O)BIE is very similar.
Nothing but a complete purge of all Ministerial staff with 'service' of more than 2 years will fix this. If they survive that long in that work environment they are just as bad as the rest.
While agreeing the whole dysfunctional system needs to scrapped and started again i can see no viable way of doing so WHILE maintaining some semblance of organisation so in effect 'they' have won…the state has been rendered incapable and therefore is unable to challenge the private profiteers.
But in winning they will lose….unfortunately theyre going to take everyone else down with them.
Yes, the reforms of the 80s and 90s are still held up as best practice in efficiency. Of course they are not more efficient (how can they be with more people clipping the ticket?), just less effective.
It's interesting that calls across the board now are toward greater centralisation and less dependence on the private sector who clearly can't and won't do the job properly because of the profit motive.
Even the right wing are demanding greater government involvement in all areas of society and economy.
Perhaps one of the legacies of this pandemic will be a reset of services toward to good of society rather than for the profit of a few.
Its a bit of myopic view about 'the good old days' when every , literally was run in house.
Never heard of Lake Alice or the myriad of dysfunctional people over the years working for the 'ministry or the board'?
No one is claiming historical perfection but there was a capacity and capability that no longer exists and that is not going to end well for anyone….and we were warned.
40 years (less than) was all it took……it will take a lot longer to restore, if ever.
That shouldn't stop us from making a start.
All orderlies, security, laundry and nurse aid employed by the DHB.
Any Government department that spends over a certain % on a particular contracted employee must bring them 'in-house'.
As I have said before, there are folk out there with letters after their name who are better equipped than me to do this
You do realise that the Government is the ultimative employer of the contractors that run the security guards?
you do realise that? Do you?
Thanks.
And again, we don't know how lucky we are.
What part of contracting do you not understand?
Yes, i have a job offer, you take it and contract out for me to do it, however, i am still liable for the fuck ups that you do considering that I am the one who wrote the original contract – and should have included penalties for every single one of your potential fuckups, so that i can cover my ass and pretend to have thought about everything.
And this is not a stupid leaky building issue where everyone can get to go in liquidation so as to avoid liablity, this shit gets out the country goes down to 4 again on the noise of your phone and how good will that do us?
So just please keep that in mind with your Business as usual attitude of lets blame the person on the bottom, rather then the one who contracts a job out cause cheap labour is them, or the one who took the cheap contract and is now running the show with the expected lowest paid people they can find.
Read my comments. The one at the bottom is an idiot, clearly. But his employer is more at fault because they didn't ensure the contract was fulfilled, ie ensuring the testing order was carried out.
You are letting the private operator off the hook here. Please do better.
But the system (if there was one) should have picked up when he told his employer he was tested (or when he lied as stated by Jacinda), that he was not, because it was not showing in the database stating who has and who hasn't been vaccinated.
Currently the system seems to be voluntary testing by the employees.
One would expect the contractor to be liable, regardless of the reason (or excuse) for non-performance.
A case for the quarantine costs of the affected workers would be letting them off lightly.
That sort of system wasn't in place. What was in place was a requirement for employers to ensure the testing order was carried out. It was then left to the employer to work out haw to do that.
They didn't.
Now that it has transpired that some workers and their employers have been lying about testing I guess a new government compliance system will be in place at greater cost to the taxpayer and less cost to business.
Happy now?
Yes. That sort of system wasn't in place but should have been. You cant rely on people to "just do the right thing voluntarily". It would be like saying to people at the airport when they arrive from overseas, "please just stay home and quarantine for 14 days, we trust you to do that".
I would only be happy if the contractor be held liable if, because of non compliance, a super spreader is being let loose into the community causing health and economic damage. Anyone in this forum who has a legal background able to tell us whether this is possible?
"Currently the system is open to human error…"
Yeah – whatever. Everything humans do is a mess – especially at the margins. I can't get exercised over the minutiae of execution – other than hope that they find the issues fairly early and have a commitment to trying to fix them.
And I know that there would be no meaningful difference in operational competence between one government and any other – they are all working with the same system and the same constraints. To support the Nats because you have been sucked into the myth of their superior competence would be delusional.
Rather than competence, what matters in our political choices is the ideology and intent of a political party. It's clear from the "what about the economy?" noises that National were making early in the pandemic, that they would have taken us down something more like the path of far-right genocidal lunacy we have seen with the Tories in the UK – though probably not quite as awful.
Two week testing was available for all MIQ workers, so no it is not BS, that is a fail from you. This worker chose to not get tested and lie to his employers and the employers were not checking obviously. Having said that I think the Government needs to get more heavy handed on people flouting the rules. How many people do you know who don't scan when entering premises. I suggest heaps, doesn't mean the system isn't there for their use.
This was the system in place. By law employers are required to keep track of their employee's status under the testing order.
This seems reasonably sensible to me. To task employers with their own employees testing requirements rather than government having to deal with all 300 suppliers and their 4000 workers and test them all themselves. Again it looks like some employers and their employees got slack and cut corners.
The responsibility is now being taken away from them because, as usual, the private sector can't get anything important right. This at further cost to the taxpayer and greater profit to the private sector.
As it ever was.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/coronavirus-miq-boss-reveals-exact-number-of-border-workers-who-might-never-have-been-tested-for-covid-19.html
So basically the dude didn't just "lie", it's arguable that he committed fraud.
First Security have a pile of little chitties saying every one of their employees are up to date with tests. I hope FS have something more than that as their "current proof", because how many of those chits were robo-signed by staff who meant to get a test real soon, but never got around to it for five months?
So now everyone will need to get a receipt when they take the test, as the quickest bypass around privacy concerns and the practicalities of data matching.
Ironic, isn't it? The more I look at that, the more it makes me laugh…
Security is a pretty low wage job, mostly. Its ideal output is nothing, but if nothing happens, the clients get complacent and start cutting the budget until something happens.
This "all our people are regularly tested" is a tick-box requirement: cheapest way to tick it is to have a folder of staff declarations. In the service contract there'd be a clause of "all staff will be tested every x days", but no penalty. So as long as it's only one or two and the company can say it tried, the contract can't get turfed.
If it was more than a compliance formality (i.e. if an untested guard is discovered, that costs the security company a significant penalty fee) the company would coordinate the testing for each shift, at the workplace.
I wonder if First Security pay the hours the worker says they worked without any check?
Funny story about that from another security company many years ago.
Guard got pinged for filing false checks on his route (lots of them run from site to site checking for break-ins and fires rather than being at one point all shift, company gets paid to check a building say 3 times a night) because apparently he "checked the building and found it fine" while fire service was still putting out a real fire. Turned out his super had also been doing days on the side gig and sleeping when he should have been checking up on whether the nightshift guards were doing their checks.
quis custodiet ipsos custodes ipsos custodes ad infinitum…
Now, if and I say if, a worker from First Security knowingly does not test and becomes a super spreader, can those who are unwittingly being infected sue the company for willful endangerment of health and/or life?
It would be interesting to know as I am sure that if the answer is yes, there will be an airtight system in place in ….hmmm lets say 10 minutes?
I'm not sure one can actually sue for criminal charges in NZ.
Maybe for damages if there was negligence.
But then who would one sue? A low wage employee? MIQ? The security company that assumed it could leave regular testing up to the employee to sort if not getting tested was gross misconduct?
Yet another example of where Australia's managed to evolve to:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300277901/twerking-dancers-at-australian-military-event-labelled-an-absolute-shocker
lols
Boaty McBoatface commissioned by Butty McButtcheeks in front of Poey McPoeface.
Another one to watch from Australia.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-post-ceo-christine-holgate-bullied-out-of-job-scott-morrison/c1c5e4d8-bb32-42b3-90b5-ef141039d7b7
It reminds me of the Julia Gillard story when she was PM. I think Australian politics might be toxic for females; too many poisonous snakes I think.
The way this woman has been treated is shocking, but more importantly, and not for the first time, it shows the family court system needs changing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300277390/the-court-said-she-was-lying-about-being-abused-she-did-a-year-on-home-detention-she-wasnt-lying
Irrelevant information dragged before the court, and systemic abuse of this poor woman was the result. How does the court make up for that? Most people I know who have dealt with ACC “Sensitive” Claims have had to make statements of correction. That’s not a crime.
I'm with you on this one KSaysHi.
And it is not an infrequent occurrence although this story would seem an extreme example:
Psychopathic violent male abuses female and female is punished for… making up stories. Many of us have been down that road although not always a result of a domestic situation. It can be excessive abuse in the work-place or in a normal social setting. It never ceases to amaze me how often the perpetrators are believed over the victims by those who are supposed to be the experts/protectors/purveyors of justice.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/440501/exporters-missing-out-on-up-to-24-billion-of-untapped-global-demand-report
A report by an economics consultancy firm [Infometrics] has found up to $24 billion worth of untapped global demand for New Zealand products…
He said the report highlighted the potential demand for main exports, but did not consider whether producers could meet that demand, and what capacity constraints may be in the way.
Interesting – looking at increasing the wine market? That needs water and if looking at Nelson, Tasman, who knows whether they will have enough for themselves without feeding another hungry water sponge of win similar to dairy. There is a dam in Tasman being built which I hope is not going to be siphoned away to dairy and will provide surety of supply for people as far away as Richmond. The horticulture people actually need it muchly to maintain a diversified growing area. Wine should not be trying for much expansion to avoid being over-exposed to one industry. The dam appears to have rotten rock underneath, which I think they were warned about, and is requiring more work, and top-ups and government has said no more. It may be that it has to be scaled back for safety – intelligent geological reasons.
Yet this report says that markets in traditional areas of wine supply are not 'saturated'. It sounds as if the report and thinking is based on growth before all other considerations. And of course it has to be transported there, though wine would be fine by sea as I suppose it travels now?
I suggest that this potential export figure is a bit over-egged, a pie in the sky one, and we need to work hard to keep up what we have, and work on a managed rise coming from new customers, and present products at a steady pace. Sending ice cream must be a no-no long term. Exporting the ingredients and making it in the target country like Indonesia with local labour and NZ hygiene would I think endear us to those customers.
As for logs, to avoid us having to compete against export prices for our own product, government is going to have to pull finger and buy back some land or young plantations at the appropriate market price for young trees. Of course we do need politicians who have some idea of how to manage the country, and avoid the two-tier inflation we already notice on wood for our houses, and on built houses.
The report mentions Australia suffering a setback on exports through its accord with China having been damaged. They will be looking for outlets and competing, possibly undercutting us, to get them. It is wise to not rely on trade with Australia, and not to set up a joint promotion or trading bloc with them to trade with other countries, as they will always renege from agreements when there are problems, and seek to get the best deal for themselves.
Anyone who is interested in our country's enterprises and exports is welcome to criticise. But I have been watching for decades and I think I have a reasonably good overview – short on details and expertise with stats and graphs though!
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2104/S00055/on-the-erebus-memorial-in-parnell.htm
It seems an ugly lump of concrete passage on what had been a green park. And apparently it had to be in Auckland because most of the Erebus passengers had come from Auckland. They wanted to go as far as the Antarctic, so were prepared to travel that far themselves. Why not have it in Wellington in Parliament grounds, right by the people who were the type to bring the disaster about?
There was only one entity to blame and that was Air NZ. Poor procedures on the part of the back-up staff caused the tragedy. Nothing to do with the pollies although Muldoon was instrumental in enabling the truth to be covered up in order to save the Airline's reputation. All of it done at the expense of the dead cockpit crew who had been given the wrong co-ordinates.
Literal to a point Anne. I said the type that would have been the cause – if not pollies then up on The Terrace, just behind the beehive.