Just a recap over the discussion yeatserday evening on what beneficiaries are getting extra ….. some people seeming to speaking 'about' beneficiaries without any knowledge not 'for them'.
Clearly none of you know someone receiving a job seeker benefit, so I asked someone.
Winz dont seem to itemise these things, so his benefit this week compared to what was granted last year has risen by $72.65 per week from $218.98.
A Winz letter says the extra winter benefit is now $40.91 pw., thus the rise in the standard benefit received pw is $31.76
[Clearly, you’re an idiot engaging in bad faith begging to be banned. To be clear – we’re talking facts and not opinions or a difference in ideas. I’m in receipt of Job Seeker entitlement and do not receive the $ amount announced by the government. The reasoning behind that has been explained to you in through a umber of previous comments. Good-bye.] – B
For example if you were receiving TAS the total amount might have gone down when the base rate increases, but gone up a bit with the Winter Energy Payment.
If you are in state housing you will get the full benefit of the base rate increases, and you would also get the full increase if you aren't so disabled that your weekly disability costs are over $61/week. Yay for you! Aren't you lucky to be so healthy because you can be wealthy(er) too.
Ironically if you have say $200,000 in the bank you will also take the full increase. NZ is not a good place to be simultaneously weak or unwell and have no money.
Just read they are considering extending the wage subsidy…imagine the howls of outrage if that subsidy were paid at the same rate as JSS!
as someone on assisted living benefit(was called invalid benefit) we got $25 extra a week at beginning of lockdown. that makes a big difference and is the biggest increase in the 20 yrs that I have had. this increase was mostly ignored by people NOT on a benefit, but believe me, that and the increased winter heating payout has made life a lot easier. most of this money is spent every week locally, and is a master stroke by grant robertson. this money circulates in the economy and trickles up. growing things from the bottom up will always work better than trickledown myths.
Contrary to what some are claiming, I think this government has shown more compassion for beneficiaries – including those who are disabled – than has been seen for many years. It couldn't happen overnight but now it is happening and should be applauded not criticised.
that's not what is being debate Anne. What is being pointed out is that not all beneficiaries got the full $25. If that were acknowledged these conversations would go differently, not least because some of us could stop wasting our time correcting comments that are factually wrong and that have political implications.
What I don't understand is why people will rightfully celebrate the beneficiary getting $25 but won't talk about the one that got $2 and the personal and political implications of that.
Umm… I'm not sure but I think you may have misinterpreted my comment. As a pensioner, I received an increase in my pension and also the generous winter power payment and I'm grateful for it as indeed is woodart.
My understanding is all beneficiaries were treated equally. If some weren't then there will be a reason for it. Maybe they are paying back a loan from Winz in which case the weekly increase may have reduced the amount they owe.
That's just a thought. Don't know whether it is correct.
I can tell you exactly why it is (and we have been explaining for 2 days now). It's because the calculation for TAS claws back the increase. TAS is the hardship grant paid to many beneficiaries in the most poverty. I can't remember if AS does too, and there is also the issue of the abatement rate.
Labour know this, it's not a mistake, it's by design. I think they did a *really good thing making the WEP higher, because that is a direct cash transfer that is unaffected by the calculations used by WINZ, and I suspect this was intentional because it means less political fall out than if they'd raised benefits by $65/wk. But it's only for the winter and afaik won't be this much next year.
There are plenty of reasons to critique what Labour did with this and critiquing it doesn't mean that Labour did nothing. It just means there are still important problems in the system and the way things are being handled and we should be talking about those.
So is that cause to turn our critical faculties off?
Nobody is saying increasing the main benefit rates was the wrong thing to do, and it's great people are noticing the difference. All weka is saying, surely, is that by definition those receiving the TAS payment are the poorest in our community, but do not enjoy the $25 increase. Some will actually receive no increase at all.
"Contrary to what some are claiming, I think this government has shown more compassion for beneficiaries – including those who are disabled…"
That may well be the case, but it's not the issue right now.
The greater the disability-related expenses a person has the greater the likelihood that person receives the TAS payment, which in turn means they will not receive the full $25 increase when it comes to the overall weekly payment. Those who receive $25 or more of TAS will in all likelihood see no increase to their weekly payment as a result of the $25 increase to the main benefit rate.
Given that the winter fuel allowance is temporary and basically goes to power companies, if $25 a week makes life "a lot easier", then something's very wrong.
For those who actually wound up receiving $25, it should amount to 'lolly money' in the scheme of things- not a lifeline.
Interestingly, of those commenting here who I know for a fact are in receipt of welfare entitlements (myself included), not one has indulged in any effusive rosy specs commentary along the lines of your comment.
Odd that… must be just so many ungrateful ingrates, aye? 👿
"As someone on assisted living benefit(was called invalid benefit) we got $25 extra a week at beginning of lockdown. that makes a big difference and is the biggest increase in the 20 yrs that I have had. this increase was mostly ignored by people NOT on a benefit, but believe me, that and the increased winter heating payout has made life a lot easier. most of this money is spent every week locally,"
This is also my experience.I sympathise for those needing TAS due to their circumstances and understand the $25 is eaten up in abatement but at least the WW payment is $40 pw this winter. Hopefully if Labour is successful this coming election there can be more improvement for the beneficiary's lot
Do you regard a maximum weekly addition of $25 to be much more than an elastoplast being stuck on a major arterial bleed?
Given that $25 is probably around what many a worker might absently spend on take-away coffee in a week, doesn't it strike you as an insult that those in receipt of social welfare entitlements – who apparently need their children to be given fruit at school, and who apparently need food banks and budgeting advice, and who apparently require that the state (or some corporate partnership) feeds their children at school – are expected to be grateful and to now pipe down on the dollar amount of those entitlements?
As I wrote elsewhere, $150 added to core benefit levels might begin to address the punitive imposition of poverty on those claiming their so-called "welfare" entitlements. The offer of a cup of coffee a day equivalent on the other hand….
Nice one, woodart. Can I ask, was that $25 for a couple? Do you get TAS or Accommodation Supplement?
I agree raising benefits is a good thing. The problem is how to do that without some of the poorest people getting the least raise (which is what appears to have happened).
live alone, cant speak for couples. very small amount of acom supplement, cheap old cottage. do wonder at others who say they didnt get the $25. wonder if their bene has deductions in it for ? some peoples finance (dis) organisation makes you shake your head.
Yes, once someone is getting TAS and AS, there are complicated formulas to calculate how much they get paid, and these mean that when the core benefit is raised, less supplementary benefits are paid sometimes. It's complex. I'm hoping to do a post on it, but there's a fair bit of maths and research involved. Upshot is that there are beneficiaries who got a few dollars increase not the full $25.
When I was on a benefit the winter energy payment meant so much to our family. And for a beneficiary an extra $25 a week makes a tremendous difference.
Have been wondering if any bene bashers are now on a benefit and getting a bit of a wake up call as to how difficult it actually is and how resourceful one must become.
When I started working again one of the first things I brought were council rubbish bags, something we couldn't afford before. Sounds silly but it was a big deal, prior to that I'd sneak down to the park every couple of days and put our rubbish in the council bin.
However, he was criticised for publicly downplaying the seriousness of the virus, even as he privately sold equities and warned a private North Carolina business group of the stark risks it posed.
I guess members of their version of the Cabinet Club got their money's worth.
Membership to join the Tar Heel Circle costs between $500 and $10,000 and promises that members "enjoy interaction with top leaders and staff from Congress, the administration, and the private sector," according to the group's website.
Watch closely. If the FBI investigates Richard Burr for illegal sale of stock and doesn’t investigate Kelly Loeffler for the same, the purpose will be to replace Burr as chair of the Senate intelligence committee and to punish him for not protecting Trump.
Here's a little test for Minister Robertson since unemployment is his primary target, and o course since he put himself in the same league as Prime Minister Fraser. Here's the unemployment figures during and after WW2:
1938 34,000
1939 19,000
1942 2,000
1945 1,000
1946 1,000
1947-9 negligible
Cited in WB Sutch, The Quest for Security, sourced from Labour Department statistics.
This government should give a target of what it wants to achieve here.
Targets are good. Good fodder for the media. If the number of unemployed is 116,000 (March 2020 figure) and Robertson says he has a target of 100,000 the headlines will be "Robertson happy for 100,000 to be unemployed." There'd be stuff from Paul Goldsmith about Robertson having no plan and no ambition.
If the number drops to 100,001 the attacks will be about how he failed. If the number drops to 79,000 it would because the solid foundation that Bill English left had come into play. If Robertson had ambition and a plan and the unemployed number was to go down to 30,000 and it only dropped from 116,00 down to 40,000 Todd McClay would be going on about 'abject failure.'
Without a number Goldsmith can say Robertson doesn't care. The good thing about that is Goldsmith not having something specific to hang his facile arguments on.
Pretty hard to set a target while you still working out how big the start number will be . Itll be 6 months atleast before the layoffs finish ,ofcourse it is possible it wont be as bad as predicted if we are in level 1 in 3 weeks and domestic tourism cranks up .
Beef ,lamb ,dairy and logs are good we just need the germans out eating kiwi venison and the rural sector will be chugging along strongly .
3Blue1Brown (one of the very best YT math channels) has put up a short must watch on Contact Tracing and Tracking without compromising identity or location. It's only 7 min and as always with Grant, highly visual and accessible.
The Australian uptake is over 30% now and growing. I'm using it and I'm satisfied the app and the law around it are far less intrusive than say Google or FB.
It isn't perfect, but it is what we have to deal with the immediate crisis we know we have. As against the very unlikely risk of your privacy being compromised.
Is that a retraction in full of the comment that triggered the moderation or an admission that you can’t be bothered taking responsibility for your comments and simply walk away?
AFAIK, you have never been banned before. Bans are a last resort if a commenter fails to correct their behaviour here after and despite having been warned, for example.
The problem you have here is quite solvable. I made the case the other night that use of Aspirin, VitC, VitD and Zinc and are reasonable ideas and it's easy to find sources to back this up. The latter three items are really quite non-controversial, and I'm availing myself of them personally.
But you stepped over a line when you suggested specific doses of Aspirin that are clearly outside of usual limits. Incognito has made it clear that this site is not going to be used to promote unproven medical experimentation.
Keep in mind there is an awful lot of dangerous quackery out there, and the moderators have the unenviable task of trying to keep the tide of it from flooding this site. They have to draw a line somewhere, and rather than make fine judgements on a case by case basis (which no-one but a real expert really can do), it's fairest and simplest to just say no to anything that looks like a medical recommendation.
Before anyone starts complaining about the moeny to buy new C-130J transports, just remember that they'll have a fifty year lifespan and the previous fleet has given fantastic service for 55 years.
The slowing down pace of change in military technology is well illustrated with these Hercules transports. The Hercules first flew in 1954, and was itself a scaled up C-123, and aircraft that first flew in 1949. So the basic layout of the aircraft is over seventy years old.
Given the accelerating implosion of the Anglo-Saxon empire – the spectacle of it's two main protagonists shambolic and chaotic pandemic response will surely have lasting geo-political consequences, the USA and the UK are clearly busted flushes at the moment – it would be foolish to think that an ANZAC (+ Singapore?) alliance as a strong middle power might not have to defend itself without much expectation of help at some time in the next fifty years against an expansionist and imperialist China, so these transports represent a good investment IMHO.
The C130 is the most important Defence Force aircraft in its fleet and always has been.
I was working in a 24/7 capacity at the RNZAF base, Whenuapai during and in the aftermath of Cyclone Bola. C130s were pounding the route to Gisborne all day and night delivering equipment, medical and food supplies plus boots on the ground. I recall watching tractors and other heavy equipment being loaded and it brought home to me how essential they are in times of natural and man-made catastrophes. We haven't experienced the latter in NZ yet but the way the US is heading, together with their puppets in the UK and elsewhere, it might not be long.
These differences include new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 D3turboprop engines with Dowty R391[5]compositescimitar propellers, digital avionics (including head-up displays (HUDs) for each pilot), and reduced crew requirements. These changes have improved performance over its C-130E/H predecessors, such as 40% greater range, 21% higher maximum speed, and 41% shorter takeoff distance.[6] The J-model is available in a standard-length or stretched -30 variant.
From the outside, there’s not a lot of difference between the two, although one telling difference is in the planes’ four propellers. On the C-130H, there are four blades on each propeller. On the C-130J, there are six blades.
The “J” is also faster. It’s top speed is 417 mph, up from 366 in the “H.” And it can hold more weight (164,000 pounds vs 155,000 pounds) and travel farther (2,000+ miles vs 1,208 miles at “maximum normal payload”).
Inside, the differences are more clear. The C-130H requires a minimum crew of five, with two pilots, a navigator, engineer and loadmaster. The more modern C-130J needs only three crew members, two pilots and a loadmaster.
Inside the planes, you could fit 6 pallets, 92 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in the C-130H. Or 8 pallets, 128 combat troops or 92 paratroopers in the C-130J.
That range increase is impressive. If max loaded, it means a 130J can fly ~3200km compared to the existing ~1800km. Which means that when we need to respond to the islands there will be a lot more payload being able to to be carried. Currently they drastically lighten the load if they want to fly the 2872km between Auckland and Samoa.
Always remember catching a ride on one from down south to Auckland in in the early 1980s at night. It was exhausting and somewhat terrifying because it wasn't flying particularly high. But it got me to the funeral on time.
I did an all day trip down to Wigram via Wellington and back to Auckland in an Andover in 1988. Spent the trip in the cockpit with the crew. Beautiful weather, fantastic views. Fascinated by the piloting techniques. Wouldn't fancy the trip in bad weather though.
Interesting reading the soical media kick back against big tourism. A lot of people think as an industry it priced New Zealanders out of their own country in favour of over-charging foreigners, and there is quite a lot of resentment that the industry is now demanding taxpayer money.
I think it is also that the benefits are not equitably shared, while increases in costs are burdened onto local residents and ratepayers, whether that be environmental and/or infrastructure upgrades. There was an interesting Guardian article recently about Barcelona during lockdown, which follows several years of Barcelona residents protesting about the high tourist numbers affecting their quality of life.
There is also the issue of whether employment in this industry is robust and equitable, or a fairweather occupation.
I must admit I feel pretty enthusiastic that the opportunity to enjoy NZ as it used to be a couple of decades ago. Employment in a lot of this industry seemed to depend on work visa holders which suggest that it wasn't paying very well plus I never quite jelled with the amount of infrastructure we seemed to be paying for or the RW vision of Milford sound.. AFAIK there was a lot of yoyo money in the sector. Yes it needs a basic amount of government money but not too much as the international side doesn't look like it's returning anytime soon.
I'd actually like to see a little bit more tech if possible (IP pad ordering systems in restaurants etc) to up the productivity and increase the resilience of the sector
And interestingly the Australian figures this month show a net gain from the tourism shutdown … because there are no Australian's going overseas spending money.
I’m not sure how the NZ numbers will balance out, because our visitor numbers were almost as large as our total population, but it will be up there.
And aligning with Molly’s comment above, I’d be very interested to know exactly what fraction of the visitor spend in NZ actually stayed here. I get the impression a lot of it was just pumped back overseas in vertically integrated operations.
NZers overseas spend about half of what the tourism spend is in NZ. A bit over half of our tourism is domestic, where the Aussie split is about three quarters domestic, so their industry is in a much better place to survive this.
It's curious because we are a cheap destination with generally cheap products and services.
Not sure what you’re referring to but for Europeans we’re not a cheap destination relative to other choices and our hospitality industry is expensive compared to many if not most European places. Groceries here in NZ are most certainly not cheap.
I'd like to give a big shoutout to Winston Peters for closing down so many racetracks across New Zealand.
In particular, a huge thanks for shuttering Auckland's Avondale Racecourse. This has been a decaying blight for two decades, propped up only by Jockey Club selling off more and more slices of its land.
This is a huge greenfields opportunity to rebuild and expand the whole of Avondale.
Demolish those old stands with dynamite tomorrow!
I'm sure hoping to see Kainga Ora (and not those wastrels at Panuku) to get in there with a masterplan for the entire site, putting in proper parks, more cycleways than roads, easy bus stops, medium-density warm houses … and in general do there what they did a decade ago at Hobsonville.
Twyford's had his eye on it for a while, so I hope he overrides those dorks at Auckland Council. As Hobsonville shows there's plenty of room for both parks and people.
Not going to be a mall Duke. Panuku are redeveloping the Avondale Town Centre for that. The racecourse is slated to be redeveloped into medium density housing as Ad has said. Good to see that finally there seems to be some cut through in this. Winston’s in his element at the moment isn’t he?
There is a well patronized market in the weekend at the Avondale Racing Club. Lovely fresh fruit and veges at good prices. I'd hate to see that disappear ; not sure where else they could put it.
In the past few months, the CCP's propaganda effort has gone from clumsy and aggravating, to infantile and moronic. The list of nations China has deliberately gone out of it's way to piss off is quite spectacular; inviting a global anti-Chinese backlash of unprecedented dimensions. Three decades of soft-power building has been demolished in the past three weeks. Why?
What is Xi up to? Because we can assume the CCP is not a pack of total morons, they must be working to a plan. There seem to be two possible explanations; one is using the global anti-Chinese backlash to enflame anti-foreigner nationalist activity within China. Put simply, Xi is trying to get the world pissed off at China so that China becomes pissed off at the world.
This feels … extreme. Yet the CCP's diplomatic actions, across so many consistent fronts, cannot be ignored. There must be an explanation for them. My sources (and confirmed by persistent suggestions elsewhere, is the COVID disaster in China was much larger than admitted to, and the CCP knows it is facing an internal crisis. The response will be massive internal repression, led by their security forces, but implemented largely by the people themselves. The precedent for this lies within our lifetimes; the Cultural Revolution, The Great Leap Forward and of course Tiananmen Square.
The second purpose may have been hinted at a few days ago, when CCP media articles made it clear that China 'had options' to trading with Australia for iron ore and beef, such as Brazil. Wedging off large segments of a disintegrating global trade order into China's sphere of influence by feeding antagonisms, roughly splitting away from the G20 nations at a point where the USA has no interest, or capacity even, to repair the rifts. The goal may be to proactively divide the world into two trade camps, one Sino-centric, the other US based.
The question for Australia and NZ is going to be, into which camp will we be placed?
Kow-tow in public! It reassures our forelock tuggers! Or so our official advisors believe. 🙄
"The unredacted briefing also sets out the prioritisation order for the minister’s calls to his counterparts in other countries. At the top of the list, to be called within one week, were Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, Singapore, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Fiji. The next tier down, to be called within two weeks, included the US, China, Japan, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico."
Treating the US & China as second-tier nations is lateral thinking on such a scale as to leave me awed at the superb mental faculties of the advisors. Well done! Give those people a raise!
And putting them on the same level as PNG & Mexico does indeed reflect the comparable random violence produced within those nations. When informed, Trump & Xi will no doubt gulp & think, "I see, we're not so civilised really, eh? Must do better!" Supplying moral guidance into our foreign policy, subtly so as not to offend. Such clever officials.
"The MFAT spokeswoman said the ministry would carry out a thorough investigation of the inadvertent disclosure. However, after reviewing the document's contents they believed they had become less sensitive with the passage of time." Well yes, Xi & Trump have had plenty of time to absorb the message & moderate their behaviour accordingly… 😑
Donald Trump has threatened to “cut off the whole relationship” with China, as tensions between the US and China continue to rise over the origins of COVID-19.
“I’m very disappointed in China. I will tell you that right now,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Fox Business. “There are many things we could do. We could cut off the whole relationship. Now if you did, what would happen? You’d save $500 billion.”
It came in response to a question about whether the US should refuse Chinese nationals student visas for sensitive science areas.
I'm betting the CCP is aware that a de-facto 'cut off' of the global relationship with China is already happening. I've written it before, the one thing that will ensure the destruction of the CCP, is for the USA to go home; which Trump is now openly mouthing. Rather than trying to prevent the tide from going out, Xi Xinping is going to proactively play the tactic of using the momentum of your opponent to whatever advantage he can find. That will mean seizing control, doubling down on repressing internal dissent, and expanding their sphere of influence as aggressively as deemed possible.
All this was going to happen anyway, COVID 19 is accelerating them to warp-speed.
As for NZ, I can only feel for any CCP diplomat confronted with Winston in full obfuscate mode … he’s more than a match for them.
Trump on Xi: “I have a very good relationship (with him) but … right now I don’t want to speak to him.” Folks will empathise, after several weeks cooped up with their families.
Interesting to see the bit in that report where they refer to Trump as a "giant baby". That was the Trump blimp, actually. But maybe they can't tell the difference between the two? One full of helium, the other full of hot air…
To futher analogise, the Labour-Green-First government is like the Popular Front in Spain against the capitalists, catholics, monarchists, traditionalists and the miltary. That is probably why it cannot seem to get anything done.
China's road and beltway is slated to cost between US$4 and US$8 Trillion. US corporations have been given in excess of US$4 trillion with no strings attached.
That's a lot of $$ US corporations have at their disposal to compete in one way or another with China's new "silk roads" that the US are not a part of.
Meanwhile, ordinary US citizens are being thrown under the bus – unprecedented levels of unemployment, bugger all contingency plans by government that might provide for people suddenly in dire straits (2 x $1200 cheques for those who can negotiate the eligibility hurdles in a country where 1/3 of renters couldn't pay rent in April can't be said to 'cut it'), and millions upon millions losing health care along with their jobs.
Anyone might think the idea of corporate America was to let America burn and launch itself into a brave new world that’s free of any nation state constraints or social obligations.
Anyone might think the idea of corporate America was to let America burn and launch itself into a brave new world that’s free of any nation state constraints or social obligations.
why yes, yes that is exactly what this is. And it ain't the US alone. I look at England.
not just wait until the statistics indicate that all is good.
I don't agree at all. Muttonbird is quite correct. We MUST wait, but we can plan while we are doing that.. Ask how many kiwi's would enjoy going back to level 3 or 4? The answer will be none of them, and the 'two country bubble' won't happen until both of us have long strings of zero cases, with the ability to jump very quickly on any increase in numbers.
I agree with Muttonbird. We don't even know at this stage how well we have done, and Australia seems to be moving upwards now in new infections, while we are (temporarily?) at Zero.
Indiana is the fool rushing in where angels fear to tread.
Listening to the reaction to the budget since yesterday it is apparent there is many competing narratives and complaints but there is one fairly common area of note….the perceived lack of an overarching plan.
On the face of it this would appear to be a legitimate observation especially as we are in the process of spending the next decade or two's income.
However we are less than 4 months from an election and while I expect little of substance from National, Act or NZ First I would hope that before then both Labour and the Greens can present a comprehensive and detailed plan for the electorate to support.
Currently even those calling for such appear disjointed and vague in what it is that is desired but as Susan Krumdieck noted this morning on RNZ we know what we need to do,we need to start now, and we can learn on the job….but first we need a plan.
Time to front Labour and Greens (coz no one else is going to do it)…and you've had more than enough time to sort one out.
People always say that Pat, usually those who don't support the current government.
How can all the disparate elements of a budget be linked into a cohesive plan?
All I know is I hated all of the mean-spirited budgets of Bill English while there were many elements of yesterday's effort I liked-free school meals, more state houses (English sold them off), a billion for NZ Rail, a billion for green issues, no f*ck*n tax cuts….and so on.
if we dont address CC with that spend then when will we?
Never.
This budget was the one presenting the perfect opportunity to either (in Jacinda's badly chosen words) “tackle climate change head on” , or at least surreptitiously line up the ducks.
Neither of those things have happened.
Hell, every statement from government I'm aware of has been couched in terms of economic recovery – ie, re-establishing what went before. The cunning community board members who "made it to the big time" are our government are woefully lacking are the end of us.
the ducks may be surreptitiously lined up but the manifestos of both Labour and the Greens need to clarify that….I suspect that neither had a comprehensive plan previously and while dealing with covid havnt devoted any resources to it so it unlikely they will produce one in time for the election…3 years wasted?
Maybe they are wisely assuming that it would be dumb to commit to some hare-brained scheme when we have yet to find out what Covid19 has yet to surprise us with?
But don't claim that it was intentional! As I remember, he was scathing about the Values Party, and never cared about the environment, except for his personal rose garden.
It was definitely intentional. The priority at the time was to remove New Zealand dependence on Oil as the country had been importing inflation triggered by the Opec price hikes (as had most countries). But saying 'Think Big' was unintentional is about as bright as complaining that subsequent governments lost money on the infrastructure, its completely beside the point.
I think you are confusing Muldoon's good idea of reducing NZ's dependence on imported oil with something Muldoon never even considered. Did he ever utter the word 'decarbonise'?
Not even the Values Party existed when Think Big started, let alone the Greens, and concern about carbon.
I agree with your general point here about Muldoon and decarbonisation. Just want to point out that the Values Party started in 1972 (also the year that the Limits to Growth report came out). Think Big was coined in 1977. Muldoon would have been aware of these things, even if he was ignoring them.
Interesting – I stand corrected about time of Values Party, which I should have known. Well, I knew it, but I confused Think Big with the earlier Kapuni Pipeline.
I just couldn't quite remember Muldoon looking anything like a conservationist.
“Such lunacy is a clear byproduct, first and foremost, of the proverbial anxiety that the US has suffered from since China began its global ascension,” it said on Friday. “Trump seems insane right now or may have some psychological problems,” another editorial wrote."
De-carbonising the country completely is only possible if we don't build the 6000 homes for the homeless or the extra 4000 for state housing. It is only possible if trucks don't move the material to build them or put fridges and stoves or beds in them. It is only possible if food grown for 4.7 million people is left to rot in the fields.
Electric transport is great but is only part of the answer, it would mean the government would need to buy every family pretty much an electric vehicle amounting to a cost that would dwarf the Covid response. And all this for a technology that still has 10 years at least to run before it's products are efficiently mature enough not to be redundant after a few years.
Electrified transportation will happen eventually, but how do we get rid of concrete, steel, aluminium and even bloody plastic or even grow, harvest and machine and transport wood.
The only answer that could possibly solve this problem is to kill off at least 80% of us.
Anybody keen to go into an election, which also costs a huge amount of of even more precious metals for computers etc and energy, on that platform?.
Something like a 15-20% ongoing annual drop in energy that produces carbon while using the remaining carbon budget to put in place those things that will be required in a world around at least 2 degrees warmer than before, doesn't entail genocide.
Apply the carbon budget to construct housing 'fit for purpose' and produce whatever manufactured products there may be to last, rather than to throw away and replace.
It's just maybe still do-able. But government has been kicking the can down the road, is still kicking the can down the road, and the end of the road is most definitely in sight.
Love you acute footnoters above but what matters the most? There are right wing finance types talking about sparking the next growth phase. But this prognostication leaves aside reality which none of us can humour anymore. Exherently, climate change is imperative. Inherent involves our souls. It is 't'cause', as my Lancashire socialist ancestor called it, of our age. Really hate the foolishness of us at the wall of reality approaching us. I don't have children, most of this is worry about the discomfort of my old age. Our socialist ancestors would understand and fight like fuck against the challenge. But we mumble and mrrble.
Strange I associate talking for the people with starving yourself. Seeing those who've enriched themselves as officially for the people. Let alone vile America. I will always see gaining materially being against idealism.
Last night I stayed up till 3am just to see then-President Donald Trump leave the White House, get on a plane, and fly off to Florida, hopefully never to return. And when I woke up this morning, America was different. Not perfect, because it never was. Probably not even good, ...
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
Sara LutermanGrowing up autistic in a non-autistic world can be very isolating. We are often strange and out of sync with peers, despite our best efforts. Autistic adults have, until very recently, been largely absent from media and the public sphere. Finding role models is difficult. Finding useful advice ...
Doug JohnsonThe alien-like blooms and putrid stench of Amorphophallus titanum, better known as the corpse flower, draw big crowds and media coverage to botanical gardens each year. In 2015, for instance, around 75,000 people visited the Chicago Botanic Garden to see one of their corpse flowers bloom. More than ...
Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
. . America: The Empire Strikes Back (at itself) Further to my comments in the first part of 2020: The History That Was, the following should be considered regarding the current state of the US. They most likely will be by future historians pondering the critical decades of ...
Nathaniel ScharpingIn March, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to shut down major cities in the U.S., researchers were thinking about blood. In particular, they were worried about the U.S. blood supply — the millions of donations every year that help keep hospital patients alive when they need a transfusion. ...
Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
The Sincerest Form Of Flattery: As anybody with the intestinal fortitude to brave the commentary threads of local news-sites, large and small, will attest, the number of Trump-supporting New Zealanders is really quite astounding. IT’S SO DIFFICULT to resist the temptation to be smug. From the distant perspective of New Zealand, ...
RNZ reports on continued arbitrariness on decisions at the border. British comedian Russell Howard is about to tour New Zealand and other acts allowed in through managed isolation this summer include drag queen RuPaul and musicians at Northern Bass in Mangawhai and the Bay Dreams festival. The vice-president of the ...
As families around the world mourn more than two million people dead from Covid-19, the Plan B academics and their PR industry collaborator continue to argue that the New Zealand government should stop focusing on our managed isolation and quarantine system and instead protect the elderly so that they can ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 10, 2021 through Sat, Jan 16, 2021Editor's ChoiceNASA says 2020 tied for hottest year on record — here’s what you can do to helpPhoto by Michael Held on Unsplash ...
Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
Does the US need to strike a grand bargain with like-minded countries to pool their efforts? What does this tell us about today’s global politics? Perhaps the most remarkable editorial of last year was the cover leader of the London Economist on 19 November 2020. Shortly after Joe Biden was ...
Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato and Valmaine Toki, University of WaikatoAotearoa New Zealand likes to think it punches above its weight internationally, but there is one area where we are conspicuously falling behind — the number of sites recognised by the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Globally, there are 1,121 ...
An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
"Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here." Prisons are places of unceasing emotional and physical violence, unrelieved despair and unforgivable human waste.IT WAS NATIONAL’S Bill English who accurately described New Zealand’s prisons as “fiscal and moral failures”. On the same subject, Labour’s Dr Martyn Findlay memorably suggested that no prison ...
This is a re-post from Inside Climate News by Ilana Cohen. Inside Climate News is a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. Whether or not people accept the science on Covid-19 and climate change, both global crises will have lasting impacts on health and ...
. . American Burlesque As I write this (Wednesday evening, 6 January), the US Presidential election is all but resolved, confirming Joe Biden as the next President of the (Dis-)United State of America. Trump’s turbulent political career has lasted just four years – one of the few single-term US presidents ...
The session started off so well. Annalax – suitably chastised – spent a pleasant morning with his new girlfriend (he would say paramour, of course, but for our purposes, girlfriend is easier*). He told her about Waking World Drow, and their worship of Her Ladyship. And he started ...
In a recent column I wrote for local newspapers, I ventured to suggest that Donald Trump – in addition to being a liar and a cheat, and sexist and racist – was a fascist in the making and would probably try, if he were to lose the election, to defy ...
When I was preparing for my School C English exam I knew I needed some quotes to splash through my essays. But remembering lines was never my strong point, so I tended to look for the low-hanging fruit. We’d studied Shakespeare’s King Lear that year and perhaps the lowest hanging ...
When I went to bed last night, I was expecting today to be eventful. A lot of pouting in Congress as last-ditch Trumpers staged bad-faith "objections" to a democratic election, maybe some rioting on the streets of Washington DC from angry Trump supporters. But I wasn't expecting anything like an ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
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Just a recap over the discussion yeatserday evening on what beneficiaries are getting extra ….. some people seeming to speaking 'about' beneficiaries without any knowledge not 'for them'.
Clearly none of you know someone receiving a job seeker benefit, so I asked someone.
Winz dont seem to itemise these things, so his benefit this week compared to what was granted last year has risen by $72.65 per week from $218.98.
A Winz letter says the extra winter benefit is now $40.91 pw., thus the rise in the standard benefit received pw is $31.76
[Clearly, you’re an idiot engaging in bad faith begging to be banned. To be clear – we’re talking facts and not opinions or a difference in ideas. I’m in receipt of Job Seeker entitlement and do not receive the $ amount announced by the government. The reasoning behind that has been explained to you in through a umber of previous comments. Good-bye.] – B
The rise depends on a number of things.
For example if you were receiving TAS the total amount might have gone down when the base rate increases, but gone up a bit with the Winter Energy Payment.
If you are in state housing you will get the full benefit of the base rate increases, and you would also get the full increase if you aren't so disabled that your weekly disability costs are over $61/week. Yay for you! Aren't you lucky to be so healthy because you can be wealthy(er) too.
Ironically if you have say $200,000 in the bank you will also take the full increase. NZ is not a good place to be simultaneously weak or unwell and have no money.
Just read they are considering extending the wage subsidy…imagine the howls of outrage if that subsidy were paid at the same rate as JSS!
as someone on assisted living benefit(was called invalid benefit) we got $25 extra a week at beginning of lockdown. that makes a big difference and is the biggest increase in the 20 yrs that I have had. this increase was mostly ignored by people NOT on a benefit, but believe me, that and the increased winter heating payout has made life a lot easier. most of this money is spent every week locally, and is a master stroke by grant robertson. this money circulates in the economy and trickles up. growing things from the bottom up will always work better than trickledown myths.
Great to hear your real experience of the difference.
I concur with Ad woodart.
Contrary to what some are claiming, I think this government has shown more compassion for beneficiaries – including those who are disabled – than has been seen for many years. It couldn't happen overnight but now it is happening and should be applauded not criticised.
that's not what is being debate Anne. What is being pointed out is that not all beneficiaries got the full $25. If that were acknowledged these conversations would go differently, not least because some of us could stop wasting our time correcting comments that are factually wrong and that have political implications.
What I don't understand is why people will rightfully celebrate the beneficiary getting $25 but won't talk about the one that got $2 and the personal and political implications of that.
Umm… I'm not sure but I think you may have misinterpreted my comment. As a pensioner, I received an increase in my pension and also the generous winter power payment and I'm grateful for it as indeed is woodart.
My understanding is all beneficiaries were treated equally. If some weren't then there will be a reason for it. Maybe they are paying back a loan from Winz in which case the weekly increase may have reduced the amount they owe.
That's just a thought. Don't know whether it is correct.
I can tell you exactly why it is (and we have been explaining for 2 days now). It's because the calculation for TAS claws back the increase. TAS is the hardship grant paid to many beneficiaries in the most poverty. I can't remember if AS does too, and there is also the issue of the abatement rate.
Labour know this, it's not a mistake, it's by design. I think they did a *really good thing making the WEP higher, because that is a direct cash transfer that is unaffected by the calculations used by WINZ, and I suspect this was intentional because it means less political fall out than if they'd raised benefits by $65/wk. But it's only for the winter and afaik won't be this much next year.
There are plenty of reasons to critique what Labour did with this and critiquing it doesn't mean that Labour did nothing. It just means there are still important problems in the system and the way things are being handled and we should be talking about those.
So is that cause to turn our critical faculties off?
Nobody is saying increasing the main benefit rates was the wrong thing to do, and it's great people are noticing the difference. All weka is saying, surely, is that by definition those receiving the TAS payment are the poorest in our community, but do not enjoy the $25 increase. Some will actually receive no increase at all.
"Contrary to what some are claiming, I think this government has shown more compassion for beneficiaries – including those who are disabled…"
That may well be the case, but it's not the issue right now.
The greater the disability-related expenses a person has the greater the likelihood that person receives the TAS payment, which in turn means they will not receive the full $25 increase when it comes to the overall weekly payment. Those who receive $25 or more of TAS will in all likelihood see no increase to their weekly payment as a result of the $25 increase to the main benefit rate.
Given that the winter fuel allowance is temporary and basically goes to power companies, if $25 a week makes life "a lot easier", then something's very wrong.
For those who actually wound up receiving $25, it should amount to 'lolly money' in the scheme of things- not a lifeline.
Interestingly, of those commenting here who I know for a fact are in receipt of welfare entitlements (myself included), not one has indulged in any effusive rosy specs commentary along the lines of your comment.
Odd that… must be just so many ungrateful ingrates, aye? 👿
"As someone on assisted living benefit(was called invalid benefit) we got $25 extra a week at beginning of lockdown. that makes a big difference and is the biggest increase in the 20 yrs that I have had. this increase was mostly ignored by people NOT on a benefit, but believe me, that and the increased winter heating payout has made life a lot easier. most of this money is spent every week locally,"
This is also my experience.I sympathise for those needing TAS due to their circumstances and understand the $25 is eaten up in abatement but at least the WW payment is $40 pw this winter. Hopefully if Labour is successful this coming election there can be more improvement for the beneficiary's lot
Do you regard a maximum weekly addition of $25 to be much more than an elastoplast being stuck on a major arterial bleed?
Given that $25 is probably around what many a worker might absently spend on take-away coffee in a week, doesn't it strike you as an insult that those in receipt of social welfare entitlements – who apparently need their children to be given fruit at school, and who apparently need food banks and budgeting advice, and who apparently require that the state (or some corporate partnership) feeds their children at school – are expected to be grateful and to now pipe down on the dollar amount of those entitlements?
As I wrote elsewhere, $150 added to core benefit levels might begin to address the punitive imposition of poverty on those claiming their so-called "welfare" entitlements. The offer of a cup of coffee a day equivalent on the other hand….
I d rather labour win the next election than shell out $150 per week and lose the next election to the nactoids
So noble of you. Hopelessly wrongheaded. But noble nonetheless…I guess.
Nice one, woodart. Can I ask, was that $25 for a couple? Do you get TAS or Accommodation Supplement?
I agree raising benefits is a good thing. The problem is how to do that without some of the poorest people getting the least raise (which is what appears to have happened).
live alone, cant speak for couples. very small amount of acom supplement, cheap old cottage. do wonder at others who say they didnt get the $25. wonder if their bene has deductions in it for ? some peoples finance (dis) organisation makes you shake your head.
Yes, once someone is getting TAS and AS, there are complicated formulas to calculate how much they get paid, and these mean that when the core benefit is raised, less supplementary benefits are paid sometimes. It's complex. I'm hoping to do a post on it, but there's a fair bit of maths and research involved. Upshot is that there are beneficiaries who got a few dollars increase not the full $25.
Weka we received $25 each and the winter warmth payment. We are on the pension.
Do you get TAS or Accommodation Supplement patricia?
Yes 🙂 Woodart 🙂 I'm hearing you on that.
When I was on a benefit the winter energy payment meant so much to our family. And for a beneficiary an extra $25 a week makes a tremendous difference.
Have been wondering if any bene bashers are now on a benefit and getting a bit of a wake up call as to how difficult it actually is and how resourceful one must become.
When I started working again one of the first things I brought were council rubbish bags, something we couldn't afford before. Sounds silly but it was a big deal, prior to that I'd sneak down to the park every couple of days and put our rubbish in the council bin.
And not leave it strewn about the place, ideally in a place of natural wonder or beauty spot. Call yourself a kiwi lol
One of the senators accused of pandemic insider trading quits.
I guess members of their version of the Cabinet Club got their money's worth.
[further googling]
Oh snap it really is their Cabinet Club:
good news , but it seems to be "temporarily stepped down as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, "
Quits makes it sound like hes resigned in disgrace – why is the BBC doing clickbait headlines
Thats where the Nats got their Cabinet Club idea from
argh shit you're right, didn't read closely enough.
Anyway, I'm sure our CC didn't give people access to non-public information. Totes above board, I'm sure.
Good illustration of how these things are operated by the corrupt (as opposed to our "honourable" members), though.
More to this than meets the eye.
https://www.emptywheel.net/2020/05/14/as-richard-burr-rushes-to-release-volume-five-the-fbi-closes-in/
https://twitter.com/blakesmustache/status/1260966209257963522?s=20
That would indeed be consistent with the repugs' current attitudes to democracy.
Who would have thought that the alleged pandemic insider-trader would be to ethical for those fuckers…
Here's a little test for Minister Robertson since unemployment is his primary target, and o course since he put himself in the same league as Prime Minister Fraser. Here's the unemployment figures during and after WW2:
1938 34,000
1939 19,000
1942 2,000
1945 1,000
1946 1,000
1947-9 negligible
Cited in WB Sutch, The Quest for Security, sourced from Labour Department statistics.
This government should give a target of what it wants to achieve here.
Targets are good. Good fodder for the media. If the number of unemployed is 116,000 (March 2020 figure) and Robertson says he has a target of 100,000 the headlines will be "Robertson happy for 100,000 to be unemployed." There'd be stuff from Paul Goldsmith about Robertson having no plan and no ambition.
If the number drops to 100,001 the attacks will be about how he failed. If the number drops to 79,000 it would because the solid foundation that Bill English left had come into play. If Robertson had ambition and a plan and the unemployed number was to go down to 30,000 and it only dropped from 116,00 down to 40,000 Todd McClay would be going on about 'abject failure.'
Without a number Goldsmith can say Robertson doesn't care. The good thing about that is Goldsmith not having something specific to hang his facile arguments on.
Without a target no one can hold them to account at all.
Which is weird for a democracy that's going tits up and $50b down a hole.
Pretty hard to set a target while you still working out how big the start number will be . Itll be 6 months atleast before the layoffs finish ,ofcourse it is possible it wont be as bad as predicted if we are in level 1 in 3 weeks and domestic tourism cranks up .
Beef ,lamb ,dairy and logs are good we just need the germans out eating kiwi venison and the rural sector will be chugging along strongly .
to Ad at 3 : Seems to me the reality of the gap at 1939 would have been on account of beginning of WW2.
From 1945 or shortly after, 3% loans for ex-servicemen which were designed to ensure employment.
Yes and a lot more benefits besides, with a whole bunch less abatement and qualifier nonsense.
Target should be full employment, a phrase last heard from a government minister during the 1984 election campaign.
As you highlight, when there is a war on all the political impediments to finding everybody work rapidly vanish.
3Blue1Brown (one of the very best YT math channels) has put up a short must watch on Contact Tracing and Tracking without compromising identity or location. It's only 7 min and as always with Grant, highly visual and accessible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D__UaR5MQao
Great video. Key point for me is that it is open source.
Australia's tracing app is not open source and the uptake is low.
The Australian uptake is over 30% now and growing. I'm using it and I'm satisfied the app and the law around it are far less intrusive than say Google or FB.
Various tech sector spokespeople have backed it similarly. And the source code is available.
It isn't perfect, but it is what we have to deal with the immediate crisis we know we have. As against the very unlikely risk of your privacy being compromised.
Could you please respond to your moderation if you like to keep your commenting privileges? For your convenience: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13-05-2020/#comment-1711567. Thank you.
It's ok. I think I'm just not a match for this site. Have fun guys.
Is that a retraction in full of the comment that triggered the moderation or an admission that you can’t be bothered taking responsibility for your comments and simply walk away?
AFAIK, you have never been banned before. Bans are a last resort if a commenter fails to correct their behaviour here after and despite having been warned, for example.
Unless they are banned without warning.
The exception that proves the rule. All commenters must read the policy 😉
Important for us all to be moderate. 🙂
I hear ya.
thanks
@ A
The problem you have here is quite solvable. I made the case the other night that use of Aspirin, VitC, VitD and Zinc and are reasonable ideas and it's easy to find sources to back this up. The latter three items are really quite non-controversial, and I'm availing myself of them personally.
But you stepped over a line when you suggested specific doses of Aspirin that are clearly outside of usual limits. Incognito has made it clear that this site is not going to be used to promote unproven medical experimentation.
Keep in mind there is an awful lot of dangerous quackery out there, and the moderators have the unenviable task of trying to keep the tide of it from flooding this site. They have to draw a line somewhere, and rather than make fine judgements on a case by case basis (which no-one but a real expert really can do), it's fairest and simplest to just say no to anything that looks like a medical recommendation.
If you can work with that, then all will be fine.
Hi A, FWIW, I enjoy reading yr comments.
Like politics, it can be wrong to be right too early.
Also I can see the position the mods are in, feeling responsibility for what is published here.
Before anyone starts complaining about the moeny to buy new C-130J transports, just remember that they'll have a fifty year lifespan and the previous fleet has given fantastic service for 55 years.
The slowing down pace of change in military technology is well illustrated with these Hercules transports. The Hercules first flew in 1954, and was itself a scaled up C-123, and aircraft that first flew in 1949. So the basic layout of the aircraft is over seventy years old.
Given the accelerating implosion of the Anglo-Saxon empire – the spectacle of it's two main protagonists shambolic and chaotic pandemic response will surely have lasting geo-political consequences, the USA and the UK are clearly busted flushes at the moment – it would be foolish to think that an ANZAC (+ Singapore?) alliance as a strong middle power might not have to defend itself without much expectation of help at some time in the next fifty years against an expansionist and imperialist China, so these transports represent a good investment IMHO.
The C130 is the most important Defence Force aircraft in its fleet and always has been.
I was working in a 24/7 capacity at the RNZAF base, Whenuapai during and in the aftermath of Cyclone Bola. C130s were pounding the route to Gisborne all day and night delivering equipment, medical and food supplies plus boots on the ground. I recall watching tractors and other heavy equipment being loaded and it brought home to me how essential they are in times of natural and man-made catastrophes. We haven't experienced the latter in NZ yet but the way the US is heading, together with their puppets in the UK and elsewhere, it might not be long.
They have been incredibly useful, especially with their range.
Looking at the J model, there are significiant improvements, especially for us down in this part of the world.
Wikipedia
Fort Bragg report
That range increase is impressive. If max loaded, it means a 130J can fly ~3200km compared to the existing ~1800km. Which means that when we need to respond to the islands there will be a lot more payload being able to to be carried. Currently they drastically lighten the load if they want to fly the 2872km between Auckland and Samoa.
And anything is better than those Andovers 🙂
Good God. Are those Andovers still flying. 😮
Nope. It looks like they finally dropped out of 42 squadron in 1998.
Always remember catching a ride on one from down south to Auckland in in the early 1980s at night. It was exhausting and somewhat terrifying because it wasn't flying particularly high. But it got me to the funeral on time.
I did an all day trip down to Wigram via Wellington and back to Auckland in an Andover in 1988. Spent the trip in the cockpit with the crew. Beautiful weather, fantastic views. Fascinated by the piloting techniques. Wouldn't fancy the trip in bad weather though.
Interesting reading the soical media kick back against big tourism. A lot of people think as an industry it priced New Zealanders out of their own country in favour of over-charging foreigners, and there is quite a lot of resentment that the industry is now demanding taxpayer money.
I think it is also that the benefits are not equitably shared, while increases in costs are burdened onto local residents and ratepayers, whether that be environmental and/or infrastructure upgrades. There was an interesting Guardian article recently about Barcelona during lockdown, which follows several years of Barcelona residents protesting about the high tourist numbers affecting their quality of life.
There is also the issue of whether employment in this industry is robust and equitable, or a fairweather occupation.
I must admit I feel pretty enthusiastic that the opportunity to enjoy NZ as it used to be a couple of decades ago. Employment in a lot of this industry seemed to depend on work visa holders which suggest that it wasn't paying very well plus I never quite jelled with the amount of infrastructure we seemed to be paying for or the RW vision of Milford sound.. AFAIK there was a lot of yoyo money in the sector. Yes it needs a basic amount of government money but not too much as the international side doesn't look like it's returning anytime soon.
I'd actually like to see a little bit more tech if possible (IP pad ordering systems in restaurants etc) to up the productivity and increase the resilience of the sector
And interestingly the Australian figures this month show a net gain from the tourism shutdown … because there are no Australian's going overseas spending money.
I’m not sure how the NZ numbers will balance out, because our visitor numbers were almost as large as our total population, but it will be up there.
And aligning with Molly’s comment above, I’d be very interested to know exactly what fraction of the visitor spend in NZ actually stayed here. I get the impression a lot of it was just pumped back overseas in vertically integrated operations.
NZers overseas spend about half of what the tourism spend is in NZ. A bit over half of our tourism is domestic, where the Aussie split is about three quarters domestic, so their industry is in a much better place to survive this.
It's curious because we are a cheap destination with generally cheap products and services.
I think it's more a reflection that most New Zealanders can't afford holidays that are more than utterly basic .
The weekend away, for the average family costs about $1-2000. If you want to go interisland then probably double that.
For many I think it's just time at home.
Anyone remember the purpose of the Tourist Hotel Corporation?
As I recall it was to build flash hotels for tourists in this country, because private investors werent coming to the party.
It was broken up 30 years ago this year.
And, as always, owned by oligarchs through holding companies.
Go back to when it began, not when it finished.
Not sure what you’re referring to but for Europeans we’re not a cheap destination relative to other choices and our hospitality industry is expensive compared to many if not most European places. Groceries here in NZ are most certainly not cheap.
I'd like to give a big shoutout to Winston Peters for closing down so many racetracks across New Zealand.
In particular, a huge thanks for shuttering Auckland's Avondale Racecourse. This has been a decaying blight for two decades, propped up only by Jockey Club selling off more and more slices of its land.
This is a huge greenfields opportunity to rebuild and expand the whole of Avondale.
Demolish those old stands with dynamite tomorrow!
I'm sure hoping to see Kainga Ora (and not those wastrels at Panuku) to get in there with a masterplan for the entire site, putting in proper parks, more cycleways than roads, easy bus stops, medium-density warm houses … and in general do there what they did a decade ago at Hobsonville.
Most will likely remain as open space/sports fields as it is now. Do we really need more big box strip malls along a busy highway.
Twyford's had his eye on it for a while, so I hope he overrides those dorks at Auckland Council. As Hobsonville shows there's plenty of room for both parks and people.
Not going to be a mall Duke. Panuku are redeveloping the Avondale Town Centre for that. The racecourse is slated to be redeveloped into medium density housing as Ad has said. Good to see that finally there seems to be some cut through in this. Winston’s in his element at the moment isn’t he?
There is a well patronized market in the weekend at the Avondale Racing Club. Lovely fresh fruit and veges at good prices. I'd hate to see that disappear ; not sure where else they could put it.
Ad,
A good idea.
Unfortunately your 'grassroots' members in the provinces think otherwise.
(myself, I am neither for nor against racecourse consolidation).
Such principle you have.
My principle is squash gambling until it dies.
Peters is giving them palliative care and the ability to squeeze their own painkiller button.
In the past few months, the CCP's propaganda effort has gone from clumsy and aggravating, to infantile and moronic. The list of nations China has deliberately gone out of it's way to piss off is quite spectacular; inviting a global anti-Chinese backlash of unprecedented dimensions. Three decades of soft-power building has been demolished in the past three weeks. Why?
What is Xi up to? Because we can assume the CCP is not a pack of total morons, they must be working to a plan. There seem to be two possible explanations; one is using the global anti-Chinese backlash to enflame anti-foreigner nationalist activity within China. Put simply, Xi is trying to get the world pissed off at China so that China becomes pissed off at the world.
This feels … extreme. Yet the CCP's diplomatic actions, across so many consistent fronts, cannot be ignored. There must be an explanation for them. My sources (and confirmed by persistent suggestions elsewhere, is the COVID disaster in China was much larger than admitted to, and the CCP knows it is facing an internal crisis. The response will be massive internal repression, led by their security forces, but implemented largely by the people themselves. The precedent for this lies within our lifetimes; the Cultural Revolution, The Great Leap Forward and of course Tiananmen Square.
The second purpose may have been hinted at a few days ago, when CCP media articles made it clear that China 'had options' to trading with Australia for iron ore and beef, such as Brazil. Wedging off large segments of a disintegrating global trade order into China's sphere of influence by feeding antagonisms, roughly splitting away from the G20 nations at a point where the USA has no interest, or capacity even, to repair the rifts. The goal may be to proactively divide the world into two trade camps, one Sino-centric, the other US based.
The question for Australia and NZ is going to be, into which camp will we be placed?
We can continue to defeat binary robots by triangulating! Hey, check this out: "“New Zealand does not – and should not – always agree with China,” it said in a sentence deemed sensitive enough to be withheld from the public." https://www.newsroom.co.nz/politics/2020/05/15/1171117/sensitive-foreign-affairs-briefing-published-online
Kow-tow in public! It reassures our forelock tuggers! Or so our official advisors believe. 🙄
"The unredacted briefing also sets out the prioritisation order for the minister’s calls to his counterparts in other countries. At the top of the list, to be called within one week, were Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, the European Union, Singapore, Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Fiji. The next tier down, to be called within two weeks, included the US, China, Japan, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, and Mexico."
Treating the US & China as second-tier nations is lateral thinking on such a scale as to leave me awed at the superb mental faculties of the advisors. Well done! Give those people a raise!
And putting them on the same level as PNG & Mexico does indeed reflect the comparable random violence produced within those nations. When informed, Trump & Xi will no doubt gulp & think, "I see, we're not so civilised really, eh? Must do better!" Supplying moral guidance into our foreign policy, subtly so as not to offend. Such clever officials.
"The MFAT spokeswoman said the ministry would carry out a thorough investigation of the inadvertent disclosure. However, after reviewing the document's contents they believed they had become less sensitive with the passage of time." Well yes, Xi & Trump have had plenty of time to absorb the message & moderate their behaviour accordingly… 😑
It's tough to write predictions, when reality catches up with them so fast.
I'm betting the CCP is aware that a de-facto 'cut off' of the global relationship with China is already happening. I've written it before, the one thing that will ensure the destruction of the CCP, is for the USA to go home; which Trump is now openly mouthing. Rather than trying to prevent the tide from going out, Xi Xinping is going to proactively play the tactic of using the momentum of your opponent to whatever advantage he can find. That will mean seizing control, doubling down on repressing internal dissent, and expanding their sphere of influence as aggressively as deemed possible.
All this was going to happen anyway, COVID 19 is accelerating them to warp-speed.
As for NZ, I can only feel for any CCP diplomat confronted with Winston in full obfuscate mode … he’s more than a match for them.
Trump on Xi: “I have a very good relationship (with him) but … right now I don’t want to speak to him.” Folks will empathise, after several weeks cooped up with their families.
Interesting to see the bit in that report where they refer to Trump as a "giant baby". That was the Trump blimp, actually. But maybe they can't tell the difference between the two? One full of helium, the other full of hot air…
Try this one – deep fake from kimmel
It is uncanny how changing the face but leaving the protestations still make sit like trump denials…
It is going to be a long six months for China until the US election.
No doubt two senarios one for Trump as President and the other Biden. Either way growth is going to take a hit.
The world is being reshaped on so many levels. It would be nice if leaders strive for peace and to reduce indifference.
Makes sense to have the discussions before getting to the demands.
We'll be in both, like Franko's Spain, because the billionaires will want their boltholes.
Yes, Franco's Spain.
To futher analogise, the Labour-Green-First government is like the Popular Front in Spain against the capitalists, catholics, monarchists, traditionalists and the miltary. That is probably why it cannot seem to get anything done.
I'm loving the sound of hearing the kids at the playground, what a joyful noise!
Hehehehe, for sure, kids in a playground having fun is one of the best noises in the world.
However…I'm loving being back in the office with adults, no children and no "mummmmm can I have…" 🙂 🙂 🙂
Food for thought?
China's road and beltway is slated to cost between US$4 and US$8 Trillion. US corporations have been given in excess of US$4 trillion with no strings attached.
That's a lot of $$ US corporations have at their disposal to compete in one way or another with China's new "silk roads" that the US are not a part of.
Meanwhile, ordinary US citizens are being thrown under the bus – unprecedented levels of unemployment, bugger all contingency plans by government that might provide for people suddenly in dire straits (2 x $1200 cheques for those who can negotiate the eligibility hurdles in a country where 1/3 of renters couldn't pay rent in April can't be said to 'cut it'), and millions upon millions losing health care along with their jobs.
Anyone might think the idea of corporate America was to let America burn and launch itself into a brave new world that’s free of any nation state constraints or social obligations.
why yes, yes that is exactly what this is. And it ain't the US alone. I look at England.
Australia has reported 30 new Covid-19 cases today.
New South Wales +8, Victoria +20 and Queensland +2.
https://covidlive.com.au/
…and a lot of pressure to ease up. We are a long long way from establishing a two country bubble.
And this shows that we need to be so vigilant in Level 2.
I hope you agree that we should be planning something to create the 2 country bubble and not just wait until the statistics indicate that all is good.
Australia has not done what is required to deserve to be in a bubble with NZ.
I don't agree at all. Muttonbird is quite correct. We MUST wait, but we can plan while we are doing that.. Ask how many kiwi's would enjoy going back to level 3 or 4? The answer will be none of them, and the 'two country bubble' won't happen until both of us have long strings of zero cases, with the ability to jump very quickly on any increase in numbers.
I agree with Muttonbird. We don't even know at this stage how well we have done, and Australia seems to be moving upwards now in new infections, while we are (temporarily?) at Zero.
Indiana is the fool rushing in where angels fear to tread.
Why court-stacking matters. Wisconsin's Republican-aligned supreme court strikes down the Governor's stay at home order as illegal and people flock to bars. What a crazy sh*tshow.
Listening to the reaction to the budget since yesterday it is apparent there is many competing narratives and complaints but there is one fairly common area of note….the perceived lack of an overarching plan.
On the face of it this would appear to be a legitimate observation especially as we are in the process of spending the next decade or two's income.
However we are less than 4 months from an election and while I expect little of substance from National, Act or NZ First I would hope that before then both Labour and the Greens can present a comprehensive and detailed plan for the electorate to support.
Currently even those calling for such appear disjointed and vague in what it is that is desired but as Susan Krumdieck noted this morning on RNZ we know what we need to do,we need to start now, and we can learn on the job….but first we need a plan.
Time to front Labour and Greens (coz no one else is going to do it)…and you've had more than enough time to sort one out.
People always say that Pat, usually those who don't support the current government.
How can all the disparate elements of a budget be linked into a cohesive plan?
All I know is I hated all of the mean-spirited budgets of Bill English while there were many elements of yesterday's effort I liked-free school meals, more state houses (English sold them off), a billion for NZ Rail, a billion for green issues, no f*ck*n tax cuts….and so on.
People always say what?
We are in the process of spending our working capital for the next decade or two…if we dont address CC with that spend then when will we?
if we dont address CC with that spend then when will we?
Never.
This budget was the one presenting the perfect opportunity to either (in Jacinda's badly chosen words) “tackle climate change head on” , or at least surreptitiously line up the ducks.
Neither of those things have happened.
Hell, every statement from government I'm aware of has been couched in terms of economic recovery – ie, re-establishing what went before. The cunning community board members who "made it to the big time" are our government are woefully lacking are the end of us.
the ducks may be surreptitiously lined up but the manifestos of both Labour and the Greens need to clarify that….I suspect that neither had a comprehensive plan previously and while dealing with covid havnt devoted any resources to it so it unlikely they will produce one in time for the election…3 years wasted?
Maybe they are wisely assuming that it would be dumb to commit to some hare-brained scheme when we have yet to find out what Covid19 has yet to surprise us with?
a hare brained scheme isnt whats needed but a commitment is…and preferably before the election.
Any effort to fight climate change, or de-cabonise the economy, or any of that stuff needs a "Think Big" style program.
Anything else, you are just wasting your time (and taxpayer money).
Rob Muldoon de-carbonised the economy more than any other clown (or clown-ette) after him.
But don't claim that it was intentional! As I remember, he was scathing about the Values Party, and never cared about the environment, except for his personal rose garden.
"But don't claim that it was intentional!"
It was definitely intentional. The priority at the time was to remove New Zealand dependence on Oil as the country had been importing inflation triggered by the Opec price hikes (as had most countries). But saying 'Think Big' was unintentional is about as bright as complaining that subsequent governments lost money on the infrastructure, its completely beside the point.
I think you are confusing Muldoon's good idea of reducing NZ's dependence on imported oil with something Muldoon never even considered. Did he ever utter the word 'decarbonise'?
Not even the Values Party existed when Think Big started, let alone the Greens, and concern about carbon.
It sounds like something from Star Trek 😉
I agree with your general point here about Muldoon and decarbonisation. Just want to point out that the Values Party started in 1972 (also the year that the Limits to Growth report came out). Think Big was coined in 1977. Muldoon would have been aware of these things, even if he was ignoring them.
I did find this though,
Interesting – I stand corrected about time of Values Party, which I should have known. Well, I knew it, but I confused Think Big with the earlier Kapuni Pipeline.
I just couldn't quite remember Muldoon looking anything like a conservationist.
Any effort to fight climate change, or de-cabonise the economy, or any of that stuff needs a "Think Big" style program.
Not necessarily. Cut emissions from energy by 15- 20% per year on an ongoing basis and adapt to the new unfolding environment.
“Such lunacy is a clear byproduct, first and foremost, of the proverbial anxiety that the US has suffered from since China began its global ascension,” it said on Friday. “Trump seems insane right now or may have some psychological problems,” another editorial wrote."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/15/global-report-trade-deal-fears-after-trump-threat-to-cut-china-ties-over-covid-19
may?
De-carbonising the country completely is only possible if we don't build the 6000 homes for the homeless or the extra 4000 for state housing. It is only possible if trucks don't move the material to build them or put fridges and stoves or beds in them. It is only possible if food grown for 4.7 million people is left to rot in the fields.
Electric transport is great but is only part of the answer, it would mean the government would need to buy every family pretty much an electric vehicle amounting to a cost that would dwarf the Covid response. And all this for a technology that still has 10 years at least to run before it's products are efficiently mature enough not to be redundant after a few years.
Electrified transportation will happen eventually, but how do we get rid of concrete, steel, aluminium and even bloody plastic or even grow, harvest and machine and transport wood.
The only answer that could possibly solve this problem is to kill off at least 80% of us.
Anybody keen to go into an election, which also costs a huge amount of of even more precious metals for computers etc and energy, on that platform?.
I've just seen a $240m project built without a single truck moving a thing.
Stop with the genocidal crap.
Do something useful and tell the greens that their next coalition negotiation has to include a limit of 2030 on all imports of ICE cars.
"I've just seen a $240m project built without a single truck moving a thing."
What was that?
Something like a 15-20% ongoing annual drop in energy that produces carbon while using the remaining carbon budget to put in place those things that will be required in a world around at least 2 degrees warmer than before, doesn't entail genocide.
Apply the carbon budget to construct housing 'fit for purpose' and produce whatever manufactured products there may be to last, rather than to throw away and replace.
It's just maybe still do-able. But government has been kicking the can down the road, is still kicking the can down the road, and the end of the road is most definitely in sight.
Love you acute footnoters above but what matters the most? There are right wing finance types talking about sparking the next growth phase. But this prognostication leaves aside reality which none of us can humour anymore. Exherently, climate change is imperative. Inherent involves our souls. It is 't'cause', as my Lancashire socialist ancestor called it, of our age. Really hate the foolishness of us at the wall of reality approaching us. I don't have children, most of this is worry about the discomfort of my old age. Our socialist ancestors would understand and fight like fuck against the challenge. But we mumble and mrrble.
Strange I associate talking for the people with starving yourself. Seeing those who've enriched themselves as officially for the people. Let alone vile America. I will always see gaining materially being against idealism.
Kia Ora Newshub
Online goods that the Ion age Awsome.
A lot of happiness on the Moana cool.
The wild life enjoying less human activity is cool.
Its sad that the African wildlife is suffering though.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Awsome to see more money invested in Te Tairawhiti roads they have been in bad condition for years.
Aroha koha the 600 bails of hay donate to Hawksbay farmers from Wairapa farmers.
Let's hope that the Pacific Island will be part of Aotearoa travel bubble soon.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Newshub.
That's is good the extra funding for carers.
Some people are foolish believing 5G is that bad.
Megan droughts we should listen to our scientists.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Te whi Haka and Vodafone team up to help keep tangata practicing safe conduct is awesome.
The easiest way for some to make money is to steal it the Wahine art being used with out her permission is just sad.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Sports is about jobs they are professionals no.
Schools open today for all tamariki the Mokopuna are happy.
Remember interest rates are the lowest they have ever been that changes every thing.
I can see the money greasing the cogs.
That shows humanity should take the other big issues Our scientists have been warning us about the negative effects for many decades very seriously.
Some people are like sheep 5G.
Ka kite Ano.