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.
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The mission of the New Zealand Police is to make this country the safest nation in the world. To achieve that aim, there is one important step the police need to take at the end of this month. When the evaluation of the Armed Response Teams’ trial is completed, the ...
The right of employees to strike is an internationally recognised employment right that has been a feature of New Zealand’s industrial relations system for over a century, albeit with different constraints and limitations at different times. Although more restricted, this right even continued under the anti-union Employment Contracts Act (1993-2000). ...
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf we stopped oil, gas and coal extraction immediately – ...
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...
The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than other polling companies, and the ...
When miners pillage conservation land, they are typically required to "rehabilitate" it afterwards. Its not much compared to the damage they do, but its something. But apparently even that is now too much to expect. NZG Limited, a company owned by Oravida directors James Blackwell, Julia Jiyan Xu, Stone Shi, ...
Like everyone else, I've spent too much of the weekend watching the protests in America, and the increasingly brutal response to them. The overwhelming impression is of a nationwide police riot, as people speaking out against a murder and demanding change are beaten, gassed and shot by racist, militarised thugs ...
In mid-April, as New Zealand entered its fourth week of alert level 4, the Prime Minister warned us not to make comparisons with other countries over our Covid-19 pandemic response. This extraordinary advice came after Simon Bridges had urged the government to adopt a less-stringent lockdown similar to those in ...
Wales has lowered the voting age to 16: 16 and 17 year olds can now officially vote in Wales for Senedd elections. Votes at 16 & 17 come into force on Monday, as part of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020. Next year’s Senedd elections will ...
The government announced more changes to the ETS today, including to the emissions budget for 2021 - 2025. The overall budget for that period will stay at 354 million tons of CO2-equivalent. But the ETS component of that - stockpile reduction, free allocation, and credits to be auctioned - budget ...
The new National Party leader, Todd Muller, had been at pains to portray himself as a solid, serious, safe pair of hands, in contrast to the increasingly Trumpian leanings of Simon Bridges, who Muller deposed in a leadership coup last Friday. But after an uneventful, if uninspiring, first press conference, ...
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...
Becoming the leader of a political party is a bit like having a baby. Not so much the screaming and sleepless nights, as the fact that you’ve waited and hope and planned for something and it’s finally here. And when that wonderful gift finally arrives, you want to be ready, ...
The US appears to be headed towards what Antonio Gramsci and other Italian political theorists call an “organic crisis of the State.” It involves the simultaneous and compounded fractures of economy, society and politics, which together constitute a tipping point in a nation’s history. Social contradictions are exacerbated, class and ...
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week...
Climate concerns as Siberia experiences record-breaking heatHeat wave sparks concerns about devastating wildfire season and melting permafrost.Satellite ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 24 through Sat, May 30, 2020Editor's ChoiceAntarctic Ocean Reveals New Signs of Rapid Melt of Ancient Ice, Clues About Future Sea Level RiseA study of seafloor ripples ...
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk A banner on the International Energy Agency website spells it out in bold font: “The global oil industry is experiencing a shock like no other in its history.” As the response to the coronavirus pandemic upends the lives of billions of ...
The ownership of newspapers and televison channels is in turmoil, and they want to redisorganise public broadcasting. *Three years ago, I expressed concern in a column about the future of the (traditional) media. Nothing has happened since to reduce the concern. It was based on an earlier column which ...
Australia's High Court has ruled that the "palace letters" between the queen and then-Governor-General John Kerr are public records rather than private papers: Historian Jenny Hocking has won her High Court bid to access the letters exchanged between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and the Queen around the time of ...
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...
New Zealand and its prime minister Jacinda Ardern have received international attention and praise, rightly so, for decisive leadership, clear communication and scientific management of the coronavirus pandemic. Observers point out that the nation has been through multiple crises under Ardern’s leadership – such as the Christchurch terrorist attack and ...
…a lot of things unrelated to the pandemic were happening. Relatively little attention was given to some major events on the global stage, so I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the high (or low) -lights, starting with something familiar. The common theme throughout is human ...
Labour's talk of gutting the RMA to push through "shovel ready" projects to boost employment after the pandemic predictably has every half-arsed pipe-dream crawling out of the woodwork demanding special treatment. Today, it's the West Coast inbreds, who are demanding a host of laws be rescinded so they can dig ...
"I can't breathe, Mama. I'm dying." - Last words of George Floyd.LOOK HARD at this image. Think about what it depicts. Ask yourself how one human-being could behave so brutally when so many eye-witnesses – and very soon millions of people online around the world – were there to watch ...
Since the government announced its pandemic wage subsidy, there have been regular stories about companies taking it and then sacking or refusing to pay their workers - essentially committing fraud. But how often does this happen? The Minister just doesn't want to know: Government ministers are not receiving up to ...
"You call that a conservative?Nah, this is a conservative!" New Zealanders are in the market for a quiet and reassuring small-c conservative political centrist. The critical question, however, is which politician is currently playing that role? Who has mastered the art of relaxed, informal and intimate political communication? Who ...
I’VE OFTEN WONDERED if South African immigrants passing through towns like Kerikeri and Kaikohe ever wonder how we do it. In their homeland, through the bitter years of Apartheid, keeping the races segregated required pass laws, Alsatian dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets and, all-too-often, live rounds. Not here. Not in ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from July 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019. Sports categories must be by sex, not gender identity Queer theory glossary Woke misogyny and homophobia: a gay critique of trans ideology Another unfortunate experiment? New Zealand’s transgender health policy and ...
Smart Energy Europe: A Plan to provide 100% of ALL ENERGY using Renewable Energy to EuropeIntroductionAll Energy renewable energy systems are often commented on here at Skeptical Science. Many comments suggest that it will be difficult, expensive or impossible to use renewable energy to power the world. To ...
The government released its Action for Healthy Waterways package today, ostensibly with the goal of cleaning up our rivers and making them swimmable within a generation. Doing that, of course, requires confronting the cow in the room: the dairy industry which causes most of the pollution. But while they've imposed ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI would like to know if New Zealand’s carbon emissions ...
Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonBack in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant ...
Remember KiwiBuild? Previously the government's flagship policy, it was supposed to build thousands of new homes every year for kiwi families. But instead of flooding the market, we've got a pathetic dribble: The Government's former flagship housing policy is so far behind schedule it will take more than 400 years ...
Don Franks Now Covid-19 restrictions allow gatherings of a hundred, an urgent hui needs calling. A special conference of the Council of Trade Unions. Today, workers face the greatest attack on employment, pay and conditions since the depression, we need a strong united union voice. As it stands now, organised ...
George Henderson New Zealand schools have introduced a climate change resource that suggests children “eat less meat and dairy”, even though teachers will not know how much meat or dairy any child in their care has eaten. Opinion pieces in the papers have called for the reduction of meat and ...
Questioning the number of district health boards in New Zealand has got to the extent that “too many DHBs” has become a perceived truth requiring no further elaboration. It is rarely challenged by policy advisers, academics, and journalists. But when one drills down further it becomes clear that the number ...
The emergence of a new National party leader, seemingly out of nowhere, has – not surprisingly – raised a number of questions as to who Todd Mulller actually is and what makes him tick. He has been an MP for some time but seems to have hidden his light under ...
Costa Rica has become the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage: The first same-sex weddings have taken place in Costa Rica, the first Central American country to equalise its marriage legislation. A lesbian couple became the first to tie the knot in a ceremony that took ...
There's a new twist in the Winston Peters secret donation story. It appears that a significant chunk of NZ First's secret laundered donations goes straight into the pockets of the people administering the scheme: Tens of thousands in donor's funds given to the New Zealand First Foundation were spent paying ...
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a ...
We all know that many so-called journalists and political commentators in New Zealand work directly or indirectly for political parties or for certain political factions. This was obviously the case when pundit for hire Matthew Hooton launched a campaign against then National Party leader, Simon Bridges, over their numerous polling ...
Let's Roll! The easy victory over a Bridges-led National Party which the Left had every cause to anticipate just a few days ago is no longer in the offing. Our enemy’s position has changed. His numbers are swelling. A rapid thrust to the left, followed by an audacious outflanking manoeuvre ...
New National Party leader Todd Muller has been interviewed about his policies, and has promised to restart offshore fossil fuel exploration if elected: The Bay of Plenty MP rolled former leader Simon Bridges last week, but says the party has not changed its stance on previous promises. "That is ...
Anyone who keeps an eye on evidence around cannabis and public health will be familiar with the Christchurch Health and Development Study. It's one of two local longitudinal studies frequently cited with respect to cannabis and youth development. But in a new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is ...
In the age of covid we are Jacinda’s team of five million, except for some. There has rarely been a more blatant case of discrimination against beneficiaries than Grant Robertson’s announcement yesterday that people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus will receive weekly payments of $490 per week for 12 weeks and $250 per week for part time ...
It was 75 years ago this month that Germany surrendered and the Allies celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Millions of people around the world had been killed and many more injured or captured. It was an end to war not just for Europeans, but their allies too, in countries across Africa. But its impact is ...
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...
Watching Todd Muller make his first speech as the newly minted Leader of the Opposition after Simon Bridges’ defenestration on Friday brought to mind a headmaster addressing a school assembly. He showed no particular desire to ingratiate himself with his audience although the occasional flash of self-deprecating humour indicated a ...
The government has announced another income support scheme for people affected by the economic aftershocks of the pandemic: a $490 a week tax-free payment for the newly unemployed, which you can get even if you have a working partner. Which is great, because its supporting people who need help, but ...
The Greens have released their party list, and it contains a few surprises. The one that's getting all the news is that the membership are clearly fans of Chlöe Swarbrick, and she has worked hard to earn that. But they've also favoured incumbent protection over new blood, and in the ...
age credit:Science and Politics – Skeptically.org It seems impossible to keep politics out of science. It’s a pity because politics can end up forcing science to produce the results desired by ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Matthew Parry, Dr Ayesha Verrall, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Martin Eichner (author details*)This blog details a recent modelling study we conducted. In it we estimated that it would take between 27 and 33 days of no new detected cases of COVID-19 for there to be ...
The 2015 Schol Bio paper included a question about a group of birds known as honeycreepers, specifically, the 56 species endemic to the Hawaiian islands. (Or, were endemic: 18, or perhaps 19, are still living; the others are extinct.) Students who’ve already had a look at this paper as part of ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Climate Feedback Article Review... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... What a Week’s Disasters Tell Us About Climate and the PandemicExtreme weather presents an even bigger threat ...
Todd Muller has made a good start to his leadership, though it would obviously be pretty stupid to extrapolate too much from the first couple of days. Nevertheless, as a matter of speculation, it is interesting to think what success on his part might say about the preferences of the ...
A guest post by Hamish Price.“A leader is a dealer in hope.”— Napoléon BonaparteCatholics have a name for potential successors to a dead pope. Papabile. The small coterie of distinguished cardinals who have what it takes to step up. Todd Muller has always been one.I first met Muller at a National ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 17 through Sat, May 23, 2020Editor's ChoiceMore than 80 killed in India and Bangladesh as Cyclone Amphan heaps misery on coronavirus-hit areasA man salvages items from ...
Two poor political polls within the same week had seen National for the first time in over a decade dropping major support in the face of a competent and assured COVID-19 health response from the Coalition government. Step forward the relatively unknown Todd Muller, who by Friday afternoon had secured ...
SUNDAY MAY 24The Luminaries (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). There are an awful lot of indeterminate accents in The Luminaries; even lead Eve Hewson seems undecided about being Irish, and she is Irish. Fair play, accents can go badly wrong, so perhaps not over-egging was a consideration. Marton Csokas, always impeccable, and Himesh Patel ...
SUNDAY MAY 24The Luminaries (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). There are an awful lot of indeterminate accents in The Luminaries; even lead Eve Hewson seems undecided about being Irish, and she is Irish. Fair play, accents can go badly wrong, so perhaps not over-egging was a consideration. Marton Csokas, always impeccable, and Himesh Patel ...
Let’s be honest; Simon Bridges was a disaster of a political leader. If he wasn’t attempting to criticise the Government’s perfectly good policy initiatives that the public generally supported, he was fudging his lines after getting caught out in yet another lie. When Jami-Lee Ross said Bridges “is a flawed individual ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has introduced a Bill to Parliament that he says will "force more transparency, integrity and respect" for the domestic wood-processing sector through the registration of log traders and practice standards. The Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill had its first reading in ...
Green MP Golriz Ghahraman is joining over 300 lawmakers from around the world in calling on the big banks and the IMF to forgive the debt of developing countries, in the wake of the COVID crisis. ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones says concerns that carbon foresters are planting pine trees that will never be harvested are the result of "misinformation". "The billion tree strategy is an excellent idea, unfortunately from time to time it's tainted by misinformation spread by the National Party or their grandees, hiding in scattered ...
The Green Party welcomes funding in the budget to reunite more refugees with their families, ensuring they have the best chance at a new life in Aotearoa New Zealand. ...
This year’s Budget is about rebuilding New Zealand together in the face of COVID-19. Jobs are central to how we’re going to do that.There’s a lot of targeted investment for employment in this year’s Budget, with announcements on creating new jobs, training people for the jobs we have, and supporting ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
The Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister and Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, has today announced the appointment of Tristan Gilbertson as the new Telecommunications Commissioner and member of the Commerce Commission. “Mr Gilbertson has considerable experience in the telecommunications industry and a strong reputation amongst his peers,” ...
The Ministry of Education and NZEI Te Riu Roa have agreed to settle the pay equity claim for teacher aides, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This will see more than 22,000 teacher aides, mostly women, being valued and paid fairly for the work they do. “Teacher aides are frontline ...
Subcontractors will have greater certainty, more cashflow support and job security with new changes to retention payments under the Construction Contracts Act says Minister for Building and Construction, Jenny Salesa. A recent review of the retentions money regime showed that most of the building and construction sector is complying with ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong have marked the first anniversary of the New Zealand-Singapore Enhanced Partnership with a virtual Leaders’ Meeting today. The Enhanced Partnership, signed on 17 May 2019, provides the framework for cooperation across the four main areas of trade, defence and ...
On 17 May 2019, New Zealand and Singapore established an Enhanced Partnership to elevate our relations. The Enhanced Partnership – based on the four pillars of trade and economics, security and defence, science, technology and innovation, and people-to-people links – has seen the long-standing relationship between our countries strengthen over the ...
State-Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters has welcomed KiwiRail’s announcement that it is seeking a preferred shipyard to build two new rail-enabled ferries for the Cook Strait crossing. “This Government is committed to restoring rail to its rightful place in New Zealand. Bigger, better ships, with new technology are yet another ...
Better protection for seabirds is being put in place with a new National Plan of Action to reduce fishing-related captures, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The National Plan of Action for Seabirds 2020 outlines our commitment to reduce fishing-related captures and associated seabird ...
Almost $1 billion in interest-free loans for small businesses More than 55,000 businesses have applied; 95% approved Average loan approx. $17,300 90% of applications from firms with ten or fewer staff A wide cross-section of businesses have applied, the most common are the construction industry, accommodation providers, professional firms, and ...
Thousands of children will have healthier lungs after the Government’s ban on smoking in cars with kids becomes law, says Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa. This comes after the third reading of Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Bill earlier today. “This law makes it ...
The special Epidemic Response Committee (ERC) has successfully concluded its role, Leader of the House Chris Hipkins said today. The committee was set up on 25 March by the agreement of Parliament to scrutinise the Government and its actions while keeping people safe during levels 4 and 3 of lockdown. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced four diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s Ambassador to Belgium, High Commissioners to Nauru and Niue, and Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism. “As the world seeks to manage and then recover from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever,” Mr Peters said. “The ...
New Zealanders will be better protected from online harm through a Bill introduced to Parliament today, says Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin. “The internet brings many benefits to society but can also be used as a weapon to spread harmful and illegal content and that is what this legislation targets,” ...
New Zealand’s world-first plan to eradicate the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis is on track the latest technical data shows, says Agriculture and Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two years ago the Government, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand and industry partners made a bold decision to go hard and commit ...
Further support for New Zealanders affected by 1-in-100 year global economic shock 12-week payment will support people searching for new work or retraining Work programme on employment insurance to support workers and businesses The Government today announced a new temporary payment to support New Zealanders who lose their jobs due ...
The Provincial Growth Fund will play a vital role in New Zealand’s post-COVID-19 recovery by creating jobs in shorter timeframes through at least $600 million being refocused on projects with more immediate economic benefits, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The funding is comprised of repurposed Provincial Growth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government will provide eligible owner-occupiers with a grant of $25,000 to build a new home or extensively renovate an existing one. The scheme – estimated to cost up to $688 million – will not ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Purnendra Jain, Adjunct Professor, Asian Studies, University of Adelaide Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will finally hold a virtual summit this week after efforts to meet in person were scuttled by the bushfires and coronavirus. The meeting ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna-Sophie Jürgens, Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Popular Entertainment Studies and Science in Fiction Studies, Australian National University Bloodsucker, leech, tick – few things have a reputation worse than parasites. But these biological hangers-on also have a comic cultural history. In biology, a ...
By RNZ News The organisers of Black Lives Matter protests in several main centres will not be prosecuted. On Monday, thousands gathered at several events around the country for Black Lives Matter marches in solidarity with protesters in the United States after the police killing of George Floyd. The protests ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Fletcher, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington One of New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s favourite exhortations is that we all “be kind” to one another. It’s part of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University A go-slow on spending sent the economy backwards 0.3% in the first three months of this year, only the fourth such decline since Australia was last in recession in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Heidi Zimmer, Research associate, Southern Cross University As bushfires blackened forests last summer, one tree species was protected by a specialist team of firefighters: the Wollemi pine. These trees have a deeply ancient lineage dating back to when dinosaurs walked Gondwana 100 ...
Children's Minister Tracey Martin says she was never officially asked to do anything about the Māori-led inquiry into Oranga Tamariki commissioned by Whanau Ora. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Whittaker, Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney You probably know the details of the death of George Floyd. He was a doting father and musician. He was killed when a police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck for nearly nine ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Greste, Professor of Journalism and Communications, The University of Queensland Here is a line from the latest safety advisory for reporters issued by the US-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ): Taking into account the increased levels of violence ...
Aaron Ironside is the new spokesperson for the Say Nope To Dope campaign. Aaron Ironside rose to prominence in the 1990’s as the anchor of Radio Hauraki’s popular Morning Pirates breakfast show. The young rock DJ fully embraced the Sex, Drugs and ...
AgResearch chairman Dr Paul Reynolds said the Government’s capital contribution of $45 million towards a new education, science and innovation precinct in Lincoln is a huge boost for New Zealand’s COVID 19 recovery plan and the contribution to ...
Dunedin writer Victor Billot on America's "President Cheezel". Go Big or Go Home Prezident Cheezel deletes lockdown, deletes the World Health Organization, deletes the memory of George Floyd, then hunkers in his hunker bunker, hunkers with freedom fries at midnight, a lights out party at the House of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Locke, Research Associate, LCT Centre for Knowledge-Building, Department of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney Prime Scott Morrison last week outlined a plan to create jobs and revitalise the economy post COVID-19. Part of this so-called Jobmaker plan includes an ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Willand, Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University Stay-at-home orders and the economic crisis have increased the burden of energy costs on lower-income Australians. Poor housing quality and unequal access to home energy efficiency are hurting our most ...
Jacinda Ardern has unveiled details of the changes New Zealanders can expect when we move from level two to level one. What will it mean for businesses, hospitality and day-to-day life? Level one! At last, life is finally back to normal.Not so fast. We’re still in level two, and will be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kantha Dayaram, Associate Professor, Curtin University The number of Australians working from home has soared during the COVID-19 crisis. Latest data from the Australian Bureau of Stastistics shows 46% of the workforce worked from home in late April and early May. By ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Economic Life, Economics and EconomismKeith Rankin. When things go wrong with economic life, it’s easy to blame economics; that is, the academic discipline called ‘economics’. We all live economic lives, and use metaphors to give meaning to that amorphous thing we call ‘the economy’ ...
National survey asks New Zealanders If They Support Recognition For the Contribution of Our Service Personnel and their Families The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (RSA) said today that it supports the proposal for a Kawenata which is ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there will still be strict controls on the border, but all current rules and restrictions on businesses and services will be "essentially lifted" under alert level 1. ...
ANALYSIS:By Philip Russo of Monash University The death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police has sparked protests across the United States and inspired many people to reflect on our own history of police violence against Indigenous people in Australia and New Zealand. After thousands marched ...
The New Zealand Police Association is supporting the three officers who are now facing manslaughter charges in relation to the death of a man in the Hawera Police Station cells in June last year. Association President Chris Cahill says the officers ...
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In the third part of our series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, two readers at different ends of their saving journeys ask what to do with their KiwiSaver account. Melissa Vasta, Kiwi Wealth GM retail and product, responds.Hi Melissa, My KiwiSaver ‘growth’ fund has ...
Landlords have been given a break – well, a bit of a break – according to the latest bunch of Beehive pronouncements. Other announcements by the Beehive Bugle Brigade tell us: People wanting to train for employment– or retrain – will be given a helping hand. But funding “will ...
“The Government’s bill to regulate vaping won’t bring New Zealand any closer to its smokefree ambition, unless MPs now get in behind the many submitters and intervene to drive down the country’s smoking rates,” says Jonathan Devery, spokesperson ...
Covid-19 has not stopped a North Island Iwi from continuing to ready itself for a vote this year, that if ratified will be one of the largest Treaty settlement to date. Whakatōhea is located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region centred around ...
New Zealand ranks first in a new global food security index produced by multinational real estate company Savills. The company has compiled its Food Security Index as part of its latest global Impacts research, which looks at the factors shaping the ...
“A huge opportunity has been missed to make risk-reduced vaping products more accessible to smokers in order to reach the SmokeFree 2025 goal set by government,” says Nancy Loucas, Director of the Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA). Her ...
Noel Edmonds is a British TV legend with a 50 year career in broadcasting. So why did he move to Matakana and launch a radio station? Like an over-excited Mr Blobby, Tara Ward gave him a call to find out. When Noel Edmonds answers the phone from his home north ...
New statistics released by the New Zealand Police show Māori were disproportionately subject to police proceedings - including court proceedings and receiving warnings - during March and April, Marc Daalder reports As a debate heats up over racial bias in New Zealand policing, new statistics show that Māori were more ...
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Here’s The Spinoff’s weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up.Our weekly summaries of data and visualisations use Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not all data is ...
Pacific Media Centre The Vanuatu Council of Ministers has agreed at its meeting held in Luganville, Santo, to postpone the hosting of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting due in August 2020, reports the Vanuatu Daily Post. The decision followed the recommendations of the National Task Force based on ...
The National Party leader says the Black Lives Matter protests were a mockery of Covid-19 alert levels, but thinks the country should move to alert level 1 now. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wayne Hope, Professor of Communication Studies, Auckland University of Technology How many media analysts predicted it? In 2018 Australia’s Nine Entertainment absorbed Fairfax Media and its New Zealand subsidiary Stuff. Just under two years later chief executive Sinead Boucher bought Stuff from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abby Mellick Lopes, Associate Professor, Design Studies, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney Home cooks have been trying out their skills during isolation. But the way food tastes depends on more than your ability to follow a recipe. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeremy Moss, Professor of Political Philosophy, UNSW Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan on Monday night denied suggestions the government subsidises Australia’s fossil fuel industry. The comments prompted a swift response from some social media users, who cited evidence to the contrary. Canavan ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Marshman, Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne Most of Australia’s universities have adequate cash and investment reserves to deal with the immediate impact of a downturn in international student revenue in 2020. But ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Assistant Professor, School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra Later today we’ll know what the bushfires and the coronavirus did to the economy in the three months to March: whether gross domestic product grew (as is usual) or ...
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"George Floyd was not the first, nor will he be the last, to have been denied his human rights as the police officers murdered him. Their names, overseas and in New Zealand are so many, over so many years, and their stories are all so different ...
The National Party is surprised New Zealand immigration officials didn't consult their Australian counterparts before granting a visa to refugee author Behrouz Boochani. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Strotz, Professor, Northwest University, Xi’an The COVID-19 outbreak has put into stark relief the disruption parasites can cause, both in human society and ecosystems. Researchers have long sought to better understand the evolutionary importance of parasites, to help lessen their impact. ...
More than half of a $30 million emergency welfare fund has been spent in just over a month, and many of those in need are foreigners and migrant workers who can't get a home. ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Significant new support announced for trainees and apprenticeships, more level one detail coming, and long-delayed changes made to ETS.Significant new support has been announced for trainees and apprentices, with thousands of dollars worth of costs being removed for each student. The ...
A Government okay for foreign crews to come here to train is likely shortly, Auckland's Mayor says America's Cup teams' hopes of winning border exemptions to get their crews to Auckland to prepare for next summer's big event should be met soon - with applications under consideration by officials and ...
Can anything stave off 'highly undesirable' cuts to services and projects in Auckland caused by the economic crisis? Will Wellington step in? Tim Murphy reports. For the second time in a year, Auckland Council needs to find half a billion dollars in a hurry to meet its financial commitments. After ...
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Bubbles, tails, embers, mountains: The PM's deft use of metaphors has helped guide us in the battle to eradicate Covid-19 New Zealand’s success at containing the coronavirus has benefitted from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s clear communication during her daily media briefings. One aspect of what made this effective was her ...
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The country’s coronavirus restrictions might be coming to an end sooner than you think. Justin Giovannetti looks at what level one rules mean for you.Crowded stadiums and restaurants filled to capacity could be reality in New Zealand as soon as next Wednesday as the government eyes an early move to ...
Waitomo is a town built on tourism. But as overseas visitors, who have been flocking to its spectacular network of glow-worm caves for over a century, dry up, the future looks uncertain.More than 130 years ago, the eruption of Mount Tarawera killed an estimated 153 people and buried Te Otukapuarangi ...
Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of thousands of jobless migrants and beneficiaries struggling through the Covid-19 crisis, Bernard Hickey argues Over the last year since the March 15 attacks, our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has become a paragon of virtue for many ...
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Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Philip Russo, Associate Professor, Director Cabrini Monash University Department of Nursing Research, Monash University The death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of police has sparked protests across the United States and inspired many people to reflect on our own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney I can’t breathe, please! Let me up, please! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe! These words are not the words of George Floyd or Eric Garner. They weren’t uttered on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Roberto Musotto, Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre Postdoctoral Fellow, Edith Cowan University Alongside growing concerns over a possible resurgence of the coronavirus during winter, the pandemic is now creating even more victims as cybercriminals aim to capitalise on the economic upheaval. According ...
Open mike 15/05/2020 
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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/
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.
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.