crew socks are appropriate when covering a shin guard when playing football – otherwise when its winter and for warmth while in slippers (student flat heating scenario).
the exception to the rule is when pretending to be younger when on the hunt in the gym or bar setting.
parting the hair has always been an option, not a requirement.
Questions about coalition's Covid-19 mandate pledge
Reti denied that the coalition had included the commitment simply to appease conspiracy theorists. NZ First has also been approached for a response.
Reti the Denier.
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall told RNZ the coalition's commitment was "slightly odd" and appeared little more than a sop to conspiracy theorists.
Maybe they are still seeking to work out how to put all the Health Experts , Prof Michael Baker, Sir Ashley Bloomfield et al…oh, and of course Jacinda Ardern…on trial ?
The absurd comparison of New Zealand (population growing year by year and little chance of any change under our current policy) with Japan (declining population and deflation for decades).
no provision nor planning for the 2030-2050 health care cost (and pressure on supply of health services) of the boomer generation (the Cullen-Robertson Fund only covers the cost of super payments).
no plan to provide for the aged care facilities required for the 2030-2050 period (or alternatives – such as group homes where mutual care is available within Kainga Ora supplied "villages" or homes fitted out for older retirees).
the impact of the increasing numbers retiring without home ownership and losing the ability to either find work or ability to continue to work.
the mismatch between the migration policy in support of a low wage economy approach and the supply of affordable housing (renting or owning).
Your first point is a very destructive and essentially neo-liberal way of looking at demographic changes. The aging pressure on the health system is pressure on the provision of treatment, the number of trained medical professionals and things like GP retirement rates. If those people are available to the country however then the government can always afford to pay them.
This follows from the fact that the government (via the RBNZ) is the monopoly source of $NZ which is the coin health professionals work for in this country. In fact if the New Zealand economy in some way needed to save up the money to clear payments in advance then it would be clearly impossible for New Zealand to clear its daily payments today, from looking at the expansion of daily payments since the 1980s.
You could argue that exports pay for imports and that may be shifted by demographic shifts but the country is apparently quite far from struggling to be able to import things. Exporters overseas seem more than happy to just save their regular surplus of $NZ as it stands.
Its the impact of demographic shifts on the real, not the financial, side of the economy which are relevant. Yes, this also applies to the Cullen Fund.
Your first point is a very destructive and essentially neo-liberal way of looking at demographic changes.
No, it is not.
The aging pressure on the health system is pressure on the provision of treatment, the number of trained medical professionals and things like GP retirement rates.
As I said
no provision nor planning for the 2030-2050 health care cost (and pressure on supply of health services).
You are speaking, as is your want, on funding of spending.
Until you change the way government (budget and debt finance etc) operates, your sniping at the concerns of others is what is destructive, rather than constructive.
Two thumbs up, agree SPC, too much of the rw biased debate thrown up here is solely about the evil of government spend on citizen welfare. But remains quiet on state welfare for corporates (e.g. bank bailouts, corporate environmental damage remediated at public cost, etc).
A just government focuses on maximising the first, by managing a healthy economic environment and running effective health, education and social support systems.
BYD are building a factory in Mexico from where tariffs to sell EV's in the USA will not apply. It has currently ruled out exporting to the USA from there, but that won’t last. Biden is protecting his smokestack dinosaur auto industry thus allowing it to continue to sell outdated ICE technology. This always ends in tears.
China has a huge markets for its EV's in Europe (though they are pondering tariffs) China, Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan (currently small but BYD is setting up a 100 dealerships there) NZ, Australia, Philippines, Viet Nam, etc etc etc
Give Auckland Grammar to Destiny Church. That should make the next Epsom election an interesting one…
Looks like they can do what they want? Followed David Farrier’s work on his old Catholic high school where gay kids are taught that they should suppress themselves…this is within the current system and despite investigations and complaints still seems to be a key piece of dogma or doctrine or curriculum whatever these words mean.
I assume people with money and interest in schools will be an array of religious groups.
I suspect that a chunk of those schools will be those previously charter schools who were forcibly converted to integrated under the previous government.
I doubt that Auckland Grammar is likely to be one of them. They effectively operate as a private school already – within the State system. Using their location as a proxy for limiting enrollment to wealthy families. As do other schools in wealthy suburbs in many large cities.
Destiny Church would be highly unlikely to have the funds or expertise to take Grammar over (which I'm quite sure you know, and it was a mischievouscomment)
IIRC, the charter schools set up last time, mostly weren't religious ones (since these can already be established as integrated schools under the current education system). But you can review the list yourself, and check
I suspect that a chunk of those schools will be those previously charter schools who were forcibly converted to integrated under the previous government.
That might turn out to be wishful thinking.
Meanwhile, one school that might go back to being a charter school is Whangarei’s Te Kāpehu Whetū.
Interesting to read the reasons Raewyn Tipene gave for revisiting the charter school model:
Raewyn Tipene opened Whangārei-based Te Kāpehu Whetu in 2014 as part of the original kura hourua charter school initiative and then took the option to turn it into a special character school when Labour scrapped the policy.
She says one result of the switch was that NCEA and University Entrance results went backwards, from being among the top in Te Taitokerau.
“The pressure goes off. The expectation of staff isn’t as high as it is under charter schools. If the policy is similar to what we’ve had in the past, we would think very seriously about shifting back,” she says.
Your minister is lying to you and engaging in a culture war where students are collateral. But I’m glad you at least consider it important enough for you both to be here to defend him.
Yet Raewyn Tipene claims that teachers had higher expectations of them with the charter school model. My view is there were problems with the previous model that would have been ironed out, if they were not cancelled (for purely ideological reasons IMHO).
You’re on the Shore aren’t you? How about Rangitoto? Nice chunky case of unrealised profits there.
Or Westlake? Lots of extracurriculars to monetise stealthily.
Or perhaps somewhere slightly smaller, more boutique where unqualified teachers could be trialed and budgets reduced, like Long Bay college?
I mean it all depends on the takeover- if it is done with government assistance (and $153 million is set aside) and with borrowing against the assets to be acquired well, the sky is the limit really.
Don’t be a hypocrite- if it’s a great idea get it going at your local school today!
Bit different to the 12 on Belladonna’s list. That’s 50 schools. A massive experiment and culture war attempt to damage education for the same reason journalism got its takedown.
This part of this government’s land owning gentry?
Buy the land, set the curriculum and employ anyone you feel like to staff the school? Already a tax exempt landlord? Now be exempt from various employment laws and much else besides!
Not sure where you're going with these examples – I'd be surprised if any of the schools you mention had any interest in going 'charter' -they're already successful under the current rules.
The push is more likely to be from special situation schools – like this case.
"In a letter informing Poole that his application was unsuccessful, Hipkins said one reason for declining it was “that there are available supports for all learners in existing state schools”." That’s something parents of current and former Mt Hobson students firmly reject. Jo Martin’s daughter went through the school, and it was only thanks to the teachers that her ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was picked up, she said. She was hoping her son, currently in year 3, would be able to go there in a few years. He has autism and ADHD, and there is “no support for him that is funded by the Government”, Martin said. She currently pays $2700 a term for her son to get eight hours of teacher aide support a week. It was “infuriating” to be consistently told the state system “has all the supports required”, she said.
We can all see that it’s a direct copy-pasta from that link. What’s lacking is [your] commentary, e.g., what’s the [your] point, what it is the significance, what does it add to the discussion, etc? Don’t play dummy with me!
Guinea pigs should be home grown in the Epsom electorate because that’s the best place for chickens to come home to roost.
35 schools full of students are to be given up to this American ideology.
Don’t let them shit in your backyard, if they won’t shit in theirs, because if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck it’s probably another reheated, half baked idea to increase private profits or interests inside the public sphere, inside our shared education estate.
As much as we are sold innovation, what we are getting is another attack on a middle class salary. Journalists went with David’s glee echoing behind them. Undercutting another public minded, community minded job where you might, with luck and hard work, get on the property ladder is the goal.
Epsom already has both private and decile 10 state schools – they have little need for charter schools – and probably little parental desire to switch. i.e. the parents are already happy with the schooling options. Remembering that the highly wealthy decile 10 Auckland 'Grammars' are effectively integrated schools – operating in their own little niche.
You seem to be forgetting that all charter schools will automatically fail, if there is no parental desire to move their kids away from the state (or private, or integrated) school system.
The government isn't forcing any charter school to be set up in any electorate. Nor are they forcing parents to send their kids there.
Note that teachers in charter schools (previously) seemed to be pretty happy with their salaries (not to mention the conditions and support). Hardly an attack on middle-class salaries…
Caitlin Clark, the WNBA player that people know about, gets a lesson first up – no walk ups for a three point shot and no easy drives for a lay up at the higher level. Her team beaten by 20 points by a top 4 team of the previous year.
She needs to be faster, stronger and fitter to perform as she did at college level – so for the meantime, play within the team to get and give good three point looks and passes for others to drive to the hoop.
What me and my daughter are finding fascinating is the changing face of the NBA. It's no longer 90% USA Black and 10% USA White. Yeah sure there was always a Manut Bol, or a Yao Ming… but as almost tokens… now Giannis, Luka, Nikola, Giljous-Alexander, and a heap of other Balkans players. Nikol looks so uncoordinated and slow… my daughter loves his back story..fat kid who no one wanted to play with…. and guess who he married?? yup–high school sweetheart from Serbia
From the Minister and Prime Minister who didn’t know the sums when in opposition- neither had any idea what each prisoner cost the taxpayer per year when fronting an announcement – comes the bottomless pit of hard and tough and strong on crime.
The movement since the 19th C to consider humanity when we incarcerate and remove rights has somewhat bypassed this pair also. A mega-prison is already a mega failure:
Workman’s in-depth analysis from 2017 showed mega-prisons in the UK, France and Canada were more likely to be unsafe than smaller prisons, lead to the use of force to control prisoners, have a negative effect on rehabilitation and reintegration, and breed harmful culture.
More than six years on, Workman says his warning holds true.
He told Newsroom there were some “disturbing” parts of the old proposal, particularly the plan to house minimum- and medium-security prisoners in a high-security prison – something that would breach both New Zealand laws and the Mandela Rules.
On top of that the advice given to the minister about the prison seems to be MIA and there is no plan or business case, just an announcement. Apparently there is advice according to the PM, but it has vanished.
Just the ladies who get the boot? Minister Mitchell and PM Luxon can be a numbers free zone of hardness and strength and a wealth of apparent incompetence, but only the women in hospital pass portfolios get tough on incompetenced out of office?
A more dynamic and productive economy, with higher living standards and more opportunity. A country where Kiwis return home in search of a better life, instead of leaving in pursuit of higher incomes.
We already leave home for higher wages, then return home in search of a better life.
More opportunity has come via the internet (ability to work locally as part of the digital economy). A more dynamic and productive economy and higher living standards, Key promised this in 2008.
But rising property values to wages diminished living standards and investment in property resulted in CG for some, but no improvement in productivity.
Public services defined, delivered and evaluated through the lens of social investment. Funding devolved to communities, so Kiwis achieve their potential, leading healthier, happier lives.
I am not sure enabling water companies to borrow more and over longer time frames, and local users can pay for it in water charges, is the start of this, or something different. It would be good if everyone had a primary health provider …and access to affordable dental care and schools with say 30 to 25 to 20 per classroom.
A comprehensive response to climate change, both on track to achieve our ambitious emissions targets, and resilient to the challenges of a more volatile world.
How can one have words in response to that, when he goes on to say
We are ending the war on farmers, starting by cancelling the Ute Tax last year. Now we're slashing through a jungle of red and green tape. Modifying, delaying, and cancelling a raft of rules and regulations – SNAs, freshwater, winter grazing, or slope rules.
The end of SNA’s, one of Shaw’s concerns on leaving, he sees his new job as achieving what this government is not that serious about, reduced carbon etc.
The comparison of past public spending to GDP growth, without reference to the pandemic is par for political discourse.
In that category would go claiming the planning for the Interceptor Project and its delivery was because of a recent deal with Mayor Brown, as per debt financing via balance sheet separation (as the last government was intending also).
As a bard might put it. I did not come for the time out bell, or to whistle, but hoped at least to stand and cheer, rather than clap politely.
As Prime Minister, I set two targets in Education: 80 per cent achievement in reading, writing and maths at Year 8, and 80 per cent of students attending school regularly.
That might sound straightforward, but delivering those targets will be a huge challenge. Only around half of students are achieving where they should be today – well south of our 80 per cent target – and more than half our kids don't attend school regularly now.
The standard for regular attendance is 90% of the time – one day off every 2 weeks.
Winter has always been problematic, omicron infections occur 12 months of the year. Children of families changing rentals regularly – have difficulty getting to their old school before they get enrolled at a new one. Some children look after others (parents working and shift work sleep cycles etc), and some teens work jobs so the rent is paid.
So good luck – but the educational achievement is via smaller class sizes in state schools (and or better teacher support).
"In 2018, New Zealand spent USD 9 934 per student at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education" OECD education spend data.
BHNews on charter schools at 1h:10, Chewie rips into Charter schools, including a claim that the cost of charter schools before pre student was USD22 000 pa (1h:14) (twice that of the state system), and 2019 government advisory report on charter schools (which seems to have disappeared from the education office website) which listed one charter school org that creamed off $500K into a family trust without any reason given.
I do like the fact that Maori under charter schools get smaller classes and thus a better chance. Labour should say they like that part of the concept but would like to reduce class sizes (and or more teacher aide support) in state (zone) schools too.
Charter schools are one step towards privatisation of education. The next step for Seymour will be education vouchers, like his hero the Great Rogernome, wanted to do.
Education vouchers will be resisted to the death by the residents of the 'double Grammar zone' (and the equivalent in other areas). Their house prices are predicated on automatic qualification for one of the 'top' schools (just look at the real estate advertising).
It's most unlikely to be introduced in the state system. Although, it could well be on the agenda for parents of kids going to private schools.
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Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
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The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
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As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
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Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
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Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
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A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
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Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
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Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Sheedy, Professor – Risk governance, culture, remuneration, Macquarie University This week the corporate regulator is taking on executives and directors of Star Entertainment in the Federal Court, in a landmark case for Australian corporate governance. ASIC will allege that despite multiple ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Allen, Senior Research Fellow, Monash University Shutterstock It’s hard to remember a time the United States seemed as tense and divided as it does today. That should serve as a stark reminder of just how important it is to monitor ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kaitlin Barham, Wildlife ecology researcher, The University of Queensland Australia Zoo Crocodiles are hardy creatures, capable of adjusting their behaviour to cope with the heat of the tropics. But there’s a limit to their endurance. Our new research shows the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Damien O’Meara, Lecturer, School of Media and Communication, RMIT University Stan Stan’s new series Invisible Boys follows four young gay men as they understand and explore their identities while living in Geraldton, a regional town in Western Australia. Charlie Roth ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University The upcoming federal election will see the incumbent Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, face off against Liberal opposition leader, Peter Dutton. We’ll likely see a strong focus on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Barnes, Lecturer in Physics, Western Sydney University An artist’s impression of a high-energy particle travelling through the KM3NeT neutrino telescope.KM3NeT Three and a half kilometres beneath the Mediterranean Sea, around 80km off the coast of Sicily, lies half of a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Jensen, Associate professor, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of Canberra, University of Canberra Kemarrravv13/Shutterstock Hate speech on X was consistently 50% higher for at least eight months after tech billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media platform, new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Ufuk Zivana/Shutterstock Prime Minister Christopher Luxon wants New Zealand to “go for growth”. But his plan, focused on reforming foreign investment, planning and competition laws, as well as boosting the ...
‘An economic own-goal’ or a triumph of democracy? Stewart Sowman-Lund explains in today’s edition of The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. No McDonald’s for Wānaka Wānaka ...
The PSA filed proceedings with the Employment Relations Authority on Wednesday, seeking an urgent hearing to try to immediately stop any dismissals. ...
The lead witness in Ngāi Tahu’s freshwater claim says the case raises an “existentialist question” for his people.“My greatest fear is that we will have our connection with our land and waterways extinguished,” Te Maire Tau (Ngāi Tahu/Ngāi Tūāhuriri) said in the Christchurch High Court, before Justice Melanie Harland. The university history ...
New Zealand employers are well-used to the constant evolution of employment and workplace health and safety law – but we think the scope of changes in this area may still surprise in 2025. In our view, the number of changes under active consideration and the potential practical impact of those ...
As New Zealand woke to Waitangi Day, 1600 athletes and their support crew began to descend on the sleepy west coast town of Greymouth, ready to take on the iconic multisport race, the Coast to Coast.Among the cars laden with kayaks, bikes and enough race food to feed a small ...
I collect sailing books, especially solo sailing adventures. I sail a lot and when in meetings, I think about sailing rather than focus on the dry PowerPoint presentations of earnest landlubbers. Just quietly, I also offer dead sailors drinks and occasionally good books over the side when I am at ...
Over the past few weeks, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has had public tiffs with the leaders of both the Cook Islands and Kiribati.The issues: first Peters put foreign aid to Kiribati under review after President Taneti Maamau cancelled a meeting with him. Then this week, Peters accused the PM of ...
Proposed changes to the Fisheries Act 1996 could see on-board cameras, introduced to protect endangered marine and seabird species, shut off from public view. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith explains.Minister for oceans and fisheries Shane Jones was in his element on Wellington’s waterfront on Wednesday morning. While waves crashed onto the rocks ...
The prime minister has had a bad week, and it’s barely Thursday. This week’s Luxon low points, ranked.8. Bad poll, part oneA Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll released on Monday showed that Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori could form a government. Christopher Luxon is down 3.8 points at ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Street vending is a major economic activity in most of Ghana’s urban areas. The vendors bring everyday goods to residents and commuters at affordable prices in ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – The United States shares the pathologies of all dying empires with their mixture of buffoonery, rampant corruption, military fiascos, economic collapse and savage state repression.ANALYSIS: By Chris Hedges The billionaires, Christian fascists, grifters, psychopaths, imbeciles, narcissists and deviants who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government has secured bipartisan support for a major new regime covering political donations and spending, after making significant concessions. The government agreed to increase the proposed threshold above which donations must be disclosed ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With the election only months away, the Labor government finds itself suddenly battling with the Trump administration for an exemption from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium. The opposition has supported the effort, but ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julee McDonagh, Senior Research Fellow of Frailty Research, University of Wollongong PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ageing is a normal part of the life course. It doesn’t matter how many green smoothies you drink, or how many “anti-ageing” skin care products you ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bronwyn Carlson, Professor, Critical Indigenous Studies and Director of The Centre for Global Indigenous Futures, Macquarie University The Conversation, CC BY-SAAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains names and images of deceased people. Colonial commemorations ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Associate Professor, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide Masarik/Shutterstock In some overseas countries, pets can travel with their owners in a plane’s cabin, in a carrier under a seat. In Australia, pets must travel in the ...
A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. What’s all this then? This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen ...
David Seymour's recent off-road parliamentary excursion led to a reprimand from the Speaker, who also said the rules didn't apply to this instance. What are the rules? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University, Griffith University Many Americans have watched in horror as Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has been permitted to tear through various offices of the United States government in recent ...
By Patrick Decloitre,RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls has announced he will travel to New Caledonia later this month to pursue talks on the French territory’s political future. These discussions on February 22 follow preliminary talks held last week in Paris in “bilateral” mode ...
Given younger people need a referee.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/lifestyle/2024/05/ankle-socks-cancelled-by-gen-z-millennials-not-happy-about-it.html
Must be a slow news day.
The phony war period before the woman with hair whispers her budget … then winter snow comes for the coalition of three.
Reti the Denier.
Maybe they are still seeking to work out how to put all the Health Experts , Prof Michael Baker, Sir Ashley Bloomfield et al…oh, and of course Jacinda Ardern…on trial ?
The absurd comparison of New Zealand (population growing year by year and little chance of any change under our current policy) with Japan (declining population and deflation for decades).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/05/kiwis-warned-to-prepare-for-population-crisis-learn-from-japan-s-mistakes.html
Our real population concerns are
Your first point is a very destructive and essentially neo-liberal way of looking at demographic changes. The aging pressure on the health system is pressure on the provision of treatment, the number of trained medical professionals and things like GP retirement rates. If those people are available to the country however then the government can always afford to pay them.
This follows from the fact that the government (via the RBNZ) is the monopoly source of $NZ which is the coin health professionals work for in this country. In fact if the New Zealand economy in some way needed to save up the money to clear payments in advance then it would be clearly impossible for New Zealand to clear its daily payments today, from looking at the expansion of daily payments since the 1980s.
You could argue that exports pay for imports and that may be shifted by demographic shifts but the country is apparently quite far from struggling to be able to import things. Exporters overseas seem more than happy to just save their regular surplus of $NZ as it stands.
Its the impact of demographic shifts on the real, not the financial, side of the economy which are relevant. Yes, this also applies to the Cullen Fund.
No, it is not.
As I said
no provision nor planning for the 2030-2050 health care cost (and pressure on supply of health services).
You are speaking, as is your want, on funding of spending.
Until you change the way government (budget and debt finance etc) operates, your sniping at the concerns of others is what is destructive, rather than constructive.
Two thumbs up, agree SPC, too much of the rw biased debate thrown up here is solely about the evil of government spend on citizen welfare. But remains quiet on state welfare for corporates (e.g. bank bailouts, corporate environmental damage remediated at public cost, etc).
A just government focuses on maximising the first, by managing a healthy economic environment and running effective health, education and social support systems.
Wow ..!…Biden slaps 100% tariff on Chinese e.v.'s…
Tho' with the new seagull costing ten grand u.s….100% tariff only takes it to twenty grand…
The u.s. auto industry…as it is now…is screwed whichever way they turn….
Their whole business model is dead in the water…(Europe too ..)
It could be good news for us here ..
A flood of cheap electric vehicles hitting our shores… would be welcomed with open arms…
Nice little earner for the US government – anyone opposing it will be seen as pro China and against American companies.
An rnz commentator noted that it is also an election ploy ..
Aimed at those swing states that are populated by auto manufacturing industries…
But that doesn't alter the fact it is endgame for those industries…
..it won't save them…
BYD are building a factory in Mexico from where tariffs to sell EV's in the USA will not apply. It has currently ruled out exporting to the USA from there, but that won’t last. Biden is protecting his smokestack dinosaur auto industry thus allowing it to continue to sell outdated ICE technology. This always ends in tears.
https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinese-carmaker-byd-launches-low-cost-dolphin-mini-ev-mexico-2024-02-28/
China has a huge markets for its EV's in Europe (though they are pondering tariffs) China, Thailand, Malaya, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan (currently small but BYD is setting up a 100 dealerships there) NZ, Australia, Philippines, Viet Nam, etc etc etc
So any volunteers for these 35 schools?
Give Auckland Grammar to Destiny Church. That should make the next Epsom election an interesting one…
Looks like they can do what they want? Followed David Farrier’s work on his old Catholic high school where gay kids are taught that they should suppress themselves…this is within the current system and despite investigations and complaints still seems to be a key piece of dogma or doctrine or curriculum whatever these words mean.
I assume people with money and interest in schools will be an array of religious groups.
I suspect that a chunk of those schools will be those previously charter schools who were forcibly converted to integrated under the previous government.
I doubt that Auckland Grammar is likely to be one of them. They effectively operate as a private school already – within the State system. Using their location as a proxy for limiting enrollment to wealthy families. As do other schools in wealthy suburbs in many large cities.
Destiny Church would be highly unlikely to have the funds or expertise to take Grammar over (which I'm quite sure you know, and it was a mischievous comment)
IIRC, the charter schools set up last time, mostly weren't religious ones (since these can already be established as integrated schools under the current education system). But you can review the list yourself, and check
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_New_Zealand#List_of_former_partnership_schools
That might turn out to be wishful thinking.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/kura-kaupapa-maori-unlikely-to-jump-on-acts-charter-schools-waka/HEOYROBIBZEZHMIZVCH66HMNRY/
Interesting to read the reasons Raewyn Tipene gave for revisiting the charter school model:
Raewyn Tipene opened Whangārei-based Te Kāpehu Whetu in 2014 as part of the original kura hourua charter school initiative and then took the option to turn it into a special character school when Labour scrapped the policy.
She says one result of the switch was that NCEA and University Entrance results went backwards, from being among the top in Te Taitokerau.
“The pressure goes off. The expectation of staff isn’t as high as it is under charter schools. If the policy is similar to what we’ve had in the past, we would think very seriously about shifting back,” she says.
My emphasis added.
But, the Ministry of Education concluded that last time around the monitoring was inadequate and apart from two schools, there was no independent evidence they were doing a better job than comparable state schools – in fact, their results might have been inaccurate or even fabricated.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516813/doubts-about-value-results-from-charter-schools-education-figures
Your minister is lying to you and engaging in a culture war where students are collateral. But I’m glad you at least consider it important enough for you both to be here to defend him.
Yet Raewyn Tipene claims that teachers had higher expectations of them with the charter school model. My view is there were problems with the previous model that would have been ironed out, if they were not cancelled (for purely ideological reasons IMHO).
Yes. Funny that. When they had to meet the same assessment criteria as State schools, they couldn't get the same self declared results.
You conveniently missed the part where said The pressure goes off. The expectation of staff isn’t as high as it is under charter schools.
That is obvious.
Yes. I'm sure the pressure on staff to meet bullshit KPI's and fudge assessments, is less under the public system.
I doubt that. You don't think public schools game NCEA? You don’t think charter schools have KPI’s?
You’re on the Shore aren’t you? How about Rangitoto? Nice chunky case of unrealised profits there.
Or Westlake? Lots of extracurriculars to monetise stealthily.
Or perhaps somewhere slightly smaller, more boutique where unqualified teachers could be trialed and budgets reduced, like Long Bay college?
I mean it all depends on the takeover- if it is done with government assistance (and $153 million is set aside) and with borrowing against the assets to be acquired well, the sky is the limit really.
Don’t be a hypocrite- if it’s a great idea get it going at your local school today!
The money will establish 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state schools in 2025 and 2026, depending on demand and suitability.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516744/watch-charter-schools-to-get-153m-in-new-funding-in-budget-2024
Bit different to the 12 on Belladonna’s list. That’s 50 schools. A massive experiment and culture war attempt to damage education for the same reason journalism got its takedown.
Iwi is already buying school land.
Iwi buys school's land – Times
In fact they've become the MoE's biggest landlords!
Historical land ownership deal for iwi secured in land back efforts. (nzte.govt.nz)
This part of this government’s land owning gentry?
Buy the land, set the curriculum and employ anyone you feel like to staff the school? Already a tax exempt landlord? Now be exempt from various employment laws and much else besides!
Well that's a stretch. I'm not aware of any of the Iwi land owners doing that.
Please don’t be shy with that list of 35!
Why shouldn’t it be Grammar? This will lead to greater standards and accountability according to its MP.
Not sure where you're going with these examples – I'd be surprised if any of the schools you mention had any interest in going 'charter' -they're already successful under the current rules.
The push is more likely to be from special situation schools – like this case.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/125672364/parents-devastated-as-government-rejects-state-school-for-children-with-special-needsgoing to be for schools which are failing to be looking at a different model.
"In a letter informing Poole that his application was unsuccessful, Hipkins said one reason for declining it was “that there are available supports for all learners in existing state schools”." That’s something parents of current and former Mt Hobson students firmly reject. Jo Martin’s daughter went through the school, and it was only thanks to the teachers that her ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was picked up, she said. She was hoping her son, currently in year 3, would be able to go there in a few years. He has autism and ADHD, and there is “no support for him that is funded by the Government”, Martin said. She currently pays $2700 a term for her son to get eight hours of teacher aide support a week. It was “infuriating” to be consistently told the state system “has all the supports required”, she said.
[If you have nothing to say then say nothing and don’t spam this site with copy-pasta. One of your other comments today (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15-05-2024/#comment-1999776) was already bordering on being vacuous and not adding anything useful to debate, as was this one (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-14-05-2024/#comment-1999794) with a rather arbitrary and pointless ‘addition’ and copy-pasta from an unidentified source. This is your warning – Incognito]
Mod note
Apologies. The one above is a direct quote from Belladonna's link. In future I will repost the link.
We can all see that it’s a direct copy-pasta from that link. What’s lacking is [your] commentary, e.g., what’s the [your] point, what it is the significance, what does it add to the discussion, etc? Don’t play dummy with me!
Guinea pigs should be home grown in the Epsom electorate because that’s the best place for chickens to come home to roost.
35 schools full of students are to be given up to this American ideology.
Don’t let them shit in your backyard, if they won’t shit in theirs, because if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck it’s probably another reheated, half baked idea to increase private profits or interests inside the public sphere, inside our shared education estate.
As much as we are sold innovation, what we are getting is another attack on a middle class salary. Journalists went with David’s glee echoing behind them. Undercutting another public minded, community minded job where you might, with luck and hard work, get on the property ladder is the goal.
Epsom already has both private and decile 10 state schools – they have little need for charter schools – and probably little parental desire to switch. i.e. the parents are already happy with the schooling options. Remembering that the highly wealthy decile 10 Auckland 'Grammars' are effectively integrated schools – operating in their own little niche.
You seem to be forgetting that all charter schools will automatically fail, if there is no parental desire to move their kids away from the state (or private, or integrated) school system.
The government isn't forcing any charter school to be set up in any electorate. Nor are they forcing parents to send their kids there.
Note that teachers in charter schools (previously) seemed to be pretty happy with their salaries (not to mention the conditions and support). Hardly an attack on middle-class salaries…
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/charter-school-pays-top-dollar-for-teachers/YWPRDQJVKG2GVUPIDI4ILCQ2ZI/
Caitlin Clark, the WNBA player that people know about, gets a lesson first up – no walk ups for a three point shot and no easy drives for a lay up at the higher level. Her team beaten by 20 points by a top 4 team of the previous year.
She needs to be faster, stronger and fitter to perform as she did at college level – so for the meantime, play within the team to get and give good three point looks and passes for others to drive to the hoop.
Perhaps you could explain the connection to left politics or society in this comment – because it is certainly not apparent.
If you just want to talk about sports – perhaps your own social media would be a better venue.
Sure, the rising role of women's sport is a phenomena in society. WNBA is the sport reflecting this is in the USA atm.
We had discussions about the Women’s World Cup football last year
The Women’s World Cup rugby the year before that and the men’s last year.
Even test cricket.
Sure I get it, not all women have any time for sport.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5486973/2024/05/13/wnba-new-era-expansion-charter-flights/
…For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose ….
What me and my daughter are finding fascinating is the changing face of the NBA. It's no longer 90% USA Black and 10% USA White. Yeah sure there was always a Manut Bol, or a Yao Ming… but as almost tokens… now Giannis, Luka, Nikola, Giljous-Alexander, and a heap of other Balkans players. Nikol looks so uncoordinated and slow… my daughter loves his back story..fat kid who no one wanted to play with…. and guess who he married?? yup–high school sweetheart from Serbia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Edey
Boilermakers!!! More a Tarheels man myself… anyone but the evil empire…Duke.
From the Minister and Prime Minister who didn’t know the sums when in opposition- neither had any idea what each prisoner cost the taxpayer per year when fronting an announcement – comes the bottomless pit of hard and tough and strong on crime.
The movement since the 19th C to consider humanity when we incarcerate and remove rights has somewhat bypassed this pair also. A mega-prison is already a mega failure:
Workman’s in-depth analysis from 2017 showed mega-prisons in the UK, France and Canada were more likely to be unsafe than smaller prisons, lead to the use of force to control prisoners, have a negative effect on rehabilitation and reintegration, and breed harmful culture.
More than six years on, Workman says his warning holds true.
He told Newsroom there were some “disturbing” parts of the old proposal, particularly the plan to house minimum- and medium-security prisoners in a high-security prison – something that would breach both New Zealand laws and the Mandela Rules.
On top of that the advice given to the minister about the prison seems to be MIA and there is no plan or business case, just an announcement. Apparently there is advice according to the PM, but it has vanished.
Just the ladies who get the boot? Minister Mitchell and PM Luxon can be a numbers free zone of hardness and strength and a wealth of apparent incompetence, but only the women in hospital pass portfolios get tough on incompetenced out of office?
The PM has done a pre budget speech.
The highlights
Prelude – now is now and 2040 is later.
A goal of three achievements
We already leave home for higher wages, then return home in search of a better life.
More opportunity has come via the internet (ability to work locally as part of the digital economy). A more dynamic and productive economy and higher living standards, Key promised this in 2008.
But rising property values to wages diminished living standards and investment in property resulted in CG for some, but no improvement in productivity.
I am not sure enabling water companies to borrow more and over longer time frames, and local users can pay for it in water charges, is the start of this, or something different. It would be good if everyone had a primary health provider …and access to affordable dental care and schools with say 30 to 25 to 20 per classroom.
I have no words, words …
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/transcript-prime-minister-christopher-luxon-s-full-pre-budget-speech.html
All sounds a bit like 'Fundamental Transformation' to me!
Winding back the 'transformations' the previous Government failed to cement in to place?
Use of those two words together is something to do, either at the beginning or end of a great speech.
How can one have words in response to that, when he goes on to say
The end of SNA’s, one of Shaw’s concerns on leaving, he sees his new job as achieving what this government is not that serious about, reduced carbon etc.
Looks like National has ended the "war on farmers" so those farmers, or at least a good proportion of them, can continue the war on our environment: https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/community/whats-happening/news/media-releases/green-stream-complaints-result-in-fines-totalling-244000/
The comparison of past public spending to GDP growth, without reference to the pandemic is par for political discourse.
In that category would go claiming the planning for the Interceptor Project and its delivery was because of a recent deal with Mayor Brown, as per debt financing via balance sheet separation (as the last government was intending also).
As a bard might put it. I did not come for the time out bell, or to whistle, but hoped at least to stand and cheer, rather than clap politely.
The standard for regular attendance is 90% of the time – one day off every 2 weeks.
Winter has always been problematic, omicron infections occur 12 months of the year. Children of families changing rentals regularly – have difficulty getting to their old school before they get enrolled at a new one. Some children look after others (parents working and shift work sleep cycles etc), and some teens work jobs so the rent is paid.
So good luck – but the educational achievement is via smaller class sizes in state schools (and or better teacher support).
By the end of their first year, they can be accountable for these metrics:
– unemployment will spike to 6.5%
– GDP growth will be at or near 0%
– our trade deficit will remain negative
– house prices may go up 3-4%, but so will rent prices, and the house waiting list
– gang membership won't decrease
– the % of children going to school won't improve
– our economy will remain narrow and reliant on agricultural commodities and just two importing countries
– Households will continue to have on average over $170,000 in debt, and home ownership rates will tick below 60% of the population
– our jails will be full again
– our hospital and treatment waiting lists will be the same or worse.
– the minor tax threshold adjustments will be eaten up by transport and rent costs
This government reminds me more and more of the Richardson-Bolger-Shipley era. Lots of pain, no reward, no direction.
Some info on charter schools:
"In 2018, New Zealand spent USD 9 934 per student at primary, secondary and post-secondary non-tertiary education" OECD education spend data.
BHNews on charter schools at 1h:10, Chewie rips into Charter schools, including a claim that the cost of charter schools before pre student was USD22 000 pa (1h:14) (twice that of the state system), and 2019 government advisory report on charter schools (which seems to have disappeared from the education office website) which listed one charter school org that creamed off $500K into a family trust without any reason given.
I do like the fact that Maori under charter schools get smaller classes and thus a better chance. Labour should say they like that part of the concept but would like to reduce class sizes (and or more teacher aide support) in state (zone) schools too.
Or those schools who want to offer this, could become charter schools.
Charter schools are one step towards privatisation of education. The next step for Seymour will be education vouchers, like his hero the Great Rogernome, wanted to do.
Education vouchers will be resisted to the death by the residents of the 'double Grammar zone' (and the equivalent in other areas). Their house prices are predicated on automatic qualification for one of the 'top' schools (just look at the real estate advertising).
It's most unlikely to be introduced in the state system. Although, it could well be on the agenda for parents of kids going to private schools.