“It’s tribal. People identify as a driver or a cyclist – and there aren’t that many cyclists in New Zealand. People often think of cyclists as enthusiasts doing it for sport and recreation,“ he said.
“And with every piece of climate reporting, some people feel like they’re being asked to change their ways – and people like driving because it’s convenient. But any transport network in a city needs to work with a number of options,” MacManus said.
While transport conflicts make headlines, the changing patterns of how we use transport do not.
That’s the big goal and an easy lever to pull for climate change. That’s the low-hanging fruit. If you can convert more of those small trips to cycling or e-bikes that’s a huge amount of transport emissions in this country,“ he said.
Joel MacManus said it is not well understood that transport is also a gender issue. While critics and media stereotype cyclists as male and older, there’s a reason.
“You can look at the split of people cycling and it tells you a lot about how safe it is. You have a certain small group of people who will bike regardless – and it is heavily male. In cities that have safe paths you see it’s much closer to a 50-50 split.”
He cited a 2014 survey in Wellington showing a group of highly active cyclists prepared to ride no matter what – and it was overwhelmingly male.
“The people who said they would cycle if it was safer are exactly the people who aren’t cycling now,“ MacManus said.
More refreshing insights and data in the article. Resistance is futile and they know it.
Aha per yesterday – looks like the current cycling bunch are in the demographic I observed. Plus I love the generalised pious hope that more pathways means the demographic changes. Frankly I can't see most of the women I know cycling to work, having a shower, drying their hair, putting on makeup and then selecting from the largish amount of their wardrobe that they would need to keep there if their work even has the facilities to do so.
Behind the Herald paywall today David Fisher lays it out about David Seymour and his recent claims a school in Whangarei made a child speak of their "white privilege".
It shows Seymour's blustering was a typical, lowlife political scumbag exercise on his part.
I believe as a young child Seymour attended Hora Hora school so it was interesting to see the principal of the school commenting on Seymour's efforts.
"I think he's finding what he thinks is a niche and he's targeting it to get votes. I'm absolutely sad and appalled that a political leader would use children in his political argument."
Newman said he had noted the timing of Seymour's "white privilege" story and National Party leader Judith Collins' leadership rating collapsing in the Newshub Reid Research poll in May. It was a fall some linked to her claims the government was introducing "racist separatism" to deal with social issues affecting Maori.
In the wake of the poll – released on May 16 – Collins spoke less on the issue as Seymour began speaking louder after raising the claim of the child forced to "acknowledge white privilege" at school."
I saw that. Very interesting. I was particularly fascinated by this Seymour quote.
Seymour said he did not accept "white privilege" existed, although "it would be true as a statistical artefact" that people with white skin enjoyed better outcomes than people of colour. He said people who were taller also enjoyed advantages.
I'm not particularly sure what this means. If he accepts that statistically white people get the best results but he doesn't accept there's any systemic privilege driving that outcome, then doesn't this mean that he thinks white (and/or tall) people are innately superior (hence they achieve better results on pure merit)? What other interpretation is there?
Police have flagged crime in and around emergency housing as a growing concern but neither they nor the Government will reveal the full extent of the problem.
When asked in April what they were seeing on the ground, and what was being done if people felt unsafe in and around emergency housing, police declined an interview saying they did not collect that specific data.
But they did acknowledge public concern about the "perceived increase" in crime.
National Party MP Simeon Brown has asked Police Minister Poto Williams for the statistics on call outs and bail checks tagged to the addresses of 10 high-earning emergency housing motels.
Williams did not consider it "in the public interest to answer questions regarding specific properties with the level of detail … requested".
The Salvation Army has added its voice to calls for urgent government action.
Captain Nicki Dutton, based in Porirua, described the situation as “extremely problematic”.
“We have so many issues where people aren’t safe, we’ve heard so many stories about people who are living in situations which are not acceptable,” she said.
“They’re not safe, they’re not well cared for, they don’t have everything that they need.
well i guess she needs some more press secretaries to word her denial to answer legitimate questions a bit less haughty, lest she come across as someone who may have an interest in not telling the public what is happening in their own country, to their own people, in their own town. But then no Labour minister is living in Rotorua, in fact the last Labour Wananbe for Rotorua left town right after she lost the election cause not even Dear Leader next to her on the awning could make her palatable or believable.
But never mind, the people that live right around these government funded motels (some tourism is obviously good for the country – homeless tourism YEI!!) know exactly what goes on, and as a poster has said some time ago, in twenty years time we will discuss the abuse that went on in these places and the Government and the Police who stood by and rather do something refused to answer questions on the base that 'The public is not included in the need to know group, neither are politicians from the other side, nor are journalists.
For those that again want to see nothing there about a publicly paid person whose job it is to represent the people (unless she is list and got in not for winning but for being present at time) be reminded that chances are Labour again will be in opposition and then too someone can just deny them answers to legit questions on the ground that the 'public (and that is you too dear Minister or Underling) is not in the group that needs to know.
As for those that have these ‘poor houses’ where they live, sorry guys, but you are shit outta luck. Government ain’t here to help you, or the poor and downtrotten it warehouses out of sight out of mind in some motels that otherwise would have gone bust a year ago.
What is offensive every day is the terminally partisan or stupid who don't acknowledge where the problem came from and seek to blame Ardern's government for it. The bitterness of the election loss is deep as every "Dear Leader" epithet shows.
We have an 'underclass', it's the logical result of the way we've built our world. When we find the underclass revolting passing the blame to someone else is good. That long line of National MPs in Rotorua too eh? Smarm about a Labour candidate being beaten doesn't cut it. I guess if that's all you've got …
Poto Williams doesn't need more press secretaries to word denials or anything in less haughty terms, she needs to say, "Fuck off, stop crying and whingeing about the problems you happily created."
Sabine, would you rather we had evictions as in Britain? Or tent cities as in parts of the USA? Or these people die outside of hypothermia as people did in Germany?
Yes, she is a dear leader, who prefers to house the homeless and work towards finding suitable accommodation for them as soon as is possible. Why you are so offended?
No one is saying it is a complete answer. Not all of these people have social skills, and many have problems of addictions associations and health issues.
The Government has poured money into helping with the first issue, shelter, and provides money for food and clothing. Many have moved from this Emergency Housing to permanent Social Housing, complete with Social Services, but as in early days of slum clearing in Britain where the rehoused kept their coal in the bath, and continued to wash at the sink, it will take time and mahi to repair the harm of past neglect.
Once again you pour out endless bile, and work assiduously to "other". What is your point?
There is a Pandemic and more are dying now than did in the first infections, so do you expect the "Dear Leader" to wave a magic wand or to cave in and let anyone and especially tourists in? Covid be damned?
That would tie up even more money and leave even less for the folk you attest need more. You don't seriously suggest a right wing government would do better? They did a great deal worse after the 2008 crash, and increased the inequality sharply.
It's good that the government is apologizing for the dawn raids – but the apology I want is for Rogergnomics. It ruined the country, and I'm still waiting for that rising tide they promised was going to lift my boat along with all the others.
The apology preparation committee should be preparing one for the housing crisis that is in the process of unhoming and impoverishing a generation of New Zealanders too. Platitudes after the fact make all the difference.
Rapacious, predatory and parasitic economic behaviour is considered normal, even desirably efficient. No apologies required. Otherwise the apologies would never end. Or it would require a permanent and pre-emptive apology, so that everyone was covered 'going forward'.
Toyota Hilux's are overrated and if electric or hybrids aren't available for 2 years one would suspect another manufacture would be only too pleased to fill the order. That's not a smart way to promote lux's. I'm sure China will oblige. Farmers say there utes are not status symbols but working vehicles. EV's are coming to farming it's just who will be leading the charge ?
Saw an enormous big black new Ford Ranger Raptor at our local vegetable market yesterday, dwarfed everything else and got quite a few disapproving looks. Not a farmers working vehicle, too shiny and clean.
China would oblige with vehicles that can't even reach 2 stars on a safety rating. They are built down to a price and are basicly shit. BTW nobody has called out the lazy media and ACT running dogs for the bullshit on "penalising farmers and tradies" with the fee, completely overlooking the fact that work vehicles get the GST back and extensive depreciation and tax refunds on everything from repairs, fuel and other running costs not available to private users.
a large percentage of those "working vehicles" will be registered as tractors, and only do 100k or less a day. ideal electric conditions. as you say greenbus, chinese manufacturers will quickly fill the void if others dont .
Pretty hard to get away with a Hilux as a tractor without getting into deep shit. Have you ever been audited by IRD? They are pretty thorough and you can expect that to happen every 7 years or so, though we have only been checked once in 27. Not much advantage as both are on diesel and that doesn't carry any excise. There are a lot of urban myths about farming dodges and there are a few but nowhere as many as townies would like to think.
not hard to register hilux as tractor. all you need is a rural delivery address, or a friend with one that will let you use it. my jeep cherokee is registered as a tractor, saves me $$ on wof and rego. if it was diesel it would have saved me big $$$. "IRD are pretty thorough,though we have only been checked once in 27 yrs"!!!that answer tells us all how thorough IRD is, and as for urban myths, I live in the country but earn $$$ in town, have done so for longer that you havent been audited by IRD. possibly know some farming dodges you dont.
Arent ALL those ute type vehicles allowed to be classed as 'work vehicles' without question now , thats why the city types love them as no need to worry about fringe benefit tax or private use mileage.
'However, double cab utes are largely exempt from the tax as most fit into an exemption for vehicles that aren’t primarily used for carrying people – an exemption essentially designed so that tradies weren’t pinged by complex FBT charges. Of course, it’s encouraged a whole lot of companies to buy utes to avoid paying the charge.'
I cant understand why so many people buy these utes. Yes they are useful for farmers and some trades people like builders etc. and handy if you are picking up a washing machine, but otherwise they are big and clumsy in car parks and difficult to park.
I much prefer driving a hatch back or sedan for the amount of time you need a large tray on the back.
You got an apology from Jim Bolger and countless apologies from a lot on the left over the years. Rogernomics was not designed to be what it turned out to be, remember this is the same Roger Douglas that bought in a super scheme that all those now wealthier countries adopted from Singapore to Finland, a super scheme that today would have been worth 500 billion according to an estimate this week and my quess is that the homeless levels would not be an issue now and like Finland we would already have 60% EV ownership.it was fucking Muldoon that canceled that, dig him up and get an apology out of him. It was an ethos that was hijacked by arseholes for their own enrichment.
Douglas was once asked why GST was on food, his reply was that he had been to dinner in Remuera where the hosts had spent Over 500 dollars on the food and he had no intention of letting the rich eat for free and that is why he raised benefits for the less well of to cover the cost of GST on their food and other essentials. A lot of that has been lost in the angry history.
Adrian, it was not only Muldoon. I remember that election clearly: the Superannuation issue was one of the major ones, and both sides explained their virtues and criticised the faults of the other's scheme.
The great disaster to my mind was the failure of the NZ public to vote sensibly. The vast majority failed to think seriously, and voted emotionally on which leader looked and sounded better on TV. This was not an election of deceptive manifesto like the 1980's Labour win leading to Rogernomics.
It was the vast majority of NZers who deserve the opprobrium of having destroyed the better Superannuation scheme, by foolishly voting for Muldoon and his attractive-sounding short-term gain. The vast majority of NZers stupidly did this to themselves, not just Muldoon alone.
Very true In Vino and the sleepy hobbits are still at it. The trouble with voting is a great many have zero interest in politics, know very little policy and just vote for the nice talking head seen every now and then on tele. We end up with the shambles currently on show with underwhelming politicians delivering scams to suit themselves because they know exactly what the sleepy hobbits do. Sigh.
I think we had it too easy, post WW2, in the main. I remember an attitude of expectation of politicians to get on and do stuff, it's their job isn't it. The citizen was king or queen of the walk and had expectations of staying there without bothering too much about detail of law, and its effects – 'that's what we have politicians for'.
We abdicated opportunity for participatory government; though tried to alter things a bit with MMP, but still rather loose and muddled. So not ready for the speed that things could change or knowledgable about what we had in place, and no understanding of the international financial forces behind what the neolib, freemarket revolution would bring.
And no idea of the apparent common class change of physical workers metamorphising and shedding skin when they moved to the management class, abandoning interest or respect for the working class, especially at the unskilled/semi-skilled level. It was 'The End of the Golden Weather' which is becoming literal.
Certainly Grey, there was whiff of noblesse oblige and patricianism about leaders then but Labour paid for the Oil Crisis, fuel prices and carless days, none of which were their fault but the Nats dirty tricks team made sure they got blamed for it not to mention the Dancing Cossacks and Reds Under the Beds which were how the Nats portrayed the super scheme as COMMUNISIM at full gallop. Muldoon is still the chief arsehole in this country. Of course the uncritical middle ground were going to be swayed.
The comment I was thinking about talked about the voters more than the politicians. I think we have not been advised and educated well so as to make us good democrats. Work is involved in maintaining anything and we have not learned the skills – developed the cargo cult mentality that was often laughed at as supposedly a weakness in the Pacific after the USA incursions during WW2 (of course pre-nuclear testing). So the more Labour did, the more we went to sleep on the job. Going all right, it ain't broke so no need to find out how to fix it if necessary. We wouldn't have fallen for the dancing Cossacks, the Communism scarre if we had studied political systems at school, and the government would not have got away with driving Bill Sutch to his death I think. The informed mind with wide horizons and knowledge, over the hicks from the sticks approach was followed there, and still continues amongst the many slow learners.
Under the 72-5 Labour government, with Douglas as the responsible minister, the family benefit was able to be capitalised allowing a young solo mum I knew with two children to buy her own home, helped I must add by a personal loan from a Labour MP to give her this start. Personal and public compassion from both.
It's a great idea let down by a shitty user interface.
Instead of just beeping when the zombie gets close to an obstacle, that third eye needs to stream an image of the zombie's path ahead to a small window on the phone screen.
Being the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 today, I think it would be appropriate for us to list the good things that in particular our NZ government has done for its people.
It's very good that we apologise for the wrongs that were wrought and I feel a sense of shame that Labour was involved in those dawn raids.
To allow a sense of balance and even gratitude, I begin with a list off the top of my head that I feel should be mentioned and be proud of.
The 8 hour day; the breaking up of the big estates; universal suffrage; vote for women; the old age pension; opposition in the League of Nations to Italy's invasion of Ethiopia; the appointment of MLC Mark Briggs to the Legislative Council; social security; not joining the coalition of the willing; withdrawal of troops from Vietnam; Nuclear Free NZ; gay marriage; removal of compulsory military training; stopping racist rugby tours.
A wide and idiosyncratic starting list to which may I encourage others to add…………
Wasn't Labour in power during the big NZ push for the creation of the UN. Number 2, making sure we got the BEST vaccine with 88% cover for the B117 delta virus , way ahead of any other. No3, SmokefreeNZ, how many will that save from a horrible gasping desperate death.
Yes Adrian, as a past smoker Helen Clarke's smoke free day at work made me aware of non-smokers patience towards us. It took 3 years and patches before I was smoke free. So lucky to have that prod
be careful with looking at SOLD houses only , its only a tiny subset of all houses and is heavily weighted to the higher end places where the owners have more churn
Stories today say the agents have the LOWEST number of monthly new listings since the 1960s, which indicates that sellers and few and far between and likely to be the more average priced homes.
Not helped by the newspapers going full on for property porn where everything is bigger and more expensive and way way out of reach of the 80%
I like Colin Cotterill's novels about Laos and fictional old guys and women there with much political, practical and administrative wisdom. One of his latest in the series about Dr Siri Paiboun (Retired National – and only – Coroner) and his wife Daeng and their clique. This book is called, enigmatically, 'The Second Biggest Nothing'.
Here one has been asked to read a statement from the government commemorating their fifth year but he disagrees with it completely. What to do, if he refuses they will just get someone else. He is thinking of redaction but the others point out that the simultaneous interpreters will be reading the original script. "The old king tried to change his abdication speech, and the radio station brought in an actor to read the Party version."
The others ask what is so special about five years anyway. He says "It's quite simple. The government is celebrating five years because, despite all its mismanagement and false hopes and poor judgment, it's still here. They never expected to make it this far."
"Who's going to kick them out?" is the question. His answer, "Exactly. That's the glory of totalitarianism. You can screw up for five years and admit you have no idea what you're doing and you wake up the next morning and you're still in power. You can experiment all over again."
Oh dear. Hollow laughter from me. It sounds vaguely familiar.
And the bit where on a quiet night when they have imbibed and discussed and then drunk some more they raise a small ruckus before curfew so 'their drunken voices were carried across the river to Thailand to show the enemy that socialist Laos could still have a good time once in a while….right now was as good a time as any to stand on the riverbank and yell abuse. It was nothing personal, just a friendly diatribe against a nation with an ongoing animosity toward their inferior northern neighbours. It was therapy'.
We might end up doing similar looking towards Australia.
What a pathetic little thinker to have as a Mayor. He and other deadheads don't want to keep putting $15,000 towards a tourist attraction badly needed in regional North Island at Benneydale. The Mayor shows himself up as a dried-up little bean counter with no understanding of promotional activity to support micro businesses, self-employment and jobs and regular income to the town.
"The accountant in me urges council to end this. This needs to end at some time, the only specific grant we give," he said.
It seems that we have too frequently two opposites from Councils in NZ – either spending too much on big-ticket items, or spending too little on small, effective, wanted and economically affordable items. Talk about cutting off an area's nose to spite its face. The Council funded it at a higher rate initially, then prudently cut that back. But to withdraw completely shows an accountant's inability to know when or how to be entrepreneurial in building community business and interaction and amenities, and also the effect in the community of the multiplier.*
I know its not good to generalise, but isnt a mayor supposed to be aspirational ? does aspirational and accountant in the same sentence possibly work? bean counters should stick to counting beans….
unfortunatley too many shortsighted crappy local politicians keep on getting voted in, and back in, by doing nothing but keeping rates down. it is coming to a head in many councils with yrs of deferred maintanance on sewer and water systems, and the bills to those same ratepayers are going to be massive. many of these councils are rural councils with very little aspirational leadership.
Dont get me going on 'deferred maintenance' on sewer and water system. Its a meaningless 'objective' as depreciation on council assets is almost never spent on renewal.
The 'deferred' part is just the difference on a broad brush accounting measure that 'depreciation' is a fixed rate over the life of the asset- which is just plucked out of thin air.
Auckland has lots of brick sewers which are fine even after 150 years…its fascinating how some smaller and bricking around them as they go.
Wellington had some major effects from recent strong earthquakes in upper south island which has affected their waterfront area sewers, doesnt mean its dire for rest of the central city area where the sewers are in good ground
For anyone interested in developing better ways of doing politics in Aotearoa New Zealand there is a start up calling itself a political co-operative looking for folk to work on the idea of a new online platform. Take a look at https://oneaction.nz/intro/.
"OneAction won’t register as an official NZ political party until we have 200,000 members – enough to take seats at our first election."
But other than that, I don't really get what you are doing. If the point is to give representation in parliament to members, how will you manage libertarian right members and green left ones?
It possibly will attract a lot of young adults who want to try new parties thinking the old ones are a bit soiled. They tend to be full of ideas and pushing for changes that are kind to people.
I think the latest in Nelson as a result of a fuss by a new young councillor, is silly. It cuts out fines for overdue library books. They were rather dear if you had a number out (and the library lets out a whopping 35 items). That could have come down from 50c to 30c a day for the first three, and then up to a limit of $1 for all the rest. Now there is no prod to return them promptly, and of course it means that others waiting to read the book will just have to wait till the tardy borrower gets round to returning them or asking someone else to do so. And it was a bit of extra cash that was available for library use. What I would like is not having to pay $2 to get a book held at one of the suburban libraries. They should have a free interactive system seeing its all one rating area.
As a slack borrower myself at various times, I found late fee useful (they send an email well in advance) and I respected that I had an expensive book I should take back. Don't rush to change good rules I say, they should be tempered by good old common sense, it does come in right and handy at times.
my understanding is it's a change in library culture, away from neoliberalism (revenue generation by councils), to wanting to support people to actually take out books. Lots of people who end up with fines stop using the library.
There can be a fine amnesty for such people. But it is a public amenity and if they have a problem getting back to the library, they could have an envelope prepaid, to use. That would be paid for by the other late-fee people who can access the library. There are too many lovey-dovey ideas floating around that indicate that we are a caring community. All surface appearance stuff. Let's care where it really is needed, not this middle class sweetness; have equity of sweetness and spread it round.
It's an experiment not a ready baked solution. The real challenge is to develop a platform that will permit deliberative participation, listening as well as talking, using the techniques developed for deliberative mini-publics, some of which have had to go online during Covid, so there are examples to look at and adapt.
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The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
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A great article that cuts right through the bikelash crap.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018799050/too-much-heat-makes-transport-fraught
More refreshing insights and data in the article. Resistance is futile and they know it.
Aha per yesterday – looks like the current cycling bunch are in the demographic I observed. Plus I love the generalised pious hope that more pathways means the demographic changes. Frankly I can't see most of the women I know cycling to work, having a shower, drying their hair, putting on makeup and then selecting from the largish amount of their wardrobe that they would need to keep there if their work even has the facilities to do so.
Or the men for that matter.
Behind the Herald paywall today David Fisher lays it out about David Seymour and his recent claims a school in Whangarei made a child speak of their "white privilege".
It shows Seymour's blustering was a typical, lowlife political scumbag exercise on his part.
I believe as a young child Seymour attended Hora Hora school so it was interesting to see the principal of the school commenting on Seymour's efforts.
"I think he's finding what he thinks is a niche and he's targeting it to get votes. I'm absolutely sad and appalled that a political leader would use children in his political argument."
Newman said he had noted the timing of Seymour's "white privilege" story and National Party leader Judith Collins' leadership rating collapsing in the Newshub Reid Research poll in May. It was a fall some linked to her claims the government was introducing "racist separatism" to deal with social issues affecting Maori.
In the wake of the poll – released on May 16 – Collins spoke less on the issue as Seymour began speaking louder after raising the claim of the child forced to "acknowledge white privilege" at school."
I saw that. Very interesting. I was particularly fascinated by this Seymour quote.
I'm not particularly sure what this means. If he accepts that statistically white people get the best results but he doesn't accept there's any systemic privilege driving that outcome, then doesn't this mean that he thinks white (and/or tall) people are innately superior (hence they achieve better results on pure merit)? What other interpretation is there?
Pretty much Leighton, it follows the "I'm rich because I'm hardworking, you're poor because you're lazy" rw trope.
well i guess she needs some more press secretaries to word her denial to answer legitimate questions a bit less haughty, lest she come across as someone who may have an interest in not telling the public what is happening in their own country, to their own people, in their own town. But then no Labour minister is living in Rotorua, in fact the last Labour Wananbe for Rotorua left town right after she lost the election cause not even Dear Leader next to her on the awning could make her palatable or believable.
But never mind, the people that live right around these government funded motels (some tourism is obviously good for the country – homeless tourism YEI!!) know exactly what goes on, and as a poster has said some time ago, in twenty years time we will discuss the abuse that went on in these places and the Government and the Police who stood by and rather do something refused to answer questions on the base that 'The public is not included in the need to know group, neither are politicians from the other side, nor are journalists.
For those that again want to see nothing there about a publicly paid person whose job it is to represent the people (unless she is list and got in not for winning but for being present at time) be reminded that chances are Labour again will be in opposition and then too someone can just deny them answers to legit questions on the ground that the 'public (and that is you too dear Minister or Underling) is not in the group that needs to know.
As for those that have these ‘poor houses’ where they live, sorry guys, but you are shit outta luck. Government ain’t here to help you, or the poor and downtrotten it warehouses out of sight out of mind in some motels that otherwise would have gone bust a year ago.
Labour, a bit more offensive every day.
[Where is your link? – Incognito]
Don't worry Sabine some kindness and middle class cycle lanes will fix it…
See my Moderation note @ 8:35 am.
I imagine that she is quoting from the Herald, or possibly from the Herald's source which was RNZ.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/emergency-housing-police-documents-reveal-increasing-public-concern-over-crime/GYQ7YITXNQUZ6U3CZOZFZER2F4/
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/444729/emergency-housing-police-documents-point-to-increasing-concern-over-crime
The quotes look a bit closer to the Herald story.
What is offensive every day is the terminally partisan or stupid who don't acknowledge where the problem came from and seek to blame Ardern's government for it. The bitterness of the election loss is deep as every "Dear Leader" epithet shows.
We have an 'underclass', it's the logical result of the way we've built our world. When we find the underclass revolting passing the blame to someone else is good. That long line of National MPs in Rotorua too eh? Smarm about a Labour candidate being beaten doesn't cut it. I guess if that's all you've got …
Poto Williams doesn't need more press secretaries to word denials or anything in less haughty terms, she needs to say, "Fuck off, stop crying and whingeing about the problems you happily created."
Yes, a person so ignoranter and clueless , we are told this
" (unless she is list and got in not for winning but for being present at time)"
Poto Williams has always represented the seat of Christchurch East since a 2013 by-election.
Its becomes clearer by the day its sounding like an ACT party glove puppet with a 'fixated person complex' about any and all Labour Mps
Here's the article on NZH
Emergency housing: Police documents reveal increasing public concern over crime – NZ Herald
Sabine, would you rather we had evictions as in Britain? Or tent cities as in parts of the USA? Or these people die outside of hypothermia as people did in Germany?
Yes, she is a dear leader, who prefers to house the homeless and work towards finding suitable accommodation for them as soon as is possible. Why you are so offended?
No one is saying it is a complete answer. Not all of these people have social skills, and many have problems of addictions associations and health issues.
The Government has poured money into helping with the first issue, shelter, and provides money for food and clothing. Many have moved from this Emergency Housing to permanent Social Housing, complete with Social Services, but as in early days of slum clearing in Britain where the rehoused kept their coal in the bath, and continued to wash at the sink, it will take time and mahi to repair the harm of past neglect.
Once again you pour out endless bile, and work assiduously to "other". What is your point?
There is a Pandemic and more are dying now than did in the first infections, so do you expect the "Dear Leader" to wave a magic wand or to cave in and let anyone and especially tourists in? Covid be damned?
That would tie up even more money and leave even less for the folk you attest need more. You don't seriously suggest a right wing government would do better? They did a great deal worse after the 2008 crash, and increased the inequality sharply.
sabine NEVER has any answers, just relentless negativety. constructive criticisim is good, moaning for the sake of it isnt.
It's good that the government is apologizing for the dawn raids – but the apology I want is for Rogergnomics. It ruined the country, and I'm still waiting for that rising tide they promised was going to lift my boat along with all the others.
The apology preparation committee should be preparing one for the housing crisis that is in the process of unhoming and impoverishing a generation of New Zealanders too. Platitudes after the fact make all the difference.
100%
"the apology I want is for Rogergnomics"
Rapacious, predatory and parasitic economic behaviour is considered normal, even desirably efficient. No apologies required. Otherwise the apologies would never end. Or it would require a permanent and pre-emptive apology, so that everyone was covered 'going forward'.
150%
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018799750/police-minister-won-t-reveal-extent-of-criminality-at-motels
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018799648/housing-the-mentally-ill-when-the-roof-is-caving-in
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018799787/some-were-horrible-new-research-into-mental-health-units
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/443953/maori-war-veteran-s-skin-still-peeling-50-years-after-agent-orange-exposure
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018799740/rotorua-publican-hasn-t-seen-crime-improve-since-government-intervention-in-city
Crime for hopeless people!
Hilarious cartoon in Stuff this morning , but you have to wonder if it had been 'held back' from an earlier more opportune publication date ?
[image resized]
Toyota Hilux's are overrated and if electric or hybrids aren't available for 2 years one would suspect another manufacture would be only too pleased to fill the order. That's not a smart way to promote lux's. I'm sure China will oblige. Farmers say there utes are not status symbols but working vehicles. EV's are coming to farming it's just who will be leading the charge ?
Saw an enormous big black new Ford Ranger Raptor at our local vegetable market yesterday, dwarfed everything else and got quite a few disapproving looks. Not a farmers working vehicle, too shiny and clean.
China would oblige with vehicles that can't even reach 2 stars on a safety rating. They are built down to a price and are basicly shit. BTW nobody has called out the lazy media and ACT running dogs for the bullshit on "penalising farmers and tradies" with the fee, completely overlooking the fact that work vehicles get the GST back and extensive depreciation and tax refunds on everything from repairs, fuel and other running costs not available to private users.
That's very disrespectful to China's automotive engineering prowess. Check out some of their finest here:
https://electrek.co/guides/alibaba/
a large percentage of those "working vehicles" will be registered as tractors, and only do 100k or less a day. ideal electric conditions. as you say greenbus, chinese manufacturers will quickly fill the void if others dont .
Pretty hard to get away with a Hilux as a tractor without getting into deep shit. Have you ever been audited by IRD? They are pretty thorough and you can expect that to happen every 7 years or so, though we have only been checked once in 27. Not much advantage as both are on diesel and that doesn't carry any excise. There are a lot of urban myths about farming dodges and there are a few but nowhere as many as townies would like to think.
not hard to register hilux as tractor. all you need is a rural delivery address, or a friend with one that will let you use it. my jeep cherokee is registered as a tractor, saves me $$ on wof and rego. if it was diesel it would have saved me big $$$. "IRD are pretty thorough,though we have only been checked once in 27 yrs"!!!that answer tells us all how thorough IRD is, and as for urban myths, I live in the country but earn $$$ in town, have done so for longer that you havent been audited by IRD. possibly know some farming dodges you dont.
Arent ALL those ute type vehicles allowed to be classed as 'work vehicles' without question now , thats why the city types love them as no need to worry about fringe benefit tax or private use mileage.
'However, double cab utes are largely exempt from the tax as most fit into an exemption for vehicles that aren’t primarily used for carrying people – an exemption essentially designed so that tradies weren’t pinged by complex FBT charges. Of course, it’s encouraged a whole lot of companies to buy utes to avoid paying the charge.'
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300237529/government-considered-36-million-tax-break-for-company-cars
I cant understand why so many people buy these utes. Yes they are useful for farmers and some trades people like builders etc. and handy if you are picking up a washing machine, but otherwise they are big and clumsy in car parks and difficult to park.
I much prefer driving a hatch back or sedan for the amount of time you need a large tray on the back.
You got an apology from Jim Bolger and countless apologies from a lot on the left over the years. Rogernomics was not designed to be what it turned out to be, remember this is the same Roger Douglas that bought in a super scheme that all those now wealthier countries adopted from Singapore to Finland, a super scheme that today would have been worth 500 billion according to an estimate this week and my quess is that the homeless levels would not be an issue now and like Finland we would already have 60% EV ownership.it was fucking Muldoon that canceled that, dig him up and get an apology out of him. It was an ethos that was hijacked by arseholes for their own enrichment.
Douglas was once asked why GST was on food, his reply was that he had been to dinner in Remuera where the hosts had spent Over 500 dollars on the food and he had no intention of letting the rich eat for free and that is why he raised benefits for the less well of to cover the cost of GST on their food and other essentials. A lot of that has been lost in the angry history.
Adrian, it was not only Muldoon. I remember that election clearly: the Superannuation issue was one of the major ones, and both sides explained their virtues and criticised the faults of the other's scheme.
The great disaster to my mind was the failure of the NZ public to vote sensibly. The vast majority failed to think seriously, and voted emotionally on which leader looked and sounded better on TV. This was not an election of deceptive manifesto like the 1980's Labour win leading to Rogernomics.
It was the vast majority of NZers who deserve the opprobrium of having destroyed the better Superannuation scheme, by foolishly voting for Muldoon and his attractive-sounding short-term gain. The vast majority of NZers stupidly did this to themselves, not just Muldoon alone.
Very true In Vino and the sleepy hobbits are still at it. The trouble with voting is a great many have zero interest in politics, know very little policy and just vote for the nice talking head seen every now and then on tele. We end up with the shambles currently on show with underwhelming politicians delivering scams to suit themselves because they know exactly what the sleepy hobbits do. Sigh.
I think we had it too easy, post WW2, in the main. I remember an attitude of expectation of politicians to get on and do stuff, it's their job isn't it. The citizen was king or queen of the walk and had expectations of staying there without bothering too much about detail of law, and its effects – 'that's what we have politicians for'.
We abdicated opportunity for participatory government; though tried to alter things a bit with MMP, but still rather loose and muddled. So not ready for the speed that things could change or knowledgable about what we had in place, and no understanding of the international financial forces behind what the neolib, freemarket revolution would bring.
And no idea of the apparent common class change of physical workers metamorphising and shedding skin when they moved to the management class, abandoning interest or respect for the working class, especially at the unskilled/semi-skilled level. It was 'The End of the Golden Weather' which is becoming literal.
Certainly Grey, there was whiff of noblesse oblige and patricianism about leaders then but Labour paid for the Oil Crisis, fuel prices and carless days, none of which were their fault but the Nats dirty tricks team made sure they got blamed for it not to mention the Dancing Cossacks and Reds Under the Beds which were how the Nats portrayed the super scheme as COMMUNISIM at full gallop. Muldoon is still the chief arsehole in this country. Of course the uncritical middle ground were going to be swayed.
The comment I was thinking about talked about the voters more than the politicians. I think we have not been advised and educated well so as to make us good democrats. Work is involved in maintaining anything and we have not learned the skills – developed the cargo cult mentality that was often laughed at as supposedly a weakness in the Pacific after the USA incursions during WW2 (of course pre-nuclear testing). So the more Labour did, the more we went to sleep on the job. Going all right, it ain't broke so no need to find out how to fix it if necessary. We wouldn't have fallen for the dancing Cossacks, the Communism scarre if we had studied political systems at school, and the government would not have got away with driving Bill Sutch to his death I think. The informed mind with wide horizons and knowledge, over the hicks from the sticks approach was followed there, and still continues amongst the many slow learners.
It wasn't a majority, vast or otherwise. National's vote was 47.6% with Labour's 8% less.
True, Brigid, but FFP made it seem far worse at the time.
Under the 72-5 Labour government, with Douglas as the responsible minister, the family benefit was able to be capitalised allowing a young solo mum I knew with two children to buy her own home, helped I must add by a personal loan from a Labour MP to give her this start. Personal and public compassion from both.
Paula Bennett used a very similar arrangement to get a little place in Taupo when she was a solo mum.
Keys mother was able to get a 'permanent' state house in Christchurch as a widow.
Then they made it …. and pulled up the ladders behind them
Oh dear.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/skorean-designer-creates-third-eye-smartphone-zombies-2021-06-04/?
It's a great idea let down by a shitty user interface.
Instead of just beeping when the zombie gets close to an obstacle, that third eye needs to stream an image of the zombie's path ahead to a small window on the phone screen.
Being the anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 today, I think it would be appropriate for us to list the good things that in particular our NZ government has done for its people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magna_Carta
It's very good that we apologise for the wrongs that were wrought and I feel a sense of shame that Labour was involved in those dawn raids.
To allow a sense of balance and even gratitude, I begin with a list off the top of my head that I feel should be mentioned and be proud of.
The 8 hour day; the breaking up of the big estates; universal suffrage; vote for women; the old age pension; opposition in the League of Nations to Italy's invasion of Ethiopia; the appointment of MLC Mark Briggs to the Legislative Council; social security; not joining the coalition of the willing; withdrawal of troops from Vietnam; Nuclear Free NZ; gay marriage; removal of compulsory military training; stopping racist rugby tours.
A wide and idiosyncratic starting list to which may I encourage others to add…………
Wasn't Labour in power during the big NZ push for the creation of the UN. Number 2, making sure we got the BEST vaccine with 88% cover for the B117 delta virus , way ahead of any other. No3, SmokefreeNZ, how many will that save from a horrible gasping desperate death.
I'm glad it's the best vaccine. I had mine yesterday.
Yes Adrian, as a past smoker Helen Clarke's smoke free day at work made me aware of non-smokers patience towards us. It took 3 years and patches before I was smoke free. So lucky to have that prod
House prices up one third in a year. https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/real-estate/300333073/buyers-need-to-find-extra-200k-to-buy-a-home-real-estate-institute-data-shows
Obscene.
'Bubbly' https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125452535/nz-has-most-bubbly-house-market-in-the-world-according-to-bloomberg
ah, not in a good way though.
there's a first for everything 🙂
"House prices up one third "
be careful with looking at SOLD houses only , its only a tiny subset of all houses and is heavily weighted to the higher end places where the owners have more churn
Stories today say the agents have the LOWEST number of monthly new listings since the 1960s, which indicates that sellers and few and far between and likely to be the more average priced homes.
Not helped by the newspapers going full on for property porn where everything is bigger and more expensive and way way out of reach of the 80%
Largest increase recorded.
I like Colin Cotterill's novels about Laos and fictional old guys and women there with much political, practical and administrative wisdom. One of his latest in the series about Dr Siri Paiboun (Retired National – and only – Coroner) and his wife Daeng and their clique. This book is called, enigmatically, 'The Second Biggest Nothing'.
Here one has been asked to read a statement from the government commemorating their fifth year but he disagrees with it completely. What to do, if he refuses they will just get someone else. He is thinking of redaction but the others point out that the simultaneous interpreters will be reading the original script. "The old king tried to change his abdication speech, and the radio station brought in an actor to read the Party version."
The others ask what is so special about five years anyway. He says "It's quite simple. The government is celebrating five years because, despite all its mismanagement and false hopes and poor judgment, it's still here. They never expected to make it this far."
"Who's going to kick them out?" is the question. His answer, "Exactly. That's the glory of totalitarianism. You can screw up for five years and admit you have no idea what you're doing and you wake up the next morning and you're still in power. You can experiment all over again."
Oh dear. Hollow laughter from me. It sounds vaguely familiar.
And the bit where on a quiet night when they have imbibed and discussed and then drunk some more they raise a small ruckus before curfew so 'their drunken voices were carried across the river to Thailand to show the enemy that socialist Laos could still have a good time once in a while….right now was as good a time as any to stand on the riverbank and yell abuse. It was nothing personal, just a friendly diatribe against a nation with an ongoing animosity toward their inferior northern neighbours. It was therapy'.
We might end up doing similar looking towards Australia.
What a pathetic little thinker to have as a Mayor. He and other deadheads don't want to keep putting $15,000 towards a tourist attraction badly needed in regional North Island at Benneydale. The Mayor shows himself up as a dried-up little bean counter with no understanding of promotional activity to support micro businesses, self-employment and jobs and regular income to the town.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444756/investing-in-the-timber-trail-saving-a-village-for-15-000
"The accountant in me urges council to end this. This needs to end at some time, the only specific grant we give," he said.
It seems that we have too frequently two opposites from Councils in NZ – either spending too much on big-ticket items, or spending too little on small, effective, wanted and economically affordable items. Talk about cutting off an area's nose to spite its face. The Council funded it at a higher rate initially, then prudently cut that back. But to withdraw completely shows an accountant's inability to know when or how to be entrepreneurial in building community business and interaction and amenities, and also the effect in the community of the multiplier.*
*In terms of gross domestic product, the multiplier effect causes gains in total output to be greater than the change in spending that caused it. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/multiplier.asp
I know its not good to generalise, but isnt a mayor supposed to be aspirational ? does aspirational and accountant in the same sentence possibly work? bean counters should stick to counting beans….
I am glad you see what I see. I have thought up a name for people who are supposed to be aspirational but aren't – asprinational! What do you think?
'Voted out' is the phrase you are looking for
unfortunatley too many shortsighted crappy local politicians keep on getting voted in, and back in, by doing nothing but keeping rates down. it is coming to a head in many councils with yrs of deferred maintanance on sewer and water systems, and the bills to those same ratepayers are going to be massive. many of these councils are rural councils with very little aspirational leadership.
Dont get me going on 'deferred maintenance' on sewer and water system. Its a meaningless 'objective' as depreciation on council assets is almost never spent on renewal.
The 'deferred' part is just the difference on a broad brush accounting measure that 'depreciation' is a fixed rate over the life of the asset- which is just plucked out of thin air.
Auckland has lots of brick sewers which are fine even after 150 years…its fascinating how some smaller and bricking around them as they go.
Wellington had some major effects from recent strong earthquakes in upper south island which has affected their waterfront area sewers, doesnt mean its dire for rest of the central city area where the sewers are in good ground
For anyone interested in developing better ways of doing politics in Aotearoa New Zealand there is a start up calling itself a political co-operative looking for folk to work on the idea of a new online platform. Take a look at https://oneaction.nz/intro/.
for some reason that link doesn't work.
This one does https://oneaction.nz/Intro/
I like this,
"OneAction won’t register as an official NZ political party until we have 200,000 members – enough to take seats at our first election."
But other than that, I don't really get what you are doing. If the point is to give representation in parliament to members, how will you manage libertarian right members and green left ones?
It possibly will attract a lot of young adults who want to try new parties thinking the old ones are a bit soiled. They tend to be full of ideas and pushing for changes that are kind to people.
I think the latest in Nelson as a result of a fuss by a new young councillor, is silly. It cuts out fines for overdue library books. They were rather dear if you had a number out (and the library lets out a whopping 35 items). That could have come down from 50c to 30c a day for the first three, and then up to a limit of $1 for all the rest. Now there is no prod to return them promptly, and of course it means that others waiting to read the book will just have to wait till the tardy borrower gets round to returning them or asking someone else to do so. And it was a bit of extra cash that was available for library use. What I would like is not having to pay $2 to get a book held at one of the suburban libraries. They should have a free interactive system seeing its all one rating area.
As a slack borrower myself at various times, I found late fee useful (they send an email well in advance) and I respected that I had an expensive book I should take back. Don't rush to change good rules I say, they should be tempered by good old common sense, it does come in right and handy at times.
my understanding is it's a change in library culture, away from neoliberalism (revenue generation by councils), to wanting to support people to actually take out books. Lots of people who end up with fines stop using the library.
Agree about reserve fees.
There can be a fine amnesty for such people. But it is a public amenity and if they have a problem getting back to the library, they could have an envelope prepaid, to use. That would be paid for by the other late-fee people who can access the library. There are too many lovey-dovey ideas floating around that indicate that we are a caring community. All surface appearance stuff. Let's care where it really is needed, not this middle class sweetness; have equity of sweetness and spread it round.
How does this the library determine the middle class from the other classes?
Actually OneAction is at an early stage of developing, and more voices are needed to firm up the ideas and develop the online co-operative ideas.
It's an experiment not a ready baked solution. The real challenge is to develop a platform that will permit deliberative participation, listening as well as talking, using the techniques developed for deliberative mini-publics, some of which have had to go online during Covid, so there are examples to look at and adapt.