Open mike 15/07/2020

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 15th, 2020 - 195 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:

Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

195 comments on “Open mike 15/07/2020 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. ScottGN 1
    15 July 2020 at 7:08 am

    Presumably Collins will have to have some sort of reshuffle? If only because her and Brownlees’ responsibilities will need to change. Does she leave Woodhouse in Health? And risk the Heron Inquiry blowing up in their faces? Will Brownlee want Foreign Affairs back? Does she need to placate any other leadership aspirant, maybe Mitchell, especially if the contest was tight? Does she take Education off Kaye?

    • gsays 1.1
      15 July 2020 at 7:16 am

      My thoughts exactly Scott.

      Now the Nastys have this strong leader they desire, will she have the courage to move Woodhouse on?

    • SPC 1.2
      15 July 2020 at 7:56 am

      If Woodhouse had kept his leader informed that he was getting emails from Boag about those in quarantine

      Muller would have

      1. said nothing about the leak to media, but simply asked Boag who else she had sent information to.

      3. then contacted Walker to confirm he had done what he did, taken his roles off him and asked the Party to end his candidacy and publicly called on Boag to resign her membership.

      4. there would have been no inquiry. Because Muller would have had it all dealt with.

      Instead Woodhouse effectively undermined the party leader.

      What sort of leadership carelessness would it take to trust him with Health, or any Cabinet position after this?

      • Dennis Frank 1.2.1
        15 July 2020 at 8:55 am

        Spot on. I expect she will deselect him. He may escape with demotion to a less-important position, if he can justify his behaviour to her on a semi-plausible basis. Unlikely. A lapdog presenting as paper tiger, not a good look for the Nats.

      • Treetop 1.2.2
        15 July 2020 at 9:28 am

        What you say is clear.

        But

        Collins may have been working with Walker, Woodhouse and Boag to humiliate Muller. Muller did not resign for nothing. I cannot prove what I said and if what I say is the case Muller's job became untenable due to the play of dirty politics from within his own caucas.

        Yeah right no more dirty politics from the new National leader.

        • SPC 1.2.2.1
          15 July 2020 at 10:02 am

          unstated

          2. Why nothing from Boag to him to keep Muller informed, he was the last to know anything.

          Woodhouse was team Bridges. Boag supported Kaye part of the Muller ticket.

          While the enemy of your enemy is a stepping stone along the path of dirty politics, for mine Boag made an error of judgment, Woodhouse …

          • Treetop 1.2.2.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 7:34 pm

            Irrelevant now, which team was Walker on?

            Hopefully Heron will interview Muller and Muller could disclose why he did not disclose Woodhouse telling him earlier on.

        • rod 1.2.2.2
          15 July 2020 at 4:38 pm

          Judith said she is done with Dirty Politics, and the band played, believe it if you like.

  2. ScottGN 2
    15 July 2020 at 7:19 am

    Jane Patterson on Morning Report saying just now that she wouldn’t commit to keeping Woodhouse in Health.

  3. ScottGN 3
    15 July 2020 at 7:28 am

    Imagine the industrial scale loathing between Collins and Bridges after she betrayed him against Muller as she maneuvered her way to this point?

  4. francesca 4
    15 July 2020 at 7:33 am

    Collins not particularly good on radio at no

    Doubling down on "Is there something wrong with being white?"

    And "my husband's a Samoan" as if that absolves her of having a very white front bench

    • Morrissey 4.1
      15 July 2020 at 10:48 am

      Having a Samoan husband does not make her statements a whit less problematic. Some particularly nasty racists, including Don Brash, the late Paul Holmes and Cameron "Whaleoil" Slater, have all had non-European wives.

      • Goodgrief 4.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 2:04 pm

        I also know some non-European people in prominent positions who utter racist comments day after day, but it seems that racism is a one-way street. Time for what I believe are called the "woke" to realise that until they espouse equality they are themselves inherently racist.

        • Morrissey 4.1.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 2:34 pm

          I also know some non-European people in prominent positions who utter racist comments day after day,

          You're thinking of Winston Peters and Duncan Garner, I take it.

          … but it seems that racism is a one-way street.

          Who suggests that? surprise

          Time for what I believe are called the "woke" to realise that until they espouse equality they are themselves inherently racist.

          Could you elaborate, please? What do you mean by "the woke"?

          • Goodgrief 4.1.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 7:52 pm

            I'm sure that googling WOKE is not beyond your capability Morrissey. As for your assumption re Winston Peters and Duncan Garner, you assume incorrectly.

  5. Ad 5
    15 July 2020 at 7:33 am

    Marsden Point is being reduced to a shell and they are going to fire hundreds of people.

    We are now seeing the second massive loss of very high paying heavy industry jobs in a vulnerable region within a month.

    New Zealand's Marsden Point is going to strip away hundreds of jobs, and turn itself from being a full catalytic converter, into something which is just importing bulk fuel straight in to the country.

    Marsden Point was opened in 1964 and significantly expanded under the Think Big policy of the late 1970s.

    Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.

    This means in the worst ever year for job losses in New Zealand since 1929, two of the last heavy-industry high-salary and high-wage businesses are going to leave hundreds of workers on the scrapheap. That's Marsden Point Refinery and Tiwai Point smelter.

    When the big salaries go, towns just don't recover. That's our pattern.

    Now, it was great to see the government yesterday put in $19.5 million into the long-gestating Ngapha Industrial Park. That's on top of the massive new funding for a dam in Kaikohe. Top work Shane Jones.

    https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2007/S00117/government-backs-northland-innovation-and-enterprise-park.htm

    Here's the kind of business they are seeking to attract there.

    https://ngawhapark.nz/

    But on top of a tourism and travel and airport calamity, we are seeing the last of our heavy industry just die. With that goes much of the remaining power of our only private union with any heft – E Tu.

    If NZFirst goes out the back door this election, I sure hope Labour has some plan and some muscular Minister for rebuilding our shattered regions in the next government.

    • Dennis Frank 5.1
      15 July 2020 at 9:01 am

      Recently it hasn't been able to compete against the massive refineries in Singapore, Korea and Indonesia.

      Those who live by neoliberalism die by the market. However Nat/Labs are extremely thick, so both major parties will campaign on business as usual.

      The world has been changed by the pandemic so economic policy must shift in response. Rational political strategy requires that. Shhh! Don't tell National or Labour! They want to promise more neoliberalism, believing that voters will be traumatised by the prospect of `adapt or die'. Cloud-cuckoo land will win.

      • Ad 5.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 9:27 am

        This government has pursued regional economic development more aggressively than any government since Muldoon.

        They are full Keynesians.

        Their projects are smaller than the Think Big ones, but there's hundreds of them, ticketing multiple billions of dollars.

        But sure, go full false equivalence on National and Labour. It's simply not supportable.

      • Ad 5.1.2
        15 July 2020 at 9:55 am

        Labour has generated the strongest regional economc development programme since Muldoon. But top marks for the horseshit false equivalence between National and Labour there.

        • Incognito 5.1.2.1
          15 July 2020 at 10:51 am

          Thanks Ad, your commentary is more than welcome and you get to the issue in your razor-sharp manner without big words or any other distractions. Keep it up yes

          When I logged in after 10 am there were five comments of yours pending in Pre-Moderation. It helps with the flow if you could do something to avoid this from happening and reoccurring 😉

          • Ad 5.1.2.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 11:22 am

            You miderators should stop my default into pre-mod. Can't be hard to fix.

            [lprent: You have a login tagged to that ’email’. It is the one that is used for your posts. Because it is used for posts that requires that you are an author. Authors are required to login.

            This is a standing policy to prevent trolls from hijacking logged in identities and is part of the standard security system.

            I’m certainly not wasting my precious time to code an special one person rule simply because you don’t seem to want to login despite the number of times that i have tried to point out this issue to you over the lest few years. You’ve been squandering a lot of moderator time.

            I’d be more likely to write one that says if there is a conflict with a author login – that the comment goes immediately to trash. That would be simpler for me to do, and would stop you wasting moderator time.

            I’m scheduling now for that to happen this weekend. That means you can just pick another ’email’, get the email on the Advantage login changed, or get us to send you a password update to the email you’re using. ]

            • Incognito 5.1.2.1.1.1
              15 July 2020 at 11:41 am

              Us Moderators have no control over that. If we had, I’d done this ages ago, you can take my word for that. I’m trying to help here, if that’s not clear to you; I could leave your comments pending but what good is that? Sort it out with Lprent. Have a nice day, Ad.

              • Morrissey …
                15 July 2020 at 2:53 pm

                Us Moderators have no control over that…

                CORRECTION: We Moderators have no control over that…

                You've just been served by the Grammar Police ©, a division of Daisycutter Sports Inc. cool

            • te reo putake 5.1.2.1.1.2
              15 July 2020 at 11:46 am

              Ad, the problem, as I understand it, is that you rarely get your email address correct when you post. The system thinks you are a new commenter and holds your comment until it's manually released. Its a pain for all concerned and it's something only you can fix.

            • lprent 5.1.2.1.1.3
              15 July 2020 at 4:22 pm

              Idiot: Please read my note and respond before the weekend. Otherwise you will find that I will have completely blocked your ability to leave comments using your current handle / email combo.

        • Dennis Frank 5.1.2.2
          15 July 2020 at 11:07 am

          Good framing. If it were true they'd tell the electorate, I presume. Not having done that so far suggests either they don't believe it is true – or else they have put the truth aside temporarily to use later as a campaign bombshell.

          If the latter, I will applaud when they drop that bomb! What I'm getting at is the longer Labour continues to foster the business as usual delusion, the harder it will become for swing voters to discern a difference between National and Labour on the policy front. I agree that the election outcome can be secured via positive framing – and it is also true that the timing for introducing that may not yet be nigh.

          • Incognito 5.1.2.2.1
            15 July 2020 at 11:31 am

            True or false? The truth? Labour=//=National? So-called ‘if’ and similar conditional statements are often a portal to binary thinking. It takes years of practice to avoid minimise these traps that are inherent to our language and thinking.

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_opposition

            • Dennis Frank 5.1.2.2.1.1
              15 July 2020 at 11:46 am

              Indeed. Jacinda could tell the media that the truth about whether her govt is maintaining neoliberalism or reinventing socialism is attainable via both/and logic. Which she would then have to explain, of course.

              "Well, back when I was studying politics 1.01, the tutor defined the truth as depending on your point of view. So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience, I explain that the truth is that we support business as usual. If I'm talking to social justice warriors, I explain that the truth is that my government is transformational. Simple."

              • Incognito …
                15 July 2020 at 12:55 pm

                “So if I'm doing a speech to a business audience and if I'm talking to social justice warriors, I say “simple” at lot, because life is simple or it is not, and that’s the truth, as I see it.”

                • Dennis Frank …
                  15 July 2020 at 1:36 pm

                  Yeah, to audiences of the simple-minded, she needs to send the right signal. Always pitch to the level they operate at!

                  In life situations that are not simple (such as climate change), best to use complicated. Labour spent too many years avoiding that necessity (and the entire topic) but have moved on, to our eternal relief…

                  • Incognito …
                    15 July 2020 at 1:54 pm

                    “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

                    Who/what are “audiences of the simple-minded”? Are you saying she should aim for the lowest denominator, like MSM do, and dumb down and turn off the vast majority of people who hang for non-binary analysis and thinking? Is that what you do here?

                    I’d like to think that JA knows how to do communications but I find her aspirational platitudes wanting. Labour’s slogan doesn’t do it for me but I guess I’m too simple-minded to appreciate its message.

                    • Dennis Frank …
                      15 July 2020 at 2:28 pm

                      She's a natural communicator. I was riffing off the handicap imposed on her by her group belief system & the constraints of representative democracy. You've observed how an ideology will warp a group of adherents toward simple-mindedness, eh?

                      Coalition-building requires different messaging for different groups, so the trick then is to strike a balance between authenticity and diplomacy. Diplomats make peace by developing a sense of common ground that competing groups can then share. MMP takes that old political praxis into a more sophisticated cultural context. So a successful political leader has to transcend the partisan stance acquired via adherence to the group belief system.

                      Venturing outside the comfort zone is a challenge, but is the path towards states(wo)manship for a politician. To win (ie get the numbers on board) the leader must talk to the out-group in a language they understand. Works better when the emotional sub-text is inclusive. Then an inclusive framing is easier to articulate.

                      Now to any true believer in any group, such transcendent sophistication looks deeply suspicious! I see her as having the innate ability to do it well – while moving up the learning curve on the job. Some situations get finessed easily, others not. Some she can't finesse for a while, so we wait…

                    • Incognito []
                      15 July 2020 at 9:50 pm

                      That explains it well.

    • RedLogix 5.2
      15 July 2020 at 9:02 am

      Closing down Marsden Point will also prove a strategic blunder.

      Right now we are seeing China deepening it's relationship with Iran, with view to replacing the USA as the dominant force within the Middle East. At some point within the next five years a proxy war between Saudi and Iran is highly likely. That of course will disrupt oil supply to this part of the world, and throwing away operational flexibility at this stage is unthinking and dumb.

      • SPC 5.2.1
        15 July 2020 at 9:18 am

        How would taking in refined oil, rather than unrefined oil make us more vulnerable?

        • Ad 5.2.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 9:23 am

          A local manufacturer only sells to NZ.

          international refiners don't have to supply us.

          Also the heavy products like plastics and tar for roads will be harder to source.

          As the world rapidly decouples out of globalisation, local control of key resource is going to magnify all our security issues.

        • RedLogix 5.2.1.2
          15 July 2020 at 9:29 am

          The further down the petro-chem supply chain we are, the fewer options we have in the face of disruption. Which directly translates into strategic vulnerability.

          I know it would be nice not to be importing oil at all, but that's not going to be our reality for several more decades.

        • Ad 5.2.1.3
          15 July 2020 at 9:54 am

          Much harder to get critical products such as plastics and tar for roads.

          Also we are such a tiny market. Anyone can say we've got contracts that enable security of supply … but OMG if the petrochemical supply lines start to fracture through further anti-China and anti-Iran trade actions those contracts could get tested.

          All fine talking about the evils of globalisation until the alternative swings around. We are one of the most oil-reliant and oil-vulnerable countries in the entire planet.

          Marsden Point was a critical part of Think Big – which was a response to the oil supply and oil price crisis of the late 1970s. It could easily come around again.

          • Incognito 5.2.1.3.1
            15 July 2020 at 10:57 am

            Much harder to get critical products such as plastics and tar for roads.

            QFT

            Most people only think of car fuel and seldom of the myriads of petrochemicals and derived products (derivatives) from oil. Of course, chemicals = bad too.

            For example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrochemical

          • Andre 5.2.1.3.2
            15 July 2020 at 11:05 am

            Bitumen for roading for sure.

            But is there anyone converting raw feedstocks into plastics in New Zealand? All the plastics material supply chains I've had anything to do with sourced everything from overseas in a state at least one stage beyond oil or gas feedstocks.

            • ianmac 5.2.1.3.2.1
              15 July 2020 at 11:30 am

              I know a bloke who set up his factory to crunch waste glass as mixture for roading. Still need tar I guess but a direction to take.

              • Andre …
                15 July 2020 at 11:34 am

                A simple crushing process is a long way removed from the sophisticated tightly controlled reactors and catalysts needed to turn oils and gases into usable plastics.

                • RedLogix …
                  15 July 2020 at 12:02 pm

                  And the people with the lifetime of experience and skills capable of doing it.

                  • Draco T Bastard …
                    15 July 2020 at 3:47 pm

                    Wouldn't it be automated?

                    So, a bunch of chemists and engineers to research, develop and produce the machinery to carry it out. After that, some skilled techs to maintain that machinery.

                    • McFlock …
                      15 July 2020 at 4:12 pm

                      So a bit of bung plastic comes out the end.

                      Someone who knows what they're dealing with can pin where the process went wrong, and why. An operator or maintenance technician is on the back foot.

                      Or as a story I read recently put it: a firm's engineer retired after thirty years. A few years later their line was screwing up, and their technicians couldn't fix it or even figure out what the problem was. So they brought back the old tech, who sat in the plant for a day just watching the machines. at the end of the day, he put a chalk "X" on a particular unit, and said "replace that". Line worked fine after that. Billed them $50k. The accounts department saw $50k for a day's work, and demanded an itemised invoice. he supplied "Chalk to make an X: $1. Knowing where to put the X: $49,999". they paid the bill.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      15 July 2020 at 7:03 pm

                      And the problems there are:

                      • Obviously badly designed hardware that hadn't been upgraded in thirty years resulting in specialised knowledge that shouldn't have been necessary
                      • The old geezer failed to pass on that knowledge including helping get the part redesigned as part of his job
                      • The management, being cheapskates, failed to have the part redesigned and replaced in thirty years because we can guarantee that they knew about it being sub par

                      We also can no longer make the engines for the Saturn V first stage. The skills necessary simply do not exist any more. But we can build a better engine. This is the nature of progress – it gets rid of the kinks and foibles that old, inefficient methods used.

                      You tale is a story about the woes of failing to develop further.

                    • Incognito []
                      15 July 2020 at 10:03 pm

                      It’s called tacit knowledge for a reason. Doctors have it in spades, for example.

                      It involves the processing of numerous data into information, interpretation, and conclusion that informs targeted and effective action.

                      A process plant (or manned rocket) can only have so many sensors and data points feeding data into a central processor unit that models its performance (indicators) but not necessarily the process as such.

                      Machines are stupid.

                    • McFlock …
                      15 July 2020 at 10:45 pm

                      @DTB: Don't know if the part was 30 years old. Just that the engineer knew the system comprehensively, how it was supposed to all work together, anhd could pick the point in the process where the fail was originating.

                      Funny you were talking about rocket engines. Saturn V had one job, and each item was used once. A better example would be the space shuttle: that was largely automated. Would you like your trip to space refurbished by technicians maintaining parts, or would you like actual rocket scientists participating in the process?

                      Although better powerpoint skills would also have been useful

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      16 July 2020 at 1:22 am

                      Just that the engineer knew the system comprehensively, how it was supposed to all work together, anhd could pick the point in the process where the fail was originating.

                      And he could do that because it had happened before. As I said, he was called back because he failed to do his job properly in the first place by passing on his knowledge to both his replacements and the developers who would be looking to make improvements. Of course, that would probably have something to do with management cutting costs by cutting training as well.

                      Would you like your trip to space refurbished by technicians maintaining parts, or would you like actual rocket scientists participating in the process?

                      The rocket scientists wouldn't go anywhere near maintaining the parts. Same as they didn't go anywhere near building the Saturn V rocket engines. If they had we may still be able to produce them because they would have known all the tweaks the welders used.

                      Once the prototype is made and working then building and maintaining is what technicians do, not the researchers.

                    • McFlock …
                      16 July 2020 at 4:56 pm

                      It wasn't the engineer's job to train technicians into being engineers.

                      You can design field-expedient tests for welds, etc. The half-coffee-cup is a classic for concrete.

                      But even then, you need someone more than a "technician" to figure out what's wrong if it fails the test.

                      If welders were materially-altering saturnV with undocumented tweaks, that means the design was flawed.

                      The real reason we can't duplicate a Saturn V is that nobody wants to pay billions of dollars to crochet-code obsolete ROM databanks out of copper wire and magnets.

                      And I'd want rocket scientists looking at why components failed, rather than just replacing them. And knowing when the tile-shedding was at an anomalous level.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      16 July 2020 at 5:15 pm

                      It wasn't the engineer's job to train technicians into being engineers.

                      Yes it is and the engineer spent thirty years acting as a technician then. Because that's all he was doing from you said in story – looking after the machinery. Its where he got his knowledge of what was wrong.

                      If welders were materially-altering saturnV with undocumented tweaks, that means the design was flawed.

                      The real reason we can't duplicate a Saturn V is that nobody wants to pay billions of dollars to crochet-code obsolete ROM databanks out of copper wire and magnets.

                      Watch the video. It's about the Saturn V engines. My mistake for thinking that you'd watch the true story while relying on hearsay.

                      And I'd want rocket scientists looking at why components failed, rather than just replacing them.

                      But how are they supposed to do that if the techs don't tell them or the management fails to have the scientists work on it as what happened in your story?

                      Your story isn't about how we need highly skilled techs (which we do) but how the whole system failed because they became reliant upon a single technician.

                    • McFlock …
                      16 July 2020 at 7:26 pm

                      lol your video is better titled "rocket scientists didn't want to learn welding".

                      If they threw billions at it like they did in the 1960s, they'd have F1s. The idea that the skills don't exist anywhere on the planet currently, and can't be relearned, is farcical. They just didn't want to spend that much on a scoping project for one option.

                      Sure, the company was overly reliant on one engineer. That's not the engineer's fault. But more specifically, the technicians knew how to change and service parts, but they didn't have the deeper knowledge their jobs required.

                      The idea that when designing is done, only technicians are required to service an automated plant is naive in the extreme.

                      We were originally talking about a full refinery, with cracking and all that other crap going on. If the plant is running at nominal levels but is producing junk, you need materials scientists and chemists to figure out why the process is going bung. It might not even be the machinery at all – maybe a source material is melamined to make it look spec when it isn't, like milk powder. Your automated plant technicians wouldn't detect that, or be able to document exactly how and why it's fucked, would they.

                  • Pat …
                    15 July 2020 at 4:35 pm

                    a great story and something that occurs more often than realised at many levels.

                    The questions it demands however include, what if that retired engineer had died or emigrated …..how often is the line made functional but not optimal by lesser staff?….can we function while the required skills are developed?

                    • McFlock …
                      15 July 2020 at 4:50 pm

                      Or even "are we replacing this guy with someone of equivalent abilities?"

                      Many militaries are bloody good at those questions – the basics of having clear training paths so that people can step in and the step up isn't usually too high. Waiting until the skills need to be developed is too late to develop the skills.

                      If the engineer had died or emigrated, that line would have been a rusty suck on the company's operations and resources until they spent probably millions to upgrade facilities. Because the problem was a subtle one to diagnose, and people who didn't know the system and production process inside and out were merely maintaining it to someone else's service list.

            • Draco T Bastard 5.2.1.3.2.2
              15 July 2020 at 3:44 pm

              There are several feedstocks that can produce plastics many of which are plant based. So, we certainly could do it but if we are is another question.

          • Pat 5.2.1.3.3
            15 July 2020 at 11:57 am

            bitumen yes…plastics no

    • Patricia Bremner 5.3
      15 July 2020 at 9:20 am

      Ad, your thought on the National Leadership?

      Yes, We will lose some corporate players who are shrinking their bases in reaction to the world scene. This Government has been proactive in redirection training and support. That will continue as it is policy.

      The whole world is being impacted badly with failing business models in the face of covid, and a test of leadership strength and community cohesion.

      We will do better in a cooperative community, this is a war on an invisible strengthening virus with requires working together to overcome the problems it causes.

      If we let the virus back in, we will not be able to direct our resources to problems like Marsden Point and Tiwai. Working with the communities to find a way forward is a strength of this government, and they have the confidence of the community.

      So I would be interested to hear what you think of the "new" Leadership of National, and what they could do better.

      I read your "worries" you express here with interest and see them as flags of possible or real problems.

    • weka 5.4
      15 July 2020 at 12:08 pm

      "When the big salaries go, towns just don't recover. That's our pattern."

      Maybe we should learn from that then and not create new jobs with the same vulnerabilities.

      • Ad 5.4.1
        15 July 2020 at 1:30 pm

        No one gets paid a hundred k growing permaculture kale.

        And that's what you need for a house.

        • weka 5.4.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 2:10 pm

          if we follow that to its logical extension then we need fossil fuels too and we're basically saying that we can't be arsed saving the world because we think we should have a certain standard of living that's considerably above what we need. Whoops, sorry grandkids.

          • Sacha 5.4.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 10:15 pm

            My fragile sense of manhood demands a V8 ute. Everyone else's grandchildren can pay for my refusal to get some basic counselling instead.

        • mauī 5.4.1.2
          15 July 2020 at 5:20 pm

          You sure about that?



          • weka 5.4.1.2.1
            16 July 2020 at 12:23 am

            Nice on. Lots of examples around. Ad thinks you have to have $100,000 income to be able to afford to live 😉

    • Just Is 5.5
      15 July 2020 at 12:35 pm

      Ad, when I lived in Australia, the Govt there decided on importing pre refined fuel from Singapore, several of the refineries were closed, some were at the end of their life from zero investment over a long period anyway. but not long before I left, the Govt suddenly realised the country only had around 7 days supply at any one time, any interuption to shipping deliveries would bring the country to stand still.

      There is a lot value in being self sufficient, even if the cost is slightly higher.

  6. ScottGN 6
    15 July 2020 at 7:36 am

    Whoa! She’s doing a kind of mea culpa on Dirty Politics on Morning Report just now. Will that work? Also possibly Shane Reti for Health?

  7. SPC 7
    15 July 2020 at 7:46 am

    Judy Collins sings, Send in the Clowns.

    The Joker card.

  8. Adrian 8
    15 July 2020 at 9:04 am

    So Collins is going to "crush " Jacinda and the Labour Party, don't anyone remind her that the last time she set out to crush something she and that other Mastermind of the Century Tolley were out-thought by a 17 year old Southland bogan with his cap on back to front who simply swapped the plates from his car onto a stripped wreck and sold the original to a mate.

    Collins is now the proud possessor of a stripped wreck.

  9. Ad 9
    15 July 2020 at 9:30 am

    A Collins-Brownlee combined with Act bringing 5% is a potential government.

    But 56 days to gain 20% share? Sorry been there in 2014.

    • bwaghorn 9.1
      15 July 2020 at 9:54 am

      Surely the act rise of late is far right nat voters who will come home to the mothership now collins is leader.

      Or has act mobilized the fringe nutters from the gun toting, 5g anti 1080 fb pages.

      • Incognito 9.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 11:07 am

        Or has act mobilized the fringe nutters from the gun toting, 5g anti 1080 fb pages.

        The competition is fierce in that corner and they’re not just fighting over crumbs either. A cunning charismatic leader could magnify this and use it to gain considerable political power. It has happened in many other (Western) countries and NZ is not immune to it despite the fact that we think we are. The naivety in/of NZ is breath taking sometimes and we’re way too laid back (i.e. not vigilant enough) to see what could be happening in our own backyards and do something about it in a constructive and pre-emptive way. Race relations could be a trigger point, it often is.

  10. Whispering Kate 10
    15 July 2020 at 10:04 am

    Channel One breakfast show had a slew of emails in and all were praising Collins and saying about time National got its act together. What surprised me was most of the emails were from females. My goodness me we have a lot of red neck rwnj's in NZ. It sent a cold shiver down my spine. If this is going to be the types rolling up to the polling booths then our future is not looking good.

    I can see borders relaxed, community transmission occurring and business as usual if National win this next election. The elderly and immunity compromised folk will be anxious. I feel quite depressed really this morning. What a duo they make – a nightmare scenario.

    • francesca 10.1
      15 July 2020 at 10:18 am

      Wouldn't mind betting Collins would have a few of her pals lined up to flood the website with approving emails

    • Anne 10.2
      15 July 2020 at 10:40 am

      Channel One breakfast show had a slew of emails in and all were praising Collins…

      National – or a group inside it – have always been very good at organising mass responses to events concerning themselves. In the good old days (?) it used to be by talk-back phone calls but now its emails.

    • I Feel Love 10.3
      15 July 2020 at 10:56 am

      Well the Nats have set a high standard of expectation re keeping Covid out (through criticism of Labour), and there is overwhelming support of our Covid free status, National/Collins & Act thrive on fear and paranoia. Just got to trust Adern is up to the task, and our fellow NZrs aren't as short sighted as the RW would like us to believe.It's a smart move by National, but they've shown they're accident prone, watch this space.

  11. Rosemary McDonald 11
    15 July 2020 at 10:32 am

    Ardern outlines the Future Plan…just in case Collins claims there isn't one.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300057225/live-pm-jacinda-ardern-outlines-next-stage-in-covid19-response

    • I Feel Love 11.1
      15 July 2020 at 10:59 am

      We do forget there's a pandemic going on, USA is just beginning to take it seriously, and clearly there health service here still fear it will re emerge here.

  12. anker 12
    15 July 2020 at 11:03 am

    Isn't Ardern wonderful the way she almost ignores Collins saying she is not focussed on facing off with her, just the Covid 19 response. way to go Jacinda.

    Anyone else bother by Collins "we'll take the country back" rhetoric. Anyone told them the country doesn't belong to them.

    BTW I know James comes here to troll. I am proposing we all adopt a one word one line response to him and rinse and repeat. Any thoughts my friends on the Standard

    • Incognito 12.1
      15 July 2020 at 11:15 am

      BTW I know James comes here to troll. I am proposing we all adopt a one word one line response to him and rinse and repeat. Any thoughts my friends on the Standard

      Deal with his comments in a proper way or ignore them. When he becomes too much of a frustrating troll who disrupts the flow too much, he’ll get a warning from the Moderators. In my perspective, James is not a big issue here on TS.

    • gsays 12.2
      15 July 2020 at 12:34 pm

      Yep, in regards to these shit stirrers – DNFTT

      Do not feed the troll.

    • mauī 12.3
      15 July 2020 at 1:18 pm

      Scum..?

      • Incognito 12.3.1
        15 July 2020 at 2:05 pm

        no

        • mauī 12.3.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 5:16 pm

          Apologies Incognito.

          • Incognito 12.3.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 5:46 pm

            No reason to apologise, you did nothing wrong. You and I have different opinions on how to call out and/or deal with trolls, which is fine. Insults are not the most constructive way, if there’s one at all 😉

    • Patricia Bremner 12.4
      15 July 2020 at 4:31 pm

      James is holding the ladder steady again.

  13. Ad 13
    15 July 2020 at 11:19 am

    Hopefully we are all getting ready for regional outbreak quarantines. PM is saying we should.

    Who'da thought the breakdown of globalization would be so deep, so fast, so personal.

    • weka 13.1
      15 July 2020 at 12:13 pm

      I was surprised we didn't have regional lockdowns in the first wave tbh, but I guess we were on top of things enough that we didn't need to. Seems a fairly straight forward thing to manage in much of NZ (SI at least), but agree we should be preparing.

      Did you get a sense of whether this is because they're planning for community outbreaks due to opening borders a bit at some point? They're saying they want to keep the borders tight, so maybe the regional lockdown plan is just the next step in the long term plan now that they've got space to think about that.

      • Ad 13.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 1:28 pm

        WHO head says it's going to happen.

        Bloomfield and PM says prepare.

        This is way real.

        • weka 13.1.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 2:12 pm

          what's going to happen? That we open our borders sufficiently wide to whatever, accept community transmission and thus need to adapt to ongoing regional and local lockdowns?

          • Peter ChCh 13.1.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 2:31 pm

            Community transmission is going to happen. Inevitable, as it only takes one slip up. No border protection system can ever be 100% foolproof or be adhered to 100% of the time.

            Sooner or later we have to open the border door a little, and the longer the pandemic goes on, the wider that opening will need to be to ensure our economic survival.

            Even when a vaccine appears (and it will) or effective antibody therapy is available (which it will, and before the vaccine), there inevitably will be outbreaks as vaccinating the entire population can only ever be a long term strategy, and antibody therapy and vaccines will only target the most at risk groups initially.

            So yes, of course the government is planning for inevitable community outbreaks, and that is good.

            • McFlock 13.1.1.1.1.1
              15 July 2020 at 3:15 pm

              To a degree, yes, but also no.

              I think it was Chris T who said that we were still covid-free just down to luck. I disagree: we do actually have some effect over the odds.

              It's not like a sensitive explosive, where dropping it once all but guarantees a massive detonation. Some slips are more likely to result in a transmission than others, and quite a few slips would be required for an untracable "community transmission".

              Perfection is the goal, but is not essential. As long as we keep logging our contacts, keep the isolation breaches low and short, and wear masks if we have a cold, then we can keep pushing that inevitable failure further down the road. And when it finally hits, hopefully by then there will be a vaccine or effective treatments.

              But that's life: pushing the inevitable as far off as possible, so hopefully we're ready for it when death finally comes 🙂

            • Draco T Bastard 13.1.1.1.1.2
              15 July 2020 at 3:32 pm

              Sooner or later we have to open the border door a little, and the longer the pandemic goes on, the wider that opening will need to be to ensure our economic survival.

              We don't need trade to ensure our economic survival but we may need to develop our economy rather than remain dependent upon a few categories.

              • Sacha …
                15 July 2020 at 3:35 pm

                A bold government might even invest heavily in building up our non-infectious industries instead. #gasp

          • Rosemary McDonald 13.1.1.1.2
            15 July 2020 at 2:41 pm

            That we open our …..borders…

            Not enough of us are engaging with the contact tracing app. (Guilty). Ardern not happy about that. The message I got is that if/when there are further instances of community transmission then Lockdown of varying levels/locations. If the App was being used by more people more widely then more localised lockdowns more likely. Or sign ins, diary keeping etc. I guess we've got a little casual.

            We were told to 'go and see the country', and I know our whanau is one of many who have engaged with this. Time will tell if we were all a little premature. A neighbour's moko, visiting from Auckland, gave me a spontaneous hug yesterday…only later did I question the wisdom of not treating the wee one as a plague carrier.

            I guess we're all prepared for lockdown again?

            • weka 13.1.1.1.2.1
              15 July 2020 at 3:35 pm

              When they sort out the various privacy issues with the app contact tracing, I'll get behind it. So far the message I've received is 'trust us we know what we are doing'. Yeah, nah.

              I did start a system on my laptop for manually tracing where I have been. Something I would feel ok handing over to the MoH. I live in the rural SI though, so it feels remote cognitively despite my telling myself it's important.

              Unless we get really unlucky, I assume our next wave will be small clusters that don't spread very far because we get on top of them quickly, even with our clunky system.

          • Poission 13.1.1.1.3
            15 July 2020 at 2:52 pm

            It is scenario modelling,with what policy do we need if there is a breach of cordon,and subsequent community transmission.

            Risk management 101.

            Opening border controls is a self harm problem,both increasing risk to the general population and those politicians who desire to become extinct at the next election cycle.

            • weka 13.1.1.1.3.1
              15 July 2020 at 3:36 pm

              Makes sense now that things are settling down to signal this future proofing. Still don't have a good sense of what the govt is intending with the border though, lots of opinions on that one.

  14. xanthe 14
    15 July 2020 at 12:48 pm

    Notice how quickly and easily Jacinda took control of the news cycle

    • Rosemary McDonald 14.1
      15 July 2020 at 1:42 pm

      Notice how quickly and easily Jacinda took control of the news cycle

      That's what I was meaning up at 11. Very deft. Very certain. Very definite, almost defiant…'All's good, we've got this.'

    • Tiger Mountain 14.2
      15 July 2020 at 2:04 pm

      Yep, I admit viewing the PM live, when I got an alert on my phone!

      First thought was (as Judith Collins was on RNZ) that Jacinda has got this tactically.

  15. Ad 15
    15 July 2020 at 1:26 pm

    Jeff Sessions losing the Republican Alabama Senate seat nomination to Trump-backed Tommy Tuberville gives Doug Jones a sniff at survival.

    Though it would be like regaining New Plymouth for Labour: not easy on the rednecks or Labour either.

  16. Ad 16
    15 July 2020 at 1:45 pm

    Trump just truly fucked Hong Kong.

    He's revoked special trade status.

    Plenty of our exports and imports go through there.

    Some big China access headaches for MFAT coming.

  17. Pat 17
    15 July 2020 at 2:00 pm

    Gordon Campbell pens an excellent piece on Nationals latest fiasco

    http://werewolf.co.nz/2020/07/gordon-campbell-on-nationals-great-leap-backwards/

    • Tiger Mountain 17.1
      15 July 2020 at 2:10 pm

      Gordon is great and always well researched.

      In a better world he would have the level of prominence that the boofhead school of presenters, reporters (no longer journalists in the true sense), and Nat mouths for hire have.

      • Sacha 17.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 3:37 pm

        If only he would learn to publish three different posts rather than merge topics into a single unwieldy one.

    • ianmac 17.2
      15 July 2020 at 2:35 pm

      So good! Collins said National would not increase taxes and would reduce social spending. Boy. That is a good plan -isn't it?

      • Peter ChCh 17.2.1
        15 July 2020 at 2:40 pm

        Actually it is, and I hope that the current government has the same intention. Growing earnings to pay off debt is business 101. That's why business is usually heavily leveraged upon debt.

        Whether that can be achieved of course is another story.

        Chinas rapid growth over the last 30 years was based on the same principle: low taxes, increasing social services, and debt being swallowed up by increasing earnings. It worked well for them.

        • ianmac 17.2.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 3:18 pm

          Growing earnings to pay off debt is business 101.

          On the face of it that is logical but a bit simplistic issn't it? There are variables and consequences for people by ignoring the effects on single minded pursuits.

        • Sacha 17.2.1.2
          15 July 2020 at 3:32 pm

          Perfect time to reduce social spending too. Long live St Jude!

      • Pat 17.2.2
        15 July 2020 at 2:56 pm

        they have learned nothing from either the great depression nor the EU response to the GFC…..and should be the biggest single warning to anyone considering where to place their vote in mere weeks time

  18. Morrissey 18
    15 July 2020 at 2:41 pm

    Dolores Umbridge might well be J.K. Rowling herself. She's a vicious defamer and false accuser of the very worst kind.

    https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1028299586459369472?lang=en

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  19. roy cartland 19
    15 July 2020 at 2:50 pm

    Yikes:

    "Deputy National leader Gerry Brownlee has doubled down on leader Judith Collins' unapologetic stance on diversity, saying it can be hard to balance with competence."

    Competence not possible with diversity? I.e. we, the rich old whites, are simply more competent. That's a "bit off" as they say.

    • I Feel Love 19.1
      15 July 2020 at 3:11 pm

      He can say that with a straight face? After what they've been through? Muller was the best guy for the job a couple days ago. Let them nail their stripes to the wall, they might be going more rightward than Act.

    • mac1 19.2
      15 July 2020 at 3:22 pm

      When you have little diversity in your ranks, and similarly a problem with competence in the ranks, then Brownlee is right- they're hard to balance…… with anything. As for diversity in thought- yep, as that can mean anything from belief in flying saucers and one world government to some semblance of reality, I'm sure the National caucus has that in spades.

  20. Byd0nz 20
    15 July 2020 at 2:59 pm

    Funny to see Mike Hosking money going to help fund the Maori Party with their election campaign. Ya gotta laugh!

  21. mac1 21
    15 July 2020 at 3:12 pm

    What did I hear on 3 pm news? Woodhouse demoted, Reti on the front bench? Both tolerable moves by Collins.

    • ianmac 21.1
      15 July 2020 at 3:22 pm

      Yes. But Woodhouse been given other portfolios

      Judith Collins must have taken Kathryn's advice this morning. Dr Rheti now Shadow Health.

      • gsays 21.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 5:24 pm

        That's one tick in the diversity box.

        Two if you count the new leader too…

    • Sacha 21.2
      15 July 2020 at 3:28 pm

      Woodhouse picks up regional development and pike river portfolios and keeps assistant finance and deputy leader of the house. No punishment there.

      Smokescreen to hide his other guilty colleagues that hopefully Heron can flush out. Nothing to see here says St Jude.

      • Robert Guyton 21.2.1
        15 July 2020 at 3:30 pm

        Collins crushes Woodhouse with kid gloves.

        • Sacha 21.2.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 3:33 pm

          He knows things..

          • Anne 21.2.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 5:22 pm

            There's a story doing the rounds which, if true, does bring more sense to Muller's sudden resignation. No. I'm not saying anything further unless it is confirmed, but it might have a bearing on the kid glove handling of Woodhouse.

            I also note Collins couldn't wait 24 hrs before twisting the knife in Boag's back. Not a defence of Boag but there's been bad blood between Boag and Collins dating back to Dirty Politics at the least.

    • observer 21.3
      15 July 2020 at 3:39 pm

      I honestly thought (and predicted on here) she would sack him, no messing around.

      Instead she's given Woodhouse a non-demotion, simply shuffling portfolios. Then she sings his praises at the media conference.

      It will be spun as "leadership", just like Muller dealing with Walker. But in both cases it was the bare minimum, it is what you do when you have no option but to act.

      She did offer up some foolish hostages to fortune, though. Confident no other MPs involved (we'll see) and – stupidly – described the fake homeless guy as "a legitimate story".

  22. weka 22
    15 July 2020 at 3:40 pm

    Got to feel for Puckish Rogue. His dreams come true while he's banned from talking about it. Nerve wracking though, will St Jude perform well or be the next Nat leader to jump in the dumpster fire?

    • weka 22.1
      15 July 2020 at 3:40 pm

      PR, if you want back in you need to do a grovelling apology to Lynn. Let me know if you want the link.

      • Robert Guyton 22.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 4:23 pm

        Why would that gum want to be anywhere but stuck to the sole of Judith's shoe?

        • weka 22.1.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 4:26 pm

          I get to see the comments from banned people that end up in trash. Sometimes it's quite amusing.

          • weka 22.1.1.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 4:33 pm

            better class of troll and all that.

            I guess now that Collins is head honcho, the election will be boringly fractious.

      • rod 22.1.2
        15 July 2020 at 4:26 pm

        Bollocks, we don't need the tory troll back.

      • Andre 22.1.3
        15 July 2020 at 4:41 pm

        If Pucky's too proud to write one, think it might work if I cooked up a grovelling apology on his behalf? It'll be totes worth it.

        • weka 22.1.3.1
          15 July 2020 at 5:01 pm

          lol, we could have a competition. Not sure Lynn would appreciate it (it was his moderation).

          Give a few days and we'll see if Pucky plucks up the courage.

          • Incognito 22.1.3.1.1
            15 July 2020 at 10:30 pm

            My guess is that PR won’t remember why he was banned and that he had a choice between apologising and being banned. An apology counts for nothing if the behaviour hasn’t changed. Let me have a go:

            Puckish Rogue, do you want to be paroled?

            😉

  23. greywarshark 23
    15 July 2020 at 4:21 pm

    edit
    The tendering system for transport is just an attack wreaked on ordinary micro to small business by well-paid denizens of the neolib economic system. The Wellington city example is a shocking example.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/421243/new-school-bus-tendering-a-phenomenal-cock-up-bus-and-coach-association-boss-says
    This about school buses is one of the bad examples of the cruel though supposedly wise system that is meant to create maximum efficiency at the lowest cost but which is wasteful of assets such as in this bus owner compliant with the demands made for school transport, being replaced by another bus which had to be fitted out similarly. Two buses, two entities competing on the West Coast SI. The bus owner-operator who had brought the bus to standard, was doing the job well, lived in the district, was dropped because some big company could undercut her/him for the mainly school run.

    I am sick at the economic system that politicians and mindless Treasury and right-wing economists have got us into. We have opened up our doors to the world inviting the buggers in with open arms, not even trying to make exclusive deals that could have saved something of our nation's enterprise and keep profits here. Why when we are small and the world population is measured in billions?

    If we can find a knight on a white horse or any other colour, to do something let him/her come forward. Even a mock attack on Parliament would be publicity – Don Quixotes we would be no doubt, with Sancho Panzas along. But to continue being walked on only encourages the twisted misters and sisters. Let's have a hollow laugh at the Black Knight Who Never Gives Up; are we stuck with this role? Put Treasury in King Arthur's position, and you can see they aren't 'armless.

    (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmInkxbvlCs

  25. Gabby 25
    15 July 2020 at 5:07 pm

    Is Slug Cambo claiming Crutcher is competent? She couldn't download the tracking app apparently.

    • Gabby 25.1
      15 July 2020 at 5:14 pm

      Mind you, it would be a tad embarrassing if Hipkins is put on the spot and can't use it.

      • gsays 25.1.1
        15 July 2020 at 5:31 pm

        Before there is too much more urging app wise, all government MPs should be able to demonstrate how to use it.

        • Dennis Frank 25.1.1.1
          15 July 2020 at 7:40 pm

          Aw, come on! Setting the bar so impossibly high would be viewed as bullying. A woke behaviour inspector may come knocking… 😉

  26. Eco Maori 26
    16 July 2020 at 6:28 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub

    That's good more funding for the maturity sector.

    There is a reason aluminum production is not feasible now that would be like buying a lemon.

    Ka kite Ano.

  27. Eco Maori 27
    16 July 2020 at 6:57 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    Its good to see the captions on I made a mistake yesterday.

    It good to see putea being invested to plant trees and repair the waterways in Rotorua.

    Ka kite Ano.

  28. Eco Maori 28
    17 July 2020 at 8:45 am

    Kia Ora

    The Am Show.

    Te Ra is a powerful force we need to use more of the clean energy that is gifted to us from Ra.

    Ka kite Ano.

  29. Eco Maori 29
    17 July 2020 at 6:32 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    The card tracking device seems like a good tool to track people's with out compromising there data.

    Ka kite Ano.

  30. Eco Maori 30
    17 July 2020 at 6:54 pm

    Kia Ora

    Te Ao Maori Marama.

    Flooding in Te Tairawhiti.

    I say don't touch the Maori seats as they do give Maori Mana.

    Ka kite Ano.

  31. Eco Maori 31
    18 July 2020 at 6:51 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub

    That's all part of Global Warming sea level rising the flooding housing by the beach being eroded into the sea.

    That is a great waiata.

    Ka kite Ano.

  33. Eco Maori 33
    19 July 2020 at 6:52 pm

    Kia Ora

    Newshub.

    We do need to farm the whenua Wisely.

    Pest need to be controled.

    Ka kite Ano

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Stories of varying weight

    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Share Read more ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 hours ago
  • Balancing External Security and the Economy

    New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    17 hours ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: The unravelling of the offsets

    The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    22 hours ago
  • What makes us tick

    This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    23 hours ago
  • Foreshore and seabed 2.0

    In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on the Royal Commission report into abuse in care

    Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Weekly Roundup 26-July-2024

    Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 day ago
  • God what a relief

    1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago
  • Trust In Me

    Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 26

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Care report released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 26

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced $802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Radical law changes needed to build road

    The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 day ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #30 2024

    Open access notables Could an extremely cold central European winter such as 1963 happen again despite climate change?, Sippel et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics: Here, we first show based on multiple attribution methods that a winter of similar circulation conditions to 1963 would still lead to an extreme seasonal ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • First they came for the Māori

    Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Join us for the weekly Hoon on YouTube Live

    Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Will the real PM Luxon please stand up?

    Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    19 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Oceans and Fisheries Minister to Solomons

    Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Government launches Military Style Academy Pilot

    The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Nine priority bridge replacements to get underway

    The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Update on global IT outage

    Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New Zealand, Japan renew Pacific partnership

    New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says.    “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says.    “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • New infrastructure energises BOP forestry towns

    New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • 'Pacific Futures'

    President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests.    Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone.    Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-07-26T23:45:34+00:00