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?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Labour has generated the strongest regional economc development programme since Muldoon. But top marks for the horseshit false equivalence between National and Labour there.
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
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 😉
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. ]
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
“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.”
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…
“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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 😉
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.
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?
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.
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 🙂
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Rowling better keep her gob shut. In books you might be able to have a discussion, even an argument and some light may be shed on the matter. Enter reality and facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
… facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
They certainly are as far as J.K. Rowling is concerned—as shown by her decision to join in the Blairite rump's defamation campaign against Jeremy Corbyn.
Morrissey’s doing an awesome job with his tweets from two years ago. It is also completely irrelevant to the OP or discussion thread and one of his many diversions down the Breen rabbit hole.
Sorry to disappoint you, my friend, but reading Dan Brown is not on this writer's To Do list. Mind you, it's more likely than my attempting to read anything by that moral reprobate J.K. Rowling.
Perhaps "If Judith and Jerry are the answer …" where feijoa at comment 44 implied a comparison of JuDarth to Umbridge? I think that's where I originally saw it.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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?
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:
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.
You're a funny one to talk about code Gabby with your little messages. They read the opposite to mine rather longer ones, you leave out about every two words. It's very sporting of you to get Ad's brain working so well these days.
I ran across a recent essay from The Brothers Krynn, which attempts to map common horror monsters onto the Seven Deadly Sins: https://canadianculturecorner.substack.com/p/horror-monsters-and-vice My interest, however, is not in the meat of the piece, but rather the opening paragraph: It is an interesting fact that in recent decades, Vampires have ...
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
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Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
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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?
My thoughts exactly Scott.
Now the Nastys have this strong leader they desire, will she have the courage to move Woodhouse on?
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?
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.
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.
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 …
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.
Judith said she is done with Dirty Politics, and the band played, believe it if you like.
Jane Patterson on Morning Report saying just now that she wouldn’t commit to keeping Woodhouse in Health.
Imagine the industrial scale loathing between Collins and Bridges after she betrayed him against Muller as she maneuvered her way to this point?
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
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.
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.
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?
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"?
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.
Next question: what is “googling”?
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.
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.
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.
Labour has generated the strongest regional economc development programme since Muldoon. But top marks for the horseshit false equivalence between National and Labour there.
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
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 😉
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. ]
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.
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.
get a life
get a life
The Grammar Police © might take issue with your rather cavalier approach to capitalization and punctuation, but I've been told to go easy on you this time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc
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.
But it's the same automated email pops in.
Can't be that.
I suspect its the same incorrect automated email, Ad. Might be the hyphen?
It is the same email as your author login.
You either have use a different 'email', or you have to login.
if you don't want to log in, you can make up an email address.
ad@gmail.com would work for instance.
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.
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.
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
avoidminimise these traps that are inherent to our language and thinking.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_opposition
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."
“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.”
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…
“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.
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…
That explains it well.
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.
How would taking in refined oil, rather than unrefined oil make us more vulnerable?
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
And the people with the lifetime of experience and skills capable of doing it.
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.
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.
And the problems there are:
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD0aLdRUs0
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.
@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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
bitumen yes…plastics no
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.
"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.
No one gets paid a hundred k growing permaculture kale.
And that's what you need for a house.
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.
My fragile sense of manhood demands a V8 ute. Everyone else's grandchildren can pay for my refusal to get some basic counselling instead.
You sure about that?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbHwAfHQA9M
Nice on. Lots of examples around. Ad thinks you have to have $100,000 income to be able to afford to live 😉
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.
+100 J.I.
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?
Judy Collins sings, Send in the Clowns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L6KGuTr9TI
The Joker card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_A5pVVqIUA
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.
A Collins-Brownlee combined with Act bringing 5% is a potential government.
But 56 days to gain 20% share? Sorry been there in 2014.
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.
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.
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.
Wouldn't mind betting Collins would have a few of her pals lined up to flood the website with approving emails
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
James is fairly transparent, obvious, rarely surprises, easily ignored.
I find outrageous sarcasm usually shuts him up
From your perspective, what are the big issues here on TS?
Yep, in regards to these shit stirrers – DNFTT
Do not feed the troll.
Scum..?
Apologies Incognito.
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 😉
James is holding the ladder steady again.
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.
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.
WHO head says it's going to happen.
Bloomfield and PM says prepare.
This is way real.
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?
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.
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 🙂
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.
A bold government might even invest heavily in building up our non-infectious industries instead. #gasp
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?
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.
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.
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.
Notice how quickly and easily Jacinda took control of the news cycle
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.'
haven't caught up yet, but it would be so good to see Labour performing really well politically.
$50 million buys a lot of control!
Care to elaborate, love a good laugh.
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.
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.
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.
Well, China slammed that door shut didn't they.
Gordon Campbell pens an excellent piece on Nationals latest fiasco
http://werewolf.co.nz/2020/07/gordon-campbell-on-nationals-great-leap-backwards/
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.
If only he would learn to publish three different posts rather than merge topics into a single unwieldy one.
So good! Collins said National would not increase taxes and would reduce social spending. Boy. That is a good plan -isn't it?
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.
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.
Perfect time to reduce social spending too. Long live St Jude!
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
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.]
Rowling better keep her gob shut. In books you might be able to have a discussion, even an argument and some light may be shed on the matter. Enter reality and facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
… facts and discussion are about as welcome as Voldemoort.
They certainly are as far as J.K. Rowling is concerned—as shown by her decision to join in the Blairite rump's defamation campaign against Jeremy Corbyn.
Cancelled!
Morrissey’s doing an awesome job with his tweets from two years ago. It is also completely irrelevant to the OP or discussion thread and one of his many diversions down the Breen rabbit hole.
Just wait for his Dan Brown critiques. Those crusaders better not say anything mean about saint Julian of Ecuador. #SecretHandshake
I can’t wait!
Sorry to disappoint you, my friend, but reading Dan Brown is not on this writer's To Do list. Mind you, it's more likely than my attempting to read anything by that moral reprobate J.K. Rowling.
For an intellectual and moral heavy hitter like you, I’d suggest reading Miffy.
or Buffy
Thanks, Sacha. You're the best!
Thanks for the advice, Incognito!
https://i.imgflip.com/1cx5fe.jpg
You disappoint again; no male torso 🙁
what post was it under? We've not had anything but Nat dramas for days (and the RM).
Perhaps "If Judith and Jerry are the answer …" where feijoa at comment 44 implied a comparison of JuDarth to Umbridge? I think that's where I originally saw it.
Haven't read HP so that one went right over my head.
This one: https://thestandard.org.nz/if-judith-and-gerry-are-the-answer-it-must-have-been-a-desperate-question/#comment-1730373.
ah. Classic Morrissey.
Time to contemporise, I’d say. The same old, same old is wearing off.
Why not shut down Morrissey's one.
Yow! Talk about cancel culture!
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.
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.
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.
Funny to see Mike Hosking money going to help fund the Maori Party with their election campaign. Ya gotta laugh!
And an apology.
What did I hear on 3 pm news? Woodhouse demoted, Reti on the front bench? Both tolerable moves by Collins.
Yes. But Woodhouse been given other portfolios
Judith Collins must have taken Kathryn's advice this morning. Dr Rheti now Shadow Health.
That's one tick in the diversity box.
Two if you count the new leader too…
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.
Collins crushes Woodhouse with kid gloves.
He knows things..
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.
Would this story (which I know nothing about) be uncovered during the Heron inquiry?
No.
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".
Yep. Move on, nothing to see here..
https://twitter.com/PouTepou/status/1283194615835709440
My take is that nothing she does is done for ethical reasons, it's all about the play.
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?
PR, if you want back in you need to do a grovelling apology to Lynn. Let me know if you want the link.
Why would that gum want to be anywhere but stuck to the sole of Judith's shoe?
I get to see the comments from banned people that end up in trash. Sometimes it's quite amusing.
better class of troll and all that.
I guess now that Collins is head honcho, the election will be boringly fractious.
Bollocks, we don't need the tory troll back.
you'd prefer an echo chamber?
Tis not a binary choice between troll or vanilla.
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.
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.
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:
😉
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
Is that last para in code?
Take 1/4 tab of acid.
It helped.
Ad, I changed your email address. If you leave it as the default on your next comment then we will see if the filter trap issue is resolved.
You're a funny one to talk about code Gabby with your little messages. They read the opposite to mine rather longer ones, you leave out about every two words. It's very sporting of you to get Ad's brain working so well these days.
It’s called micro-dosing.
https://highalert.org.nz/articles/whats-the-deal-with-microdosing/
Team National.
https://www.twitter.com/kaiviti_cam/status/1282971527495905280
An endorsement from that bloke = the kiss of death.
Just as well that WO is no longer. Oh, wait …
Is Slug Cambo claiming Crutcher is competent? She couldn't download the tracking app apparently.
Mind you, it would be a tad embarrassing if Hipkins is put on the spot and can't use it.
Before there is too much more urging app wise, all government MPs should be able to demonstrate how to use it.
Aw, come on! Setting the bar so impossibly high would be viewed as bullying. A woke behaviour inspector may come knocking… 😉
NOBODY expects the woke inspectors. Their chief praxis is fear and surprise
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.
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.
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.
Kia Ora
Newshub.
The card tracking device seems like a good tool to track people's with out compromising there data.
Ka kite Ano.
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.
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.
https://youtu.be/qQfetkoGrpU
Kia Ora
Newshub.
We do need to farm the whenua Wisely.
Pest need to be controled.
Ka kite Ano