The latest annual net migration gain is the largest in more than three years, according to Stats NZ data.
Not surprising given the border closures.
The net gain of 86,800 people in the year ended June was the biggest since May 2020.It was made up of a record net gain of 121,600 non-New Zealand citizens and a net migration loss of 34,800 New Zealand citizens.
The numbers are large though.
New Zealand's highest annual net migration gain was 91,700 in the year ended March 2020.
Highest. So three years ago was the highest ever. So not being quite as high is well, a lot.
"Months since November 2022 have averaged net migration gains of about 12,000 non-New Zealand citizens a month, which is high by historical standards," Stats NZ population indicators manager, Tehseen Islam said.
Maybe it’s time for members of the National Party to clutch some pearls, rather than beat drums, and expect of government that there be requirement to provide migrant workers with housing. And entry requires a real job …
American politics – rules that suit the corporate profit, not the worker, more in prison, tougher on those on welfare, promotion of white race nation culture and identity flag patriotism – the prosperity religion gospel, those closest to God have their own private jets, or room on their gated community island for a helipad.
With no CGT, wealth tax or estate tax, the Kiwi not iwi pavlova paradise haven for the scions of capital mammon. Hark the herald.
I went to a citizenship ceremony last night, and the depth of new kiwis was humbling. I thanked them and welcomed them home, they are more deserving than almost all of us.
Are we currently witnessing the drawback before the immigration tsunami strikes our tiny domestic economy, the small labour market, and the tight housing & rental markets?
A RBG whose over-reaction to the pandemic inflated the property market.
And now an over-reaction to employers competing for workers (without access to migrants) and consequences of opening it up to allow a quick redress – including an inability to cope with oversight of the numbers/regulate it properly.
A Labour government might think again next year. But NACT would not.
86,000 new people in a country with crumbling infrastructure and an apocalyptic housing crisis that only builds 27,000 homes a year….
Golly…. And that's under a labour government…
Nats/Act will have that up up to about 150,000- 200,000 arrivals a year coupled with austerity because it's the only way they know how to "grow" the economy.
I love immigration but with our current housing apocalypse, it just feels like a neoliberals recipe for low wage growth, high rents further failing infrastructure and more kiwis in motels and in their cars and a rapid rise in resentment, hatred and bigotry.
If you're not building the housing and infrastructure to keep up with the population growth, its not fair on the locals nor the new arrivals and is a recipe for disaster.
IF NACT win, we have Oz under a Labour government – to get FPA working conditions
A third of Israelis are considering emigration. The ones with the ability to chose where they go as skilled migrants. It takes the term brain drain to the next level.
From the shambles that was their presentation of the proposal it sounds more as if the disorganised lot that is our current Government hadn't even thought of the idea until Willis's members bill hit the House. It was her bill reaching the floor that gave them the idea by the look of things. Then they stuffed up the proposal and had to fix the numbers.
She could hardly have seen it coming if, as I am surmising, they hadn't even had the idea until she put it forward.
You also seem to be suggesting that Nicola was only offering a "miserable sop" to the parents with her bill. I take it that you think that the Labour Party are being much more generous with their offer and that she should have suggested the same extra, tax-payer paid parental leave.
The Standing Orders of the House don't allow her to put forward a Private Members Bill that would involve the Crown having to pay for the leave. It would be immediately ruled out, without debate, because it would require substantial expenditure by the Crown and therefore would be refused because it breached Standing Orders. This is Order 334. I suggest you read this and try and explain how she could have been any more generous than just allowing the option to take the leave without incurring any further costs?
You have confused the draft of the release about the GST off food announcement on Sunday with her private members bill about couples sharing parental leave between them. Two different issues.
Nicola Willis has said her party cannot afford to extend the 26 weeks parental leave, because they made no provision for it in their policy for 2023-2026 (once again favouring tax cuts and in particular landlords).
It is a reprise of 2005, because Labour's more targeted WFF tax credits allowed them to fund interest free tertiary loans – whereas National blew it on their big across the board tax cuts. And so families and younger workers with SL/TD … returned the government for a third term.
I don't understand what you are suggesting. I thought it was her private member's bill that you thought was not generous. It doesn't matter what National may, or may not propose to do if they become the Government.
The members bill, if passed, would apply to the actions of the current Government and spending more money would breach the rules.
It was National that chose to make an issue of parental leave before the election, via a private members bill.
They did this knowing they had no plan to extend the provision (26 weeks).
Now the electorate knows that if Labour is elected there will be 28 weeks paid leave 1 April 2024 – and the husband can take 4 weeks leave and have 2 weeks unpaid and 2 weeks paid. This increasing to 5 weeks (3 paid) and 6 weeks (4 paid in April 2025 and April 2016.
The PM has also said that after the election they can also look at tidying up the legislation and make other changes at that time. All National can respond with is they would do what was in the private members bill, lacking any provision for more funding in their plan.
And to make things worse Willis is claiming New Zealand National cannot afford it because they have other priorities – we are overtaxed bribing voters with tax cuts, rewarding its donors/members (landlords) and for them there is too much debt to afford new spending, except for roads (and fixing pot holes caused by allowing heavy trucks on the roads).
You don't say……‘Dehumanizing’ Russians has backfired – ex-Zelensky aide Aleksey Arestovich claimed….
“The main thing we did was to allow ourselves to dehumanize the Russians. This is our main mistake. At first we held on and then we delved into all that with pleasure. The collective Ukrainians, I mean. We allowed that to pour into the internet,” Arestovich stated. He added that such behavior gave average mobilized Russians –not professional soldiers– “an excellent motivation to fight.”
It appears that this site does not disgust you as much as RNZ, for example, because you keep coming back all the time. That said, I assume you are still listening to RNZ too, for your daily ‘adrenaline kick’.
I come back less and less…most of the people I used to like on here have been hounded off or kicked off…I noticed a slow downturn in my interest a bit after you showed up as a moderator actually..or maybe that is just a coincidence?
RNZ needs to be listened to on and off to pull them up on their constant stream of misinformation on geo-politics….and to think they have the cheek to have that lightweight Susie Ferguson actually do a multi part series on misinformation….still I guess it is a perfect reflection of the impenetrable bubble the Liberal class have encased themselves in.
I’ve suggested to you so many times to lift your game and the tone of your comments but your comments invariably still have a whiff of stale breath.
I wish I could take credit for you coming back here less and less but alas, I cannot, even though I’ve been a Mod here for exactly 4.5 years this month.
Through the "beautiful wet season" that Mohi Beckham calls the past 18-months, most of the paddocks were underwater on the coastal Bay of Plenty farm which he manages.
However, the paddocks that survived were those with diverse pastures, he says. The others were left looking brown and rusty.
All Farms (and Farmers?) are different. But we could sure do with more like Mohi Beckham, who, while admitting he's "still learning" seems to be on a pretty good path. Good on him.
ABC financial journalist Alan Kohler pointing out the inequity baked into the system:
Tax settings need to change to address this imbalance if we want younger people to ever be able to own homes. Party vote Green, Labour have demonstrated they are incapable (for you).
The poll asked respondents whether they believed the country was on the right or wrong track. The majority (55 per cent) thought it was on the wrong track, while 37 per cent believed it was on the right track – the most negative result on the question since about 2001.
Correlates with the winter malaise feeling that's been expressed in our media by various journos – and a two-decade inertial swing highlights the challenge the PM's campaign rhetoric must reverse to shift the public mood back.
TPM at 3% makes it seem that it bubbled up last month then popped, but may be different publics being measured by different pollster orgs. Greens also up in this one – 2% increase. NZF on 4.4% and Nat/Lab margin half that of the poll before this one.
Aha…and Mr Luxon wants to 'get NZ back on track'…..do you think any of the polled have any idea which track he is talking about, and if they were shown a track which direction would they take and how would they know if they were on the right track going in the wrong direction or on the wrong track going in the right direction.
No I don't believe most respondents have any sense of a positive alternative. Think it's just a measure of public sentiment pollsters seem to like as a general indicator, so I read it as most folks lacking confidence that Labour know what they're doing.
If Harman's right and their strategy is actually clever the next poll ought to at least register left/right parity within the margin of error. If it continues to show Labour distinctly below National, I would read that as Harman being wrong about their strategy rather than any belief that National has a better grasp of what's required.
It seems you have lost the plot and are mixing up two different commenting threads.
I cannot wait to find out if Harman is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ (again, about what??) and your personal reading of the entrails actually means anything in the greater scheme of NZ politics.
Despite all your polyads, your commentary is still firmly stuck in boring binaries.
Factoring in the undecided, left/right poll parity could be now or even better for the left….or the public sentiment may be totally askew with respondents confused by the choice of tracks all going in different directions. Possibly quite a few of them may just give up and not get on any track.
Right track wrong track is a nonsense question if it's standing alone, you could have 2 labour voter say wrong track , one could want them to be more like act and one could want them to be more like act.
In that article (link) those polled also rated the state of the economy, 76 per cent saying it was not so good or poor.
Well New Zealand currently has a AA+ credit rating with Standard and Poor's, which may head south a bit but is still very good by international standards. Also Mr Key was on record just the other day saying "NZ is doing pretty darn good"……….
Once again this polling is just more scene setting designed to foster discontent and malaise, but then for the likes of Jessica Mutch McKay, forever hopeful for some political sparring, can report with glee-full eyebrow raising, head nodding excitement on the 6pm news.
Just shows to go how accurate completely nonsensical these types of 'polling' are, wouldn't you agree…..surprisingly there were 12 months in that 2001 year.
Journos by and large want the Nats, but don't love Luxon, that is a problem for them.
Most are now "hearing" Seymore and get a sense he is too radical.
As for Winnie, there is a sense of deja vu, disbelief and even admiration for his relentless intent to be Parliament.
So here is the issue, Winston will see Seymore as too much like himself, and will see Luxon as a Leader who could be managed. imo So he would want Seymore as number 3. Now, that won't wash…..
"Plus What's Willis going to do???"
Does anyone see a problem?
I can't see Luxon involved in successful Coalition building, with those two, and Willis. He will revert to dictatorial in a flash imo????
In that situation you'd probably have a Nat minority govt with confidence and supply from Act and Nzf outside of cabinet.
Sounds like a nightmare, Can you imagine trying to get NZF and Act to agree on a budget …. Good lord…
Not much would get done because the only thing the three parties agree on is hating "woke" elite and conservative social policy.
NZF ,economically has far more in common with Labour and the Greens and tbh they worked well together, Nats,act and NZF would be a hilarious, chaotic clusterf**k
I also don't see Luxon surviving a full term as prime minister, I feel he'd get rolled a year or two into the job in, hes had so much hand holding as Loto but being pm is brutal, but whether it's by someone on the liberal wing or the tory wing would be the question.
Montana is violating the rights of young people with policies that prohibit the state from considering climate change effects when it reviews coal mining, natural gas extraction and other fossil fuel projects, a state judge said on Monday.
The decision by Judge Kathy Seeley in Helena marked a major victory in the first youth-led climate case to reach trial in the US and could influence similar cases nationwide.
In her ruling, Seeley said Montana's greenhouse gas emissions have been proven to be "a substantial factor" in causing climate impacts to Montana's environment, harming the young plaintiffs.
The 16 plaintiffs sued Montana in 2020, when they were ages two to 18, claiming the state's permitting of projects like coal and natural gas production exacerbated the climate crisis, despite a 1972 amendment to the Montana constitution requiring the state to protect and improve the environment.
Seeley said the plaintiffs have a "fundamental constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment."
This is a great decision that hopefully gets various governments to step up. Continued extraction for profit endangers the future for all of us. Climate action now.
Very unimpressed with the journalists giving themselves vapours this week, particularly with an allegedly senior journalist calling something ‘stupid’.
Whether this is the work of a subeditor or not, this seems to be a simple campaigning for one side. Even Hosking, Prebble and Joyce in their opinions don’t use this kind of snide language.
Perhaps we need to see Chippy and his ministers get back on the Facebook live and do more direct communication to avoid these unprofessional hacks.
The National Party said today they could not afford to match Labour's new parental leave policy (2 weeks paid leave 1 April 2024 in addition to the existing two weeks unpaid leave, with a third week paid leave in April 2025 and a fourth in April 2026) because they love
Tax Cuts that dribble to flood as the income levels rise.
Restoration of mortgage payments as a cost against rent income
Reducing the bright-line test to 2 years.
Luxon and Willis said they had been prepared to fake concern about support for new parents, to embarrass Labour in parliament and in neo-liberal friendly media, but would not try and match this – and have determined on calling it unaffordable instead.
They would stick with merely allowing couples to share the 6 month entitlement (maximum 3 months for both which costs nothing).
And watch their media sycophants who were beating Labour with not supporting families etc etc , do a handbrake 180 and start saying how it’s all unaffordable etc etc.
New research shows that 55% of New Zealanders are struggling with their financial situation – up 17% compared to February 2021 and the highest level since surveying began.
Out of those surveyed, 51% say they are ‘starting to sink, or treading water’ and a further 3.5% are ‘sinking badly’.
Since February 2021, Te Ara Ahunga Ora Retirement Commission has commissioned TRA to survey 4000 people annually, gathering insights on how people are feeling about money and how they are coping.
The latest findings have revealed that women, Māori and Pacific Peoples are being hit the hardest, with 61% of women saying they are in a difficult position financially (compared to 48% of men) and 60% of Māori and 58% of Pasifika are also struggling.
Something needs to be done to redress this increase in inequality. The tools are there but are being kept in the draw. Labour must do more and needs to be forced to do so. Labour, insufficient (for you). Party vote Green.
to miss the mark with the cost of its GST off fruit and veg policy by about $250million dollars is the gnarliest own goal we’ve seen
Grant will presumably respond "Well, a quarter of a billion off is no big deal in financial estimates." Dunno why the Nat deputy leader is making a big thing about it. Does anyone ever really believe big govt costings from either side?? I doubt it.
she explained Labour had failed to cost the first year of the policy and only partially cost the second year.
I can't see Grant admitting to making any such mistake but his explanation may be entertaining.
According to the report it was published this morning. You reckon Grant's credibility isn't worth taking seriously? I reckon plenty of voters would expect him to get policy costings right – therefore their reliability is the issue, not Tova's agenda.
Her complaint was that Labour should have made more of an effort to let media know that they had got the wrong info in the first press release before hand. Only some got the correct info with the second press release after the public announcement.
The side dish was NW trying to conflate public (government) budget plans with Labour Party policy on how to use allocations for new spending (if re-elected) – via the earlier info inaccuracy as cause.
The story is two days old, GR and NW have faced off in the House since.
He would have put his Wellingtons on and walked across the little puddle between the two and waved a draft of legislation for 4 weeks of parental leave to the man of the house – claiming it was affordable to him if not to her – because she gave away all the money to people like her boss who have 6 houses.
The story is two days old, GR and NW have faced off in the House since.
Well, did the truth emerge?? I've seen no report of it. Seemed to me that's why she published her analysis this morning; to provoke a reaction. You know, as if govt policy costings are worth taking seriously.
I mean, if it's just National & Labour doing claim & counter-claim with both avoiding reality due to reality being inaccessible, I can go with that…
You've been around long enough to know the difference between government policy plans in office (as to budgets) and their manifesto policy they take to elections (given leaks to opposition parties from some …)
Which is why (all) parties should have their budgets costed.
I was trying to figure out the substance of the story. Thanks for helping – I presume NW got leaked the draft rather than the end result so her apparent win wasn't real, much ado about nothing substantial & Tova doesn't get it…
We need to be saying F- the economists and idealogues who wield economics (Don Brash one of the experts in why cheaper fruit and veges is bad) and their infiltration into treasury.
We’ve already seen that they want unemployment to increase.
Now they want to cut school lunches because one or two years of school lunches hasn’t reversed colonialism and generational deprivation. Even done a report.
We didn’t stand up to the charlatans who took the value we’d invested into our public companies or clipped the ticket on both side of the privatisation deals in the 1980s and 1990s.
The other charlatans such as Luke Malpass and Tova O Brien who despite watching inequality grow because of very poor tax policy in housing, call a small change with positive externalities stupid. We need to stand up to them too.
Journalists have cheered and worshipped economic growth that was simply immigration and then turned to Steven Joyce like he was a savant. He wasn’t. We haven’t paid for the infrastructure for the immigration and now we’re turning in the tap again and National wants to make it much worse with its sprawl nonsense. That’s fucking stupid Luke, not a dollar off apples. But you’re complicit so we understand.
Treasury- the people who said we got no benefit from having a movie and TV industry in NZ, though strangely silent on us subsidising farmers- think:
Treasury documents show there is a lack of support for the continuation of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, which launched about four years ago.
A report for Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the programme had had no impact on attendance, and for Māori learners, had not led to better levels of concentration in class.
Perhaps we should cut Treasury salaries to below the bread line on the same basis as they seem to be claiming eating lunch is not required to be productive. It seems unlikely, based on this careful research, to have any impact on the concentration or quality of the output of Treasury officials.
What do communities or Principals know?
Principal Margs Aiono said since free lunches came in, she had seen an improvement in the children's attention spans.
and
Bankwood School assistant principal Anaru Popham said for some kids, lunch was the difference between coming to school or not.
and
Another parent said every bit of help went a long way in a cost-of-living crisis.
"A lot of families are struggling financially with the cost of food increasing. It does help us, especially with the fruit provided and vegetables in the lunches."
Good job Checkpoint! It’s obvious we’re fighting the same technocrats from TINA at this election as much as we ever have. I hope those benefiting can get all their friends out to vote and out to make phone calls and drop leaflets for the parties that are going to keep this programme.
Hi,Before we crack into today’s Webworm, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that Israel is pushing into Rafah. Over 100,000 Palestinians are now attempting to flee the one place that was deemed “safe”.Trouble is, the place they’re fleeing to is already destroyed. Total annihilation is the end goal here.“Israel is ...
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
New Zealand voted in favour of a resolution broadening Palestine’s participation at the United Nations General Assembly overnight, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The resolution enhances the rights of Palestine to participate in the work of the UN General Assembly while stopping short of admitting Palestine as a full ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
“Instead of following along countries that are investing in death and better ways of killing people faster, we need to invest in life and in making Aotearoa a fair, just and equitable place where everyone has what they need for a dignified life.” ...
MARIAMENO KAPA-KINGI, TPM MP FOR TAI TOKERAU This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Māori. CHRISTOPHER LUXON Oh well look you know I don’t think that hard-working Kiwis want to hear language like that. It’s just really unhelpful rhetoric. My Government is genuinely committed to advancing outcomes ...
The body positivity movement started with women confronting the unrealistic expectations and unrepresentative portrayals of them in media and advertising. Men weren’t part of it … their bodies hadn’t been sexualised to the same extremes and they didn’t really need it. But now that’s changed. And in a warped sort ...
A banner notification alerts me to the fact that I’ve received an Instagram message from @felicity.loves. She always comments on my posts. I shouldn’t have opened the message, but clicked on the notification before rationalising this. OMG! Are you in Wellys? X I debate not replying, but Instagram will inform ...
In Melbourne’s hardscrabble western suburbs where AFL – Aussie rules football – is a state religion, Callum Donaldson has been quietly grafting away, four months into an odyssey that he hopes will take him to another promised land: the NRL. It was a solid 2023 for the softly spoken 20-year-old ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 10 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Migration levels
Not surprising given the border closures.
The numbers are large though.
Highest. So three years ago was the highest ever. So not being quite as high is well, a lot.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/08/14/number-of-migrants-to-nz-highest-in-three-years/
The historic data, shows its the largest intake on non-residents ever, mitigated by a large outflow of citizens to below the record of 2020.
https://www.miragenews.com/net-migration-gain-driven-by-non-new-zealand-1004746/
Do all the migrant workers actually have jobs? No. We've opened it up and lost control.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/08/major-criminal-investigation-after-dozens-of-migrants-discovered-living-in-squalid-auckland-home.html
Maybe it’s time for members of the National Party to clutch some pearls, rather than beat drums, and expect of government that there be requirement to provide migrant workers with housing. And entry requires a real job …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300863738/janet-wilson-its-time-to-unclutch-the-pearls-and-start-planning-for-immigration
Gotta get the the unemployment rate higher and house prices up don't ya know!!
American politics – rules that suit the corporate profit, not the worker, more in prison, tougher on those on welfare, promotion of white race nation culture and identity flag patriotism – the prosperity religion gospel, those closest to God have their own private jets, or room on their gated community island for a helipad.
With no CGT, wealth tax or estate tax, the Kiwi not iwi pavlova paradise haven for the scions of capital mammon. Hark the herald.
I went to a citizenship ceremony last night, and the depth of new kiwis was humbling. I thanked them and welcomed them home, they are more deserving than almost all of us.
They do not need sanctification just basic human rights while here.
https://www.greens.org.nz/immigration_policy
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/beachheroes/pages/9597/attachments/original/1591177646/Policy-Greens_Immigration.pdf?1591177646
Need? I said they deserve. Everyone deserves more than 'basic' anything. Would have thought you agreed with that.
You claimed that they were better than (near all of) those born here.
Everyone needs to have their basic human rights protected, migrants (some of whom will permanent residents, some citizens) and those born here.
Really? Bit of a broad judgement there. I dont think you know "almost all of us."
Maybe you should get around a bit more…..
I meant us commenters, but may as well apply to everyone. It's a bit spurious to claim that I don't know all, I probably know more than you'd expect.
Are we currently witnessing the drawback before the immigration tsunami strikes our tiny domestic economy, the small labour market, and the tight housing & rental markets?
A RBG whose over-reaction to the pandemic inflated the property market.
And now an over-reaction to employers competing for workers (without access to migrants) and consequences of opening it up to allow a quick redress – including an inability to cope with oversight of the numbers/regulate it properly.
A Labour government might think again next year. But NACT would not.
86,000 new people in a country with crumbling infrastructure and an apocalyptic housing crisis that only builds 27,000 homes a year….
Golly…. And that's under a labour government…
Nats/Act will have that up up to about 150,000- 200,000 arrivals a year coupled with austerity because it's the only way they know how to "grow" the economy.
I love immigration but with our current housing apocalypse, it just feels like a neoliberals recipe for low wage growth, high rents further failing infrastructure and more kiwis in motels and in their cars and a rapid rise in resentment, hatred and bigotry.
If you're not building the housing and infrastructure to keep up with the population growth, its not fair on the locals nor the new arrivals and is a recipe for disaster.
IF NACT win, we have Oz under a Labour government – to get FPA working conditions
A third of Israelis are considering emigration. The ones with the ability to chose where they go as skilled migrants. It takes the term brain drain to the next level.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-66474153
Back in 2005 Bill English released National policy to make TL easier to repay.
Labour followed with interest free loans.
Nicola Willis and some miserable sop to partners of new mothers.
Labour followed with this 4 weeks ….
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/labour-promises-to-increase-paid-parental-leave-for-partners.html
Did she not see this coming? Did no one tip her off?
what's TL?
Tertiary Loan?
From the shambles that was their presentation of the proposal it sounds more as if the disorganised lot that is our current Government hadn't even thought of the idea until Willis's members bill hit the House. It was her bill reaching the floor that gave them the idea by the look of things. Then they stuffed up the proposal and had to fix the numbers.
She could hardly have seen it coming if, as I am surmising, they hadn't even had the idea until she put it forward.
You also seem to be suggesting that Nicola was only offering a "miserable sop" to the parents with her bill. I take it that you think that the Labour Party are being much more generous with their offer and that she should have suggested the same extra, tax-payer paid parental leave.
The Standing Orders of the House don't allow her to put forward a Private Members Bill that would involve the Crown having to pay for the leave. It would be immediately ruled out, without debate, because it would require substantial expenditure by the Crown and therefore would be refused because it breached Standing Orders. This is Order 334. I suggest you read this and try and explain how she could have been any more generous than just allowing the option to take the leave without incurring any further costs?
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/parliamentary-rules/standing-orders-2020-by-chapter/chapter-6-financial-procedures/#_Toc51754717
You have confused the draft of the release about the GST off food announcement on Sunday with her private members bill about couples sharing parental leave between them. Two different issues.
Nicola Willis has said her party cannot afford to extend the 26 weeks parental leave, because they made no provision for it in their policy for 2023-2026 (once again favouring tax cuts and in particular landlords).
It is a reprise of 2005, because Labour's more targeted WFF tax credits allowed them to fund interest free tertiary loans – whereas National blew it on their big across the board tax cuts. And so families and younger workers with SL/TD … returned the government for a third term.
I don't understand what you are suggesting. I thought it was her private member's bill that you thought was not generous. It doesn't matter what National may, or may not propose to do if they become the Government.
The members bill, if passed, would apply to the actions of the current Government and spending more money would breach the rules.
It was National that chose to make an issue of parental leave before the election, via a private members bill.
They did this knowing they had no plan to extend the provision (26 weeks).
Now the electorate knows that if Labour is elected there will be 28 weeks paid leave 1 April 2024 – and the husband can take 4 weeks leave and have 2 weeks unpaid and 2 weeks paid. This increasing to 5 weeks (3 paid) and 6 weeks (4 paid in April 2025 and April 2016.
The PM has also said that after the election they can also look at tidying up the legislation and make other changes at that time. All National can respond with is they would do what was in the private members bill, lacking any provision for more funding in their plan.
And to make things worse Willis is claiming
New ZealandNational cannot afford it because they have other priorities –we are overtaxedbribing voters with tax cuts, rewarding its donors/members (landlords) and for them there is too much debt to afford new spending, except for roads (and fixing pot holes caused by allowing heavy trucks on the roads).You don't say……‘Dehumanizing’ Russians has backfired – ex-Zelensky aide Aleksey Arestovich claimed….
“The main thing we did was to allow ourselves to dehumanize the Russians. This is our main mistake. At first we held on and then we delved into all that with pleasure. The collective Ukrainians, I mean. We allowed that to pour into the internet,” Arestovich stated. He added that such behavior gave average mobilized Russians –not professional soldiers– “an excellent motivation to fight.”
https://robotism.ai/dehumanizing-russians-has-backfired-ex-zelensky-aide-rt-russia-former-soviet-union/
Quite a bit of that disgusting behavior was/is displayed on occasion on this very site too I would like to add.
It appears that this site does not disgust you as much as RNZ, for example, because you keep coming back all the time. That said, I assume you are still listening to RNZ too, for your daily ‘adrenaline kick’.
I come back less and less…most of the people I used to like on here have been hounded off or kicked off…I noticed a slow downturn in my interest a bit after you showed up as a moderator actually..or maybe that is just a coincidence?
RNZ needs to be listened to on and off to pull them up on their constant stream of misinformation on geo-politics….and to think they have the cheek to have that lightweight Susie Ferguson actually do a multi part series on misinformation….still I guess it is a perfect reflection of the impenetrable bubble the Liberal class have encased themselves in.
I’ve suggested to you so many times to lift your game and the tone of your comments but your comments invariably still have a whiff of stale breath.
I wish I could take credit for you coming back here less and less but alas, I cannot, even though I’ve been a Mod here for exactly 4.5 years this month.
See you around, Adrian.
Dah.
"I wish I could take credit for you coming back here less and less"…..enough said.
In your typical fashion of selective reading & reacting, you missed the first sentence of my comment to you that was meant to provide the context.
For your convenience, here it is again:
Enough said.
Thanks for saying this Adrian.
To question the neo-con orthodoxy over Ukrainian is to invite vitriolic attacks.
I barely comment either now.
All Farms (and Farmers?) are different. But we could sure do with more like Mohi Beckham, who, while admitting he's "still learning" seems to be on a pretty good path. Good on him.
ABC financial journalist Alan Kohler pointing out the inequity baked into the system:
Tax settings need to change to address this imbalance if we want younger people to ever be able to own homes. Party vote Green, Labour have demonstrated they are incapable (for you).
This indicator is worth mentioning:
Correlates with the winter malaise feeling that's been expressed in our media by various journos – and a two-decade inertial swing highlights the challenge the PM's campaign rhetoric must reverse to shift the public mood back.
TPM at 3% makes it seem that it bubbled up last month then popped, but may be different publics being measured by different pollster orgs. Greens also up in this one – 2% increase. NZF on 4.4% and Nat/Lab margin half that of the poll before this one.
Aha…and Mr Luxon wants to 'get NZ back on track'…..do you think any of the polled have any idea which track he is talking about, and if they were shown a track which direction would they take and how would they know if they were on the right track going in the wrong direction or on the wrong track going in the right direction.
No I don't believe most respondents have any sense of a positive alternative. Think it's just a measure of public sentiment pollsters seem to like as a general indicator, so I read it as most folks lacking confidence that Labour know what they're doing.
If Harman's right and their strategy is actually clever the next poll ought to at least register left/right parity within the margin of error. If it continues to show Labour distinctly below National, I would read that as Harman being wrong about their strategy rather than any belief that National has a better grasp of what's required.
It seems you have lost the plot and are mixing up two different commenting threads.
I cannot wait to find out if Harman is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ (again, about what??) and your personal reading of the entrails actually means anything in the greater scheme of NZ politics.
Despite all your polyads, your commentary is still firmly stuck in boring binaries.
Factoring in the undecided, left/right poll parity could be now or even better for the left….or the public sentiment may be totally askew with respondents confused by the choice of tracks all going in different directions. Possibly quite a few of them may just give up and not get on any track.
Right track wrong track is a nonsense question if it's standing alone, you could have 2 labour voter say wrong track , one could want them to be more like act and one could want them to be more like act.
did you mean like ACT and like the GP?
Yip bugger
In that article (link) those polled also rated the state of the economy, 76 per cent saying it was not so good or poor.
Well New Zealand currently has a AA+ credit rating with Standard and Poor's, which may head south a bit but is still very good by international standards. Also Mr Key was on record just the other day saying "NZ is doing pretty darn good"……….
Once again this polling is just more scene setting designed to foster discontent and malaise, but then for the likes of Jessica Mutch McKay, forever hopeful for some political sparring, can report with glee-full eyebrow raising, head nodding excitement on the 6pm news.
Interesting though that the next highest number for wrong direction is a year before Helen Clark got Labours second highest mmp result.
What happened in 2001?
Just shows to go how
accuratecompletely nonsensical these types of 'polling' are, wouldn't you agree…..surprisingly there were 12 months in that 2001 year.https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/07-06-2018/does-jacinda-ardern-face-a-helen-clark-style-winter-of-discontent
I don't know for sure, but maybe it was a hangover from the so-called Winter of Discontent?
Journos by and large want the Nats, but don't love Luxon, that is a problem for them.
Most are now "hearing" Seymore and get a sense he is too radical.
As for Winnie, there is a sense of deja vu, disbelief and even admiration for his relentless intent to be Parliament.
So here is the issue, Winston will see Seymore as too much like himself, and will see Luxon as a Leader who could be managed. imo So he would want Seymore as number 3. Now, that won't wash…..
"Plus What's Willis going to do???"
Does anyone see a problem?
I can't see Luxon involved in successful Coalition building, with those two, and Willis. He will revert to dictatorial in a flash imo????
Q-'why did the Mercedes cross the road?'
A-'to get…Luxon to the other..side'!
Yes Blazer, not even Winnie had that kind of hubis.
But.. Luxon =Lux, Seymore =gun lobby, Winston= vax freedom? Unholy trinity.
hubris
Yes got a phone call and did not check sorry
ok, that's quite funny.
Journalists want DRAMA, its their job, they are children.
In that situation you'd probably have a Nat minority govt with confidence and supply from Act and Nzf outside of cabinet.
Sounds like a nightmare, Can you imagine trying to get NZF and Act to agree on a budget …. Good lord…
Not much would get done because the only thing the three parties agree on is hating "woke" elite and conservative social policy.
NZF ,economically has far more in common with Labour and the Greens and tbh they worked well together, Nats,act and NZF would be a hilarious, chaotic clusterf**k
I also don't see Luxon surviving a full term as prime minister, I feel he'd get rolled a year or two into the job in, hes had so much hand holding as Loto but being pm is brutal, but whether it's by someone on the liberal wing or the tory wing would be the question.
Yes, Corey,perhaps "chaos" is closer to home than the 'right' realise. Nicola would roll him.imo.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/495830/us-judge-hands-historic-win-to-young-plaintiffs-in-climate-change-case
This is a great decision that hopefully gets various governments to step up. Continued extraction for profit endangers the future for all of us. Climate action now.
All wins are welcome.
Very unimpressed with the journalists giving themselves vapours this week, particularly with an allegedly senior journalist calling something ‘stupid’.
Whether this is the work of a subeditor or not, this seems to be a simple campaigning for one side. Even Hosking, Prebble and Joyce in their opinions don’t use this kind of snide language.
Perhaps we need to see Chippy and his ministers get back on the Facebook live and do more direct communication to avoid these unprofessional hacks.
The National Party said today they could not afford to match Labour's new parental leave policy (2 weeks paid leave 1 April 2024 in addition to the existing two weeks unpaid leave, with a third week paid leave in April 2025 and a fourth in April 2026) because they love
Luxon and Willis said they had been prepared to fake concern about support for new parents, to embarrass Labour in parliament and in neo-liberal friendly media, but would not try and match this – and have determined on calling it unaffordable instead.
They would stick with merely allowing couples to share the 6 month entitlement (maximum 3 months for both which costs nothing).
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/election-2023-national-questions-affordability-of-paid-parental-leave-changes-after-labour-proposal.html
And watch their media sycophants who were beating Labour with not supporting families etc etc , do a handbrake 180 and start saying how it’s all unaffordable etc etc.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2308/S00141/new-research-reveals-more-than-half-of-kiwis-struggling-with-money.htm
Something needs to be done to redress this increase in inequality. The tools are there but are being kept in the draw. Labour must do more and needs to be forced to do so. Labour, insufficient (for you). Party vote Green.
Apparently Labour didn't get a policy costing right: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300949957/tova-obrien-labours-gst-own-goal-the-gnarliest-weve-seen-all-fifa-womens-world-cup
Grant will presumably respond "Well, a quarter of a billion off is no big deal in financial estimates." Dunno why the Nat deputy leader is making a big thing about it. Does anyone ever really believe big govt costings from either side?? I doubt it.
I can't see Grant admitting to making any such mistake but his explanation may be entertaining.
That's old news , a printing error or some such , and falling for tovas self promoting headlines !! Really??
According to the report it was published this morning. You reckon Grant's credibility isn't worth taking seriously? I reckon plenty of voters would expect him to get policy costings right – therefore their reliability is the issue, not Tova's agenda.
Her complaint was that Labour should have made more of an effort to let media know that they had got the wrong info in the first press release before hand. Only some got the correct info with the second press release after the public announcement.
The side dish was NW trying to conflate public (government) budget plans with Labour Party policy on how to use allocations for new spending (if re-elected) – via the earlier info inaccuracy as cause.
The story is two days old, GR and NW have faced off in the House since.
He would have put his Wellingtons on and walked across the little puddle between the two and waved a draft of legislation for 4 weeks of parental leave to the man of the house – claiming it was affordable to him if not to her – because she gave away all the money to people like her boss who have 6 houses.
The story is two days old, GR and NW have faced off in the House since.
Well, did the truth emerge?? I've seen no report of it. Seemed to me that's why she published her analysis this morning; to provoke a reaction. You know, as if govt policy costings are worth taking seriously.
I mean, if it's just National & Labour doing claim & counter-claim with both avoiding reality due to reality being inaccessible, I can go with that…
You've been around long enough to know the difference between government policy plans in office (as to budgets) and their manifesto policy they take to elections (given leaks to opposition parties from some …)
Which is why (all) parties should have their budgets costed.
I was trying to figure out the substance of the story. Thanks for helping – I presume NW got leaked the draft rather than the end result so her apparent win wasn't real, much ado about nothing substantial & Tova doesn't get it…
It's an in house matter – a party has 100 x to campaign with.
They have 4 major campaign policies. Any first cost/estimate changes/updates impact on that available for the others.
If the cost of the parental leave was greater or lesser, the more or less foods that could be covered with GST free etc.
NW was stretching to infer some official in government budget matter to it all (because of the earlier and later figures).
TO is just covering the all drama, no consummate campaign politician like Obama, angle – the boredom of explaining the inane.
Nope, you are not getting it.
Tova is just doing her ‘job’; without a ‘story’ and a bit of drama she’s got nothing and she’ll become a proverbial tree in the middle of a forest …
We need to be saying F- the economists and idealogues who wield economics (Don Brash one of the experts in why cheaper fruit and veges is bad) and their infiltration into treasury.
We’ve already seen that they want unemployment to increase.
Now they want to cut school lunches because one or two years of school lunches hasn’t reversed colonialism and generational deprivation. Even done a report.
We didn’t stand up to the charlatans who took the value we’d invested into our public companies or clipped the ticket on both side of the privatisation deals in the 1980s and 1990s.
The other charlatans such as Luke Malpass and Tova O Brien who despite watching inequality grow because of very poor tax policy in housing, call a small change with positive externalities stupid. We need to stand up to them too.
Journalists have cheered and worshipped economic growth that was simply immigration and then turned to Steven Joyce like he was a savant. He wasn’t. We haven’t paid for the infrastructure for the immigration and now we’re turning in the tap again and National wants to make it much worse with its sprawl nonsense. That’s fucking stupid Luke, not a dollar off apples. But you’re complicit so we understand.
Treasury- the people who said we got no benefit from having a movie and TV industry in NZ, though strangely silent on us subsidising farmers- think:
Treasury documents show there is a lack of support for the continuation of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako programme, which launched about four years ago.
A report for Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the programme had had no impact on attendance, and for Māori learners, had not led to better levels of concentration in class.
Perhaps we should cut Treasury salaries to below the bread line on the same basis as they seem to be claiming eating lunch is not required to be productive. It seems unlikely, based on this careful research, to have any impact on the concentration or quality of the output of Treasury officials.
What do communities or Principals know?
Principal Margs Aiono said since free lunches came in, she had seen an improvement in the children's attention spans.
and
Bankwood School assistant principal Anaru Popham said for some kids, lunch was the difference between coming to school or not.
and
Another parent said every bit of help went a long way in a cost-of-living crisis.
"A lot of families are struggling financially with the cost of food increasing. It does help us, especially with the fruit provided and vegetables in the lunches."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018902763/free-lunches-seen-as-essential-despite-uncertain-future
Good job Checkpoint! It’s obvious we’re fighting the same technocrats from TINA at this election as much as we ever have. I hope those benefiting can get all their friends out to vote and out to make phone calls and drop leaflets for the parties that are going to keep this programme.
The picture is more nuanced. A month ago there was a whole Post dedicated to this topic (https://thestandard.org.nz/why-a-change-of-government-would-be-a-bad-thing-school-lunches/); you may want to re-read the discussion thread starting @ 10 (https://thestandard.org.nz/why-a-change-of-government-would-be-a-bad-thing-school-lunches/#comment-1959843) in particular.