The only thing I didn't understand from the article is whats the actual problem with the HWEN proposal, how did "Treasury" stuff it up. These things might be obvious to a mid-Canterbury 1000-cow farm equity manager, but if such an expert can't actually explain whats wrong with it then it sounds more like talking his book (rather than explaining a valid political issue to the public).
The gist of it seems to be that Treasury want farming brought into the ETS. When the HWEN proposal was finalised, the author implies the government caved into Treasury and 'tweaked' the proposal before it went out for consultation.
The author's arguing that the failure to put the original proposal out for consultation has united farmers against the government.
As the article explains, it was a partnership between the government, primary sector organisations and Māori. There was certainly support for the process from within the farming community, but there was also a lot of opposition.
If he's Dairymannz (similar picture so I think so), his tiktok account is quite good. Obviously anyone can present a persona, but it's quite balanced, not typical dairy talking points on everything by any means.
I was quite disappointed that the government has decided to scrap the fuel rebate.
Firstly, this move will put extra inflationary pressure into the economy which isn't good for anyone.
Secondly, it will be as popular as a turd on a Christmas cake so far as voters are concerned.
Thirdly there was a missed opportunity to make that tax much fairer. At the moment, the amount of tax the government takes on fuel increases with the price. A much fairer approach would be to make the tax take on fuel at a fixed amount rather than variable.
Yes, that is probably a fair comment. But the unfair thing is that GST in this case is partially a tax on a tax. So, it is unfair in a number of ways.
I don't normally advocate dicking around with GST due to the complexities involved. But, in this case, GST on fuel could be abolished, and the excise part increased so that it is truly a fair tax.
I commented on the Fiji election yestereve, but results reporting stalled before midnight. Appears to have been a tech issue:
Supervisor of elections Mohammed Saneem briefed media in the early hours of Thursday morning saying attempts to restart a failed data transfer had caused the app to glitch out and give a disproportionate amount of votes to some candidates, with two in particular receiving a boost of about 28,000 and 14,000 votes respectively…
At 7am provisional results will stop being released and the official count will begin.
No further provisional results will be released, and official results are expected on Sunday local time…
The new results released at the relaunch of the app around 2.30am Fiji time showed Fiji First leading with 65,949 votes over the Peoples Alliance Party who had 50,348 votes, with 531 of 2071 stations counted.
So that's Bainimarama's party now leading Rabuka's. Though with a lot of votes to be counted (or at least announced), and a peculiar computing error in the middle. So far the military seems to be holding to their promise of respecting the outcome.
Robertson and Treasury have put New Zealand in a very strong place to withstand the downward pressures of a global recession.
No idea if any Nat voter or swinging centrist will figure this out, but it simply shows again that if you want an economy run well, vote Labour in 2023.
Looking forward to the NZ Herald selecting Robertson as their 2022 Politician of the Year.
Though maybe, in the Herald's 'mind', Luxon's grotesque, shroud-waving opportunism when standing in front of a Sandringham dairy with a bunch of flowers, will make him the winner.
Brown was put in there to sell stuff. If he lowers the value of existing shares through being a oaf – and the Council gets less on selling their shares while 'investors' make out like bandits – that's not inconsistent with his actual mission.
Investment expert Brad Gordon said Brown's comment was more politically motivated than reflective of any insider's knowledge.
"I think it is political positioning on the Auckland Airport stake highlighting to the council that if they retain the stake as is, there may be a potential liability via a capital raise to Auckland shareholders or dilution down the track.
"So I think he is just laying out the case to the council."
AFAIK, Brown never campaigned on selling shares in Auckland Airport and was cagey about selling Ports of Auckland. His policies certainly did not mention anything of the kind.
Every single Green and Labour and City Vision Councillor should be blowing up about this.
Where the fuck are they? They have no need to vote with the mayor on his budget, Hell the right wouldn't.
Auckland Council has held onto this as a passive shareholder for over a decade.
Yet that is despite Auckland Airport being the most powerful and largest single economic force in the entire Auckland region, and also the most important spatial player.
Bruce Jesson should come back and haunt the Green/Labour/CityVision Councillors until they weep.
Auckland Council have 18% of the current shareholding. That gives them little to no say in how the airport is run. If, as Brown says, the airport needs to raise money for further expansion, ratepayers will be on the hook for more investment or that 18% will be further diluted. This is a ratepayer owned asset worth around $2bn, money a sum that would, if realised, dramatically reduce debt and therefore rates.
It's also not a policy in isolation. It is being considered as part of a range of initiatives to cut debt and hold back the level of rates rises.
In an article in 2020, Damien Grant described how Auckland Council had become a "bloated, debt-laden monster sucking in cash, employees and capital", and a "dysfunctional mess that Rodney Hide’s legacy to Auckland has become." In the 2 years since, it has, if anything, got worse.
Local government has only two options for ongoing income; dividends from council-owned businesses or rates. If we want low rates rises we should want councils to own profitable and useful businesses, selling them off only benefits us once.
Another option to lower the rates bill is to lower expenses.
Golf courses cost Auckland rate-payers $162M a year, nearly twice the cost of the $88M annual debt servicing of the airport shares.
"Wayne Brown wants to sell Auckland Airport shares to save $88 million a year in interest costs, but has no plans to sell golf courses costing $162 million a year to run and worth over $2.9 billion. Bernard Hickey asks – why not?"
Again, it’s not that simple. Auckland City has substantial debt, and servicing that debt is a significant cost to ratepayers. The airport company hasn’t returned a dividend in the past 3 years, and with major further infrastructure investment planned, isn’t likely to for some time. So selling the shares, paying down debt and saving the servicing costs makes sense.
It was paying quite good dividends prior to COVID. Yeah use a crisis to get greedy little mitts on ratepayers assets and income stream.
We've all see what has happened to taxpayer assets when the private sector gets their paws on them. Lack of investment, capital taken out by way of dividend, capital taken out by way of high salaries – has to be high salaries otherwise it would simply be theft costs up continually for the consumer. and leaving taxes as the only revenue stream most of which is paid by workers and consumers. Business pays sweet FA and often doesn't pay it when it is supposed to. as we see in the paper all the time.
time to bring in a turnover tax paid to IRD at the transaction point.
electricity is a mess, telecommunications is a mess, housing is a mess….
As far as I can tell the private sector is pretty shit at running stuff.
blockquote>As far as I can tell the private sector is pretty shit at running stuff.
Just long-run infrastructure where they’ve got dividends to pay out now to satisfy investors – rather than doing rigorous maintenance and paying down debt or squirrelling investments for the inevitable upgrades and enhancements.
Mostly the private sector runs reasonably well on a yearly cycle. Corporates often run quarter to quarter, bu may have up to a 3 year forward planning year cycle if you’re lucky.
It doesn’t run a decade or two ahead looking at demographics and town planning required for infrastructure planning.
So we have built a paradigm where top public sector salaries are linked to top private sector salaries supposedly to in part be able to attract good private sector people into the public service.
So mayors, and senior officials get paid lots more than they used to before this paradigm was built.
I continue to see however many public servants such as some of the ones in my family move into the private sector for better pay and to the Australian private sector for the same reason. This tells me their skills and expertise – in one case built up over twenty five years in a council position, are in demand.
At the same time there has been restraint put on the public sector by two successive governments which has their pay falling further behind the private sector. Or course this affects the CEO's much less than those at the coal face.
So when you say bloated salaries (and I personally think public service leaders get paid too much) then we need to think about the paradigm. It is the increases in private sector salaries that drive public sector salaries up and I've yet to see a private sector manager go into either local or central government and say pay me less. Has Mr Brown said pay me less – I don't think so though I do recall him saying he would work less hours for the same salary. Lots of cheerleaders saying well if he had get the work done in less time then what does it matter?
And when someone from the private sector moves into the public sector are they still private sector and deserving of their salary or are they now public sector and getting a bloated salary. When does one become a public servant? And if they, the public servant leave and take their skills to the private sector for more pay do they suddenly get a deserved salary or wages even though it is now a higher rate. Bloated but paid less just makes no sense.
It is a bit like the magic of turning 65 and going from a bludger on benefit to a hard-working paid taxes all my life worthy citizen on NZS.
As an indication of where things are at, since 2016, AC's personnel costs have risen by 31%, and the number of Full Time Equivalent staff by 13%. And, as an example from one of the COO's
Depends on how fast the tourism takes to startup. As I remember it, the return to the council was about 58 million in 2019 year (and that was with virtually no traffic in the last quarter) when we still had tourism and a lot of traffic. That was as I recall, a pretty good ROI for 2019 and the years leading up to it.
In that 2019 last quarter and after that we had covid which kind of knocked all passenger traffic off. It is hardly surprising that “The airport company hasn’t returned a dividend in the past 3 years…”.
So if you’re a short-term return cretin like Wayne Brown who can barely remember his lines from his over paid advisers (puppet masters?), then of course you’re never going to look at if Auckland Council wants to have a say in one of our major economic hubs. Which is what the council is there for – the health of the Auckland region.
So as far as I understand it, they want to drop the shares in major economic hub for Auckland, and use that to pay off existing debt. Why don’t they do something that we don’t need. For instance selling off the golf courses that they own which have absolutely no economic return to Auckland but are only there for a small (but noisy) affluent minority. I’m sure they will snapped up by private interests and used more productively.
Of course that would require that Wayne Brown (and his handlers) would have to do some real work against people who can fight back (unlike most of their ‘targeted’ budget cuts). But we know that Wayne Brown has always been a lazy gutless wonder who takes credit for other work and only targets simple tasks.
But of course he and his team are also the morons who are so unaware of how the anything in the region operates. They couldn’t figure out that entry into the art gallery is free – so ticket numbers are small.
Interesting viewing in light of the PM’s comments about Iran being removed from the UN’s Women’s Group.
Drawing a much longer bow, I wonder if potential regime change in Iran would force a change in their foreign policy. Especially in regards to supporting and supplying weapons to Russia.
They both come out of it well, the only ones who come out of it looking stupid are the pearl-clutchers who went with fake outrage because they thought it was scoring a devastating point.
They end up looking like the whiny kid in the classroom who squeals: "Teacher's pet Cindy said a bad word, punish her, not fair, boo!".
I actually pulled down some Brittas the other day just to see what it was like. Got tired of being offered another end-game Bruce Willis movie on streaming.
If you look at Act policy and Brittas together, it really does fit. The same half-arsed psuedo-management completely unrealistic bullshit that Brittas spouted (and is earnestly parroted by the Rimmer clone) actually fit Act policy closely. Written by someone who works on theory that they don’t really understand, showing no signs of understanding the obvious pitfalls, and so absolutely sure that they’re right…
For instance the Act policy on 3 waters is that councils should go and raise bonds to repair, maintain, and upgrade their water infrastructure. Yeah right. Richard Harmon gave a good example of a council in “Government fails to explain the real need for three waters” at Politik (paywalled). Note that when he is talking about “three waters infrastructure” he is talking about managing the fresh, sewerage, and storm water, rather than the proposal.
An example of the pressures that three waters infrastructure can place on a Council is evident in the Kaipara District Council.
Its 18,700 ratepayers pay about $44 million a year, but the Council has total debt of $44 million, much of it incurred for a wastewater plant in Mangawhai. However, there are now plans for 30,000 new houses in the district over the next ten years with no specific proposals for how the three waters infrastructure for those developments would be funded.
Under the Three Waters plans, the Council would be part of the Auckland water entity.
But these are not the issues and challenges that the Prime Minister and Mahuta have usually addressed in their public comments on Three Waters.
Which is why most of the comments I hear from opponents here. are kind of mindless and show virtually no signs of understanding what the problem is.
As Harmon points out – a National led government will be doing something very similar to 3 Waters regardless. The alternative is to let local councils fall into a hole dragging the productivity of rural and small town NZ with it.
… is that if National forms the next Government, they have promised to “repeal and replace” the legislation passed yesterday.
They have not said what they will replace Labour’s mode with, but any reasoned analysis would suggest they would end up doing much of what Labour has done.
The implication of the anti-three waters campaign led by the right-wing Taxpayers’ Union that a repeal would lead to restoring the status quo is unlikely to be viable.
And .
Simply, local Government cannot be trusted by the central Government to invest its water revenues in three waters infrastructure.
In a 2019 report, the Auditor General found that in 2018/19, all councils’ renewal capital expenditure on three waters infrastructure was 79% of depreciation.
“We remain concerned that councils might not be adequately reinvesting in critical assets,” the Auditor General, John Ryan, warned.
A May 2020 Treasury paper argued that Covid made matters worse.
This was all identified as an issue in 2015 by Bill English who kicked off the first close look at the infrastructural problem. THe 2017 inquiry that led to the 3 Waters legislation was initiated by the Bill English government in 2017.
Which kind of means that you have to look at what all of the objections are about from National.
That is easy to see – basically they are are pushing the racist anti-moari vote. In particular in those same small town and city councils that have the problem.
Personally, at this point I think that a point needs to be made. No general taxpayer money or debt should go into supporting National’s plan. It should be opposed by the left as being a racist and non-community plan. If National get in and try to enact it. Then support a bill by Act (an urban group). Let them sink with bonds and the free market.
I live in Auckland. Even with the cretin political skills of Wayne Brown, the fixes to the 3 waters infrastructure here is advanced enough that there isn’t likely to be much of a problem after the current builds are completed. I can live on bottled water and not swimming when in other parts of the country.
That damn near has to be done anyway now. The nitrogen levels in Canterbury water are just one nice el nino drought away from going really toxic.
So…here we are presented with , "an effective, easy, “set and forget” methane reduction solution…"
Hmmmm…
Okay. A "bolus" will be introduced (introduced?) to the stomach of each ruminant "
"Bolus – How Does It Work?
Boluses are a common mechanism to deliver drugs and trace elements/minerals to ruminants and have been used safely for around 50 years in the farming industry.
A bolus is a like a large capsule which sits in a ruminant animal’s stomach and continuously releases, at a slow pace, an optimal dose of a drug or substance. In our case, that substance is tribromomethane.
The dose of tribromomethane the animals receive over time should be low enough to be safe for animal, food and the environment, while high enough to achieve significant levels of methane reduction.
Ruminant BioTech says this needs to be verified by its comprehensive animal research plan, but based on initial data they have, there is no cause for concern."
The dose "should be low enough to be safe for animal, food and the environment,"
Good-O!
Well, let's see. For now, I'm underwhelmed. The bolus is interfering with the ruminants naturals digestive process, but that's okay, because we want a different result.
I know it's tempting to get excited by such news, but both the pieces you've posted in recent days are not solutions we can rely on currently. The bolus still needs to go through trials to establish safety and efficacy.
So how long should we delay and wait for high tech to save the day? Five years? Ten?
We have to drop GHGs immediately and fast. We can still do high tech research for the future, but I'm not sure this is a current priority given the other negative impacts of industrial farming in addition to emissions.
We have to lower emmisions without collapsing the luxury lifestyle a decent chunk of us live , because take a look around most people ain't going to give up shit, and powering down just isn't going to happen.
Look at what's happening with tourism and air travel, rocketing back to pre covid levels , people don't give a fuck about emmisions so you better pray science saves pur arses.
The other is that people can and do change. It's not luxury lifestyles vs living in a mud hut. It's a good standard of living without the excesses and with many benefits like more time with family, better community, healthier environment vs no more whitebait, increasing extreme weather events, food shortages, cost of living spiraling, increasing poverty, and collapse of ecosystems. I'm in my mid 50s and I think it's likely I will live to experience all of that.
Every year more and more people understand that the climate/ecology crisis is here, now. At some point they will want to change, because they're not stupid.
Your narrative is one of giving up. Let's pray for solutions that we like, instead of using the perfectly good ones we have in front of us.
Look at what's happening with tourism and air travel, rocketing back to pre covid levels , people don't give a fuck about emmisions so you better pray science saves pur arses.
I don't think that is what is happening. NZ research shows that the greater majority of us want the government to do more about climate. What's happening is cognitive dissonance, people know climate matters but it's not in our faces enough yet and we can still think it's someone else's problem. Many people feel powerless. But we are not.
The problem is people want more action but at the same time they don't want action that is detrimental to their way of life.
Sadly the only real solution is meaningful global action and that's just not going to happen for a bunch of mostly political reasons.
As an example we have a very high proportion of our electricity from renewable sources, improvements are now very expensive ie lower return on investment. On a global scale as far as emmisions go that money is far better spent getting easy and larger gains in the developing world. but that won’t happen as politicians are focused on patch protection
What do they do when negative stats about tangata whenua is being tossed around like a hot kumara they throw there hands in the air and say I don't know why that has happened basically they are lying to us and themselves.
It's the system it's the people with power who are to greedy to share mana with tangata whenua.
Mate wa whano Eco maori knows how this system works .
And we will use this system to get mana and respect back from these greedy people.
We just have to go back in time and lead our tangata like Te Rangatira did .
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
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Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
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The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
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Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
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Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
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The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
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https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300762730/labours-emissions-pricing-plan-has-turned-into-a-selfinflicted-wound
Snatching defeat from the Jaws of victory?
Or did labour never really want HWEN to fly?
Did anyone really want He Waka Eke Noa to fly / float?
Certainly not Groundswell.
"…Groundswell, the farmer protest movement born out of opposition to poorly thought out government policy on winter grazing in Southland."
More "dragged itself out of the mud/primeval ooze"
There will be some who read the article and find it believable.
Some.
Today, they will set the record straight.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/groundswell-nz-co-founders-to-meet-prime-minister/J5ZNW56JERDQZMC3WTGQNGLKYQ/
Hope she wears her "pretty communist" t-shirt!
On the front, and “arrogant prick” on the back.
As long as doesn't wear the "Stupid little girl" one.
Your not a big "Garbage" fan Jimmy?
They had a couple of good songs IMO. That was one of them.
I preferred Republica.
The only thing I didn't understand from the article is whats the actual problem with the HWEN proposal, how did "Treasury" stuff it up. These things might be obvious to a mid-Canterbury 1000-cow farm equity manager, but if such an expert can't actually explain whats wrong with it then it sounds more like talking his book (rather than explaining a valid political issue to the public).
The gist of it seems to be that Treasury want farming brought into the ETS. When the HWEN proposal was finalised, the author implies the government caved into Treasury and 'tweaked' the proposal before it went out for consultation.
The author's arguing that the failure to put the original proposal out for consultation has united farmers against the government.
I think I've got that right
It would not have killed Ardern or Cabinet to STFU and agree with the HWEN Group on this one.
Pick your damn battles people.
Maybe I missed something but didn't lavour tell farmers to design these own plan, ?
That would make a simple hick like me think atleast labour and a chunk of farmers want it.
As the article explains, it was a partnership between the government, primary sector organisations and Māori. There was certainly support for the process from within the farming community, but there was also a lot of opposition.
Dairy farmer writes mendacious and disingenuous opinion piece opposing the governments emissions targets? Who would have thought?
Craig Hickman is an equity manager on a 1000-cow dairy farm in mid-Canterbury.
"Mid-Canterbury" and "1000-cow dairy farm" – a match made in heaven!
The perfect pulpit from which to preach about climate change.
If he's Dairymannz (similar picture so I think so), his tiktok account is quite good. Obviously anyone can present a persona, but it's quite balanced, not typical dairy talking points on everything by any means.
Can you point out the bits that are disingenuous and mendacious?
I was quite disappointed that the government has decided to scrap the fuel rebate.
Firstly, this move will put extra inflationary pressure into the economy which isn't good for anyone.
Secondly, it will be as popular as a turd on a Christmas cake so far as voters are concerned.
Thirdly there was a missed opportunity to make that tax much fairer. At the moment, the amount of tax the government takes on fuel increases with the price. A much fairer approach would be to make the tax take on fuel at a fixed amount rather than variable.
Fuel excise (tax) is fixed, what goes up and down with prices is GST which is true of all prices.
Yes, that is probably a fair comment. But the unfair thing is that GST in this case is partially a tax on a tax. So, it is unfair in a number of ways.
I don't normally advocate dicking around with GST due to the complexities involved. But, in this case, GST on fuel could be abolished, and the excise part increased so that it is truly a fair tax.
I commented on the Fiji election yestereve, but results reporting stalled before midnight. Appears to have been a tech issue:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/480775/fiji-elections-office-app-back-online-after-glitch
So that's Bainimarama's party now leading Rabuka's. Though with a lot of votes to be counted (or at least announced), and a peculiar computing error in the middle. So far the military seems to be holding to their promise of respecting the outcome.
Elmo protecting his own.
https://twitter.com/donie/status/1603014049041629185
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1603123643948613634
https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1603130346966585347
https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1603153442909863937
https://twitter.com/ariehkovler/status/1603156219732131844
I would like to see Twitter go bust or bankrupt, just to force both Republicans and Democrats to regulate far more strongly regulate social media.
Even if Twitter survives the next 6 months, it's hard to see the subscribers coming back in 2023 that would enable Twitter to survive the year.
So, Aliens Have Landed is ok but Musk Has Landed On Mars is not?
OK so it was a terrible idea to restrict immigration and push unemployment down and labour utilisation up?
Awful to support the economy with massive subsidy?
Horrifying to have all that upward wage pressure?
Economy boomed: GDP data shows solid economic growth, reveals star performers – NZ Herald
Robertson and Treasury have put New Zealand in a very strong place to withstand the downward pressures of a global recession.
No idea if any Nat voter or swinging centrist will figure this out, but it simply shows again that if you want an economy run well, vote Labour in 2023.
Looking forward to the NZ Herald selecting Robertson as their 2022 Politician of the Year.
Though maybe, in the Herald's 'mind', Luxon's grotesque, shroud-waving opportunism when standing in front of a Sandringham dairy with a bunch of flowers, will make him the winner.
Muskian move by Brown.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/480817/auckland-airport-shares-halted-on-nzx-after-mayor-s-remarks-on-public-cash-raising
Brown was put in there to sell stuff. If he lowers the value of existing shares through being a oaf – and the Council gets less on selling their shares while 'investors' make out like bandits – that's not inconsistent with his actual mission.
Auckland Airport share price has steadily climbed since its most recent low on 17 Oct, directly after the Local Elections.
The climbing debt of AC has helped Brown’s ‘mandate’ to sell some of the family silver.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/auckland-mayor-aims-for-7-percent-rates-increase
Interestingly, the usual grassroots fan clubs of Brown are quiet on selling off golf courses …
Sell stuff – certainly, but not the Remuera golf course. Or anything else his backers want the ratepayers to continue to subsidise.
Brown was elected Mayor to stem the city's financial bleeding. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/480817/nzx-trading-halt-on-auckland-airport-shares-lifted-after-mayor-s-remarks-on-public-cash-raising
AFAIK, Brown never campaigned on selling shares in Auckland Airport and was cagey about selling Ports of Auckland. His policies certainly did not mention anything of the kind.
Every single Green and Labour and City Vision Councillor should be blowing up about this.
Where the fuck are they? They have no need to vote with the mayor on his budget, Hell the right wouldn't.
Auckland Council has held onto this as a passive shareholder for over a decade.
Yet that is despite Auckland Airport being the most powerful and largest single economic force in the entire Auckland region, and also the most important spatial player.
Bruce Jesson should come back and haunt the Green/Labour/CityVision Councillors until they weep.
It's not that simple for them.
Auckland Council have 18% of the current shareholding. That gives them little to no say in how the airport is run. If, as Brown says, the airport needs to raise money for further expansion, ratepayers will be on the hook for more investment or that 18% will be further diluted. This is a ratepayer owned asset worth around $2bn, money a sum that would, if realised, dramatically reduce debt and therefore rates.
It's also not a policy in isolation. It is being considered as part of a range of initiatives to cut debt and hold back the level of rates rises.
In an article in 2020, Damien Grant described how Auckland Council had become a "bloated, debt-laden monster sucking in cash, employees and capital", and a "dysfunctional mess that Rodney Hide’s legacy to Auckland has become." In the 2 years since, it has, if anything, got worse.
Local government has only two options for ongoing income; dividends from council-owned businesses or rates. If we want low rates rises we should want councils to own profitable and useful businesses, selling them off only benefits us once.
Another option to lower the rates bill is to lower expenses.
Golf courses cost Auckland rate-payers $162M a year, nearly twice the cost of the $88M annual debt servicing of the airport shares.
"Wayne Brown wants to sell Auckland Airport shares to save $88 million a year in interest costs, but has no plans to sell golf courses costing $162 million a year to run and worth over $2.9 billion. Bernard Hickey asks – why not?"
https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/05-12-2022/wayne-brown-should-sell-the-golf-courses-instead
Again, it’s not that simple. Auckland City has substantial debt, and servicing that debt is a significant cost to ratepayers. The airport company hasn’t returned a dividend in the past 3 years, and with major further infrastructure investment planned, isn’t likely to for some time. So selling the shares, paying down debt and saving the servicing costs makes sense.
It was paying quite good dividends prior to COVID. Yeah use a crisis to get greedy little mitts on ratepayers assets and income stream.
We've all see what has happened to taxpayer assets when the private sector gets their paws on them. Lack of investment, capital taken out by way of dividend, capital taken out by way of high salaries – has to be high salaries otherwise it would simply be theft costs up continually for the consumer. and leaving taxes as the only revenue stream most of which is paid by workers and consumers. Business pays sweet FA and often doesn't pay it when it is supposed to. as we see in the paper all the time.
time to bring in a turnover tax paid to IRD at the transaction point.
electricity is a mess, telecommunications is a mess, housing is a mess….
As far as I can tell the private sector is pretty shit at running stuff.
<
blockquote>As far as I can tell the private sector is pretty shit at running stuff.
Just long-run infrastructure where they’ve got dividends to pay out now to satisfy investors – rather than doing rigorous maintenance and paying down debt or squirrelling investments for the inevitable upgrades and enhancements.
Mostly the private sector runs reasonably well on a yearly cycle. Corporates often run quarter to quarter, bu may have up to a 3 year forward planning year cycle if you’re lucky.
It doesn’t run a decade or two ahead looking at demographics and town planning required for infrastructure planning.
Aucklands current problems are being caused, at least in part, by a bloated public sector salaries and staff numbers.
So we have built a paradigm where top public sector salaries are linked to top private sector salaries supposedly to in part be able to attract good private sector people into the public service.
So mayors, and senior officials get paid lots more than they used to before this paradigm was built.
I continue to see however many public servants such as some of the ones in my family move into the private sector for better pay and to the Australian private sector for the same reason. This tells me their skills and expertise – in one case built up over twenty five years in a council position, are in demand.
At the same time there has been restraint put on the public sector by two successive governments which has their pay falling further behind the private sector. Or course this affects the CEO's much less than those at the coal face.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/ceo/private-v-public-ceos-pay-gaps-widening
So when you say bloated salaries (and I personally think public service leaders get paid too much) then we need to think about the paradigm. It is the increases in private sector salaries that drive public sector salaries up and I've yet to see a private sector manager go into either local or central government and say pay me less. Has Mr Brown said pay me less – I don't think so though I do recall him saying he would work less hours for the same salary. Lots of cheerleaders saying well if he had get the work done in less time then what does it matter?
And when someone from the private sector moves into the public sector are they still private sector and deserving of their salary or are they now public sector and getting a bloated salary. When does one become a public servant? And if they, the public servant leave and take their skills to the private sector for more pay do they suddenly get a deserved salary or wages even though it is now a higher rate. Bloated but paid less just makes no sense.
It is a bit like the magic of turning 65 and going from a bludger on benefit to a hard-working paid taxes all my life worthy citizen on NZS.
Good comments.
Auckland's problems go back to the whole concept of the super-city. I quoted above Damien Grant's comment about the "dysfunctional mess that Rodney Hide’s legacy to Auckland has become."
Damien also says, rightly in my view, that Auckland has since become a "bloated, debt-laden monster sucking in cash, employees and capital",
As an indication of where things are at, since 2016, AC's personnel costs have risen by 31%, and the number of Full Time Equivalent staff by 13%. And, as an example from one of the COO's
AT employs 74 staff in its Marketing and Customer Engagement Group, plus another 11 staff in the Market Insights & Voice of Customer Group, with an average salary of more than $90,000 a year. It employs a further 40 staff in communications and engagement with 22 earning over $100,000.
Depends on how fast the tourism takes to startup. As I remember it, the return to the council was about 58 million in 2019 year (and that was with virtually no traffic in the last quarter) when we still had tourism and a lot of traffic. That was as I recall, a pretty good ROI for 2019 and the years leading up to it.
In that 2019 last quarter and after that we had covid which kind of knocked all passenger traffic off. It is hardly surprising that “The airport company hasn’t returned a dividend in the past 3 years…”.
So if you’re a short-term return cretin like Wayne Brown who can barely remember his lines from his over paid advisers (puppet masters?), then of course you’re never going to look at if Auckland Council wants to have a say in one of our major economic hubs. Which is what the council is there for – the health of the Auckland region.
So as far as I understand it, they want to drop the shares in major economic hub for Auckland, and use that to pay off existing debt. Why don’t they do something that we don’t need. For instance selling off the golf courses that they own which have absolutely no economic return to Auckland but are only there for a small (but noisy) affluent minority. I’m sure they will snapped up by private interests and used more productively.
Of course that would require that Wayne Brown (and his handlers) would have to do some real work against people who can fight back (unlike most of their ‘targeted’ budget cuts). But we know that Wayne Brown has always been a lazy gutless wonder who takes credit for other work and only targets simple tasks.
But of course he and his team are also the morons who are so unaware of how the anything in the region operates. They couldn’t figure out that entry into the art gallery is free – so ticket numbers are small.
Need I say more.
Wayne Brown didn’t create this mess. Perhaps your vitriol should be directed at those who did?
https://www.aljazeera.com/program/start-here/2022/12/13/protests-in-iran-start-here?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=Weekly%2014122022&utm_medium=email
Interesting viewing in light of the PM’s comments about Iran being removed from the UN’s Women’s Group.
Drawing a much longer bow, I wonder if potential regime change in Iran would force a change in their foreign policy. Especially in regards to supporting and supplying weapons to Russia.
https://twitter.com/coughlthom/status/1603165227558014976
I'd love to know who's idea that was , genius!!
Makes on wonder if labour and act could team.up. (just a thought, don’t lose your shit)
They both come out of it well, the only ones who come out of it looking stupid are the pearl-clutchers who went with fake outrage because they thought it was scoring a devastating point.
They end up looking like the whiny kid in the classroom who squeals: "Teacher's pet Cindy said a bad word, punish her, not fair, boo!".
You are not giving Gordon Brittas enough credit. I thought well of him not to stoop for the low hanging fruit that was on offer.
Haha had completely forgotten about Gordon Brittas… think I still prefer the Arnold Rimmer comparison but only just.
I actually pulled down some Brittas the other day just to see what it was like. Got tired of being offered another end-game Bruce Willis movie on streaming.
If you look at Act policy and Brittas together, it really does fit. The same half-arsed psuedo-management completely unrealistic bullshit that Brittas spouted (and is earnestly parroted by the Rimmer clone) actually fit Act policy closely. Written by someone who works on theory that they don’t really understand, showing no signs of understanding the obvious pitfalls, and so absolutely sure that they’re right…
For instance the Act policy on 3 waters is that councils should go and raise bonds to repair, maintain, and upgrade their water infrastructure. Yeah right. Richard Harmon gave a good example of a council in “Government fails to explain the real need for three waters” at Politik (paywalled). Note that when he is talking about “three waters infrastructure” he is talking about managing the fresh, sewerage, and storm water, rather than the proposal.
Which is why most of the comments I hear from opponents here. are kind of mindless and show virtually no signs of understanding what the problem is.
As Harmon points out – a National led government will be doing something very similar to 3 Waters regardless. The alternative is to let local councils fall into a hole dragging the productivity of rural and small town NZ with it.
And .
This was all identified as an issue in 2015 by Bill English who kicked off the first close look at the infrastructural problem. THe 2017 inquiry that led to the 3 Waters legislation was initiated by the Bill English government in 2017.
Which kind of means that you have to look at what all of the objections are about from National.
That is easy to see – basically they are are pushing the racist anti-moari vote. In particular in those same small town and city councils that have the problem.
Personally, at this point I think that a point needs to be made. No general taxpayer money or debt should go into supporting National’s plan. It should be opposed by the left as being a racist and non-community plan. If National get in and try to enact it. Then support a bill by Act (an urban group). Let them sink with bonds and the free market.
I live in Auckland. Even with the cretin political skills of Wayne Brown, the fixes to the 3 waters infrastructure here is advanced enough that there isn’t likely to be much of a problem after the current builds are completed. I can live on bottled water and not swimming when in other parts of the country.
That damn near has to be done anyway now. The nitrogen levels in Canterbury water are just one nice el nino drought away from going really toxic.
https://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/dairy-news/dairy-farm-health/methane-inhibitor-bolus-could-reduce-emissions-by-70
Science baby ,yeah
So…here we are presented with , "an effective, easy, “set and forget” methane reduction solution…"
Hmmmm…
Okay. A "bolus" will be introduced (introduced?) to the stomach of each ruminant "
"Bolus – How Does It Work?
Boluses are a common mechanism to deliver drugs and trace elements/minerals to ruminants and have been used safely for around 50 years in the farming industry.
A bolus is a like a large capsule which sits in a ruminant animal’s stomach and continuously releases, at a slow pace, an optimal dose of a drug or substance. In our case, that substance is tribromomethane.
The dose of tribromomethane the animals receive over time should be low enough to be safe for animal, food and the environment, while high enough to achieve significant levels of methane reduction.
Ruminant BioTech says this needs to be verified by its comprehensive animal research plan, but based on initial data they have, there is no cause for concern."
The dose "should be low enough to be safe for animal, food and the environment,"
Good-O!
Well, let's see. For now, I'm underwhelmed. The bolus is interfering with the ruminants naturals digestive process, but that's okay, because we want a different result.
Anything just to keep going the way we are going.
Anything – call it "science" and we're all good!
I know it's tempting to get excited by such news, but both the pieces you've posted in recent days are not solutions we can rely on currently. The bolus still needs to go through trials to establish safety and efficacy.
So how long should we delay and wait for high tech to save the day? Five years? Ten?
We have to drop GHGs immediately and fast. We can still do high tech research for the future, but I'm not sure this is a current priority given the other negative impacts of industrial farming in addition to emissions.
Like the tobacco industry says, nothing must be done till the science is settled…
We have to lower emmisions without collapsing the luxury lifestyle a decent chunk of us live , because take a look around most people ain't going to give up shit, and powering down just isn't going to happen.
Look at what's happening with tourism and air travel, rocketing back to pre covid levels , people don't give a fuck about emmisions so you better pray science saves pur arses.
There’s considerable irony in praying for science to save us 😉
Believe it or not I had a twinkle in my eye as I wrote that.
I am a believer.
I have it on good authority however that science works even for those who don't believe in it.
Yes, I’ve heard that too, that science is very understanding and forgiving.
Except for when it discovered gravity, that was a downer!
what about the placebo and nocebo effects?
that's one way to think about it.
The other is that people can and do change. It's not luxury lifestyles vs living in a mud hut. It's a good standard of living without the excesses and with many benefits like more time with family, better community, healthier environment vs no more whitebait, increasing extreme weather events, food shortages, cost of living spiraling, increasing poverty, and collapse of ecosystems. I'm in my mid 50s and I think it's likely I will live to experience all of that.
Every year more and more people understand that the climate/ecology crisis is here, now. At some point they will want to change, because they're not stupid.
Your narrative is one of giving up. Let's pray for solutions that we like, instead of using the perfectly good ones we have in front of us.
I don't think that is what is happening. NZ research shows that the greater majority of us want the government to do more about climate. What's happening is cognitive dissonance, people know climate matters but it's not in our faces enough yet and we can still think it's someone else's problem. Many people feel powerless. But we are not.
The problem is people want more action but at the same time they don't want action that is detrimental to their way of life.
Sadly the only real solution is meaningful global action and that's just not going to happen for a bunch of mostly political reasons.
As an example we have a very high proportion of our electricity from renewable sources, improvements are now very expensive ie lower return on investment. On a global scale as far as emmisions go that money is far better spent getting easy and larger gains in the developing world. but that won’t happen as politicians are focused on patch protection
"The problem is people want more action but at the same time they don't want action that is detrimental to their way of life."
For now…
Ki the aha whano
https://youtu.be/wOpSqV9E7HY
I know that a lot my whano can see what I see .
The system is a joke.
When Its treating me and my mokopuna like shit .
What do they do when negative stats about tangata whenua is being tossed around like a hot kumara they throw there hands in the air and say I don't know why that has happened basically they are lying to us and themselves.
It's the system it's the people with power who are to greedy to share mana with tangata whenua.
Mate wa whano Eco maori knows how this system works .
And we will use this system to get mana and respect back from these greedy people.
We just have to go back in time and lead our tangata like Te Rangatira did .
He tangata he tangata he tangata.
Ka kite ano