I recommend Powershop. They have a $50 friend referral promotion at the moment: you and your friend both get $50 credit when they sign up. I’d be happy to refer you but I’d need your email address to do so. Let me know if you’re interested and we can work out how to exchange ‘real’ addresses anonymously.
Using Powershops detailed price history, I calculated I was about $20 ahead compared to one of the companies (Mercury I think), but only because I purchased every available special that powershop had. If I hadn’t, I would have been slightly behind.
Powershop also have the 30 minute power usage chart if you’ve got a smart meter, so you can see over the last 4 weeks how much power you used in any given 30 minute block. Since I am on a day/night meter, this lets me hightlight periods of high usage, remember what I was doing at the time, and make a conscious decision to defer that power usage to the night period when the power is cheaper.
Puchasing power in advance is something that powershop offers though, and this year although they put their prices up by 5% (thanks to Transpower etc), they gave us the opportunity to buy power in advance at the ‘current’ price.
I should also add with Powershop that all of these features are entirely optional: you can just treat it like any other power company “set and forget” and they’ll automatically bill you your usage at the end of the month. But you can also buy power in advance (months, or just the current month), track your power usage and buy specials etc. If you’ve got a smart meter it is all fully automatic. If you don’t then you’ll need to enter your own meter reads.
They are more or less all the same. They all use the same contractors for their field work, and a lot of them have the same billing system. Contact, Genesis and Pulse have GenTrack and MERC have SAP. Reading/billing are done on a 20 day cycle, with Genesis/Contact being read 2 monthly and the rest monthly.
Due to so many people switching there has been huge instances with data getting mixed up. For example if you live in Devon Street, New Plymouth, and switched to CEL, you might just end up getting signed in as a customer in Devon St, Rotorua.
And dont get me started on smart meters. The amount of issues that people are having after having one installed are horrendus, things not working, fuses blowing, part power, etc and so on.
“The average farm worker is now earning $5500 a year more than the national average wage and salary, according to a Federated Farmers/Rabobank survey, and pay levels for most pastoral farm positions have continued to increase.”
A little more journo work and The Herald would have discovered that farm workers need to work 80 to 100 hours a week to get this. Many farmers require “couples” so often this is a combined household income, the conditions in dairy farms with over 500 cows are atrocious….come on Herald, do your work, do an hourly rate.
‘A little more journo work and The Herald would have discovered that ….’
2 issues with that statement, 1. They aren’t jouno’s but press release recyclers and 2. ‘work’ as in research and verifiability of facts from disparate sources doesn’t happen in granny’s world.
They’ve done their work which is giving a soapbox to their backers being the wealthy elite under the illusion the story has actually been validated.
Same’s true for orchardists and fruit pickers, where I’m from. Only the greedies have trouble finding staff, usually corporate farmers. Give decent pay and conditions, voila, no problem finding staff. They should try it sometime.
Labour would consider allowing the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders in limited circumstances but …
In reversal of the usual rule, everything after the “but” is bullshit, and I’d take the “limited” with a grain of salt, several Siberian mines and the Red Sea.
I think that this position is pretty good.
“”An inquiry’s necessary because it’s not just about the GCSB, it’s also about the SIS and the relationship with the police. It’s right across the board and what I don’t want to do is to have a narrow, quick-fix Bandaid type of solution for something that is much more fundamental.”
The essential point is that a full enquiry be held first. Surely you would expect the facts and consequences of any “reform” be considered? There is a probability that Mr Key will rush through changes without an enquiry and in a way to suit the National agenda.
What would you choose?
Band aid or decisions based on an enquiry?
FFS if a NZ citizen needs to be surveilled it should be a police job with police protections in place, not the job of the spooks – whose role is to keep a watch on the activities of foreign powers.
Or does Labour think that we should head down the US route where the bullshit ‘terrorism’ flag is waved around in order to justify expansion of state security powers over local citizens.
All this from Shearer, Mr Mercernary Man himself. How reassuring.
Read Trotter on the subject: he asks the question of “why a non military appointee?”
The answer he has is that the whole spy / surveillance thing has moved away from foreign nations (posing a national sovereignty threat) to the enforcement of international private interests (commercial copyright etc).
Exactly DTB. Shearer has sold out our rights to not be spied on before the process has even begun. I don’t think they’ll kick up much of a fuss even at an inquiry, because they would want to spy on the same people that Key does. Given a golden opportunity to make a stand, he falls over in a puddle of his own dribble.
Apart from the egregious contempt for civil liberties, which Labour has long played fast and loose with (Hello Goff!), I’m pissed off by Shearer’s own utter, utter, utter stupidity. Once again, when an issue seems to be gaining some traction, Shearer barges in trying to prove how important and statesman-like he is and once again he fucks it up for everyone.
His brain-fade over his bank account might have been an honest mistake, but he gave ammunition to National – who can now say “He’s incompetent or a liar, take your pick. Do you trust this man with the country’s finances?”
Now it’s going to be, “But he supports expanded GCSB powers too,” thereby marginalising the Green campaign on the issue and undermining his own frigging deputy Robertson’s own work.
What’s he going to say in a debate?
“Well, ah, I mean… I mean I meant… within… I mean, ah, with appropriate safeguards…. and I do disagree – yes, I disagree – I’m making a stand here! I disagree… I mean I might, I might disagree over your placement of a comma on line twelve of… um, something you released…. um… oh dear, where’s my bit of paper…”
Key’s just going to smirk and crush him with a soundbite.
He’s worse than wrong, he’s a phuqyng idiot. Again.
One week, Dear God, please, one week without Shearer being a dick.
Shearer’s performance or lack thereof doesn’t matter in the slightest.
In fact whichever talking head is Labour Leader is of zero importance to me personally, since I’m an Alliance supporter (although somehow I always end up reflexively smashing at the Cunliffe devotees but not the Shearer bearers, whoops).
Because in the end Labour is only there to facilitate the Greens and Mana, who will make it all good in the end.
CV, you’re shit enough at channelling that you should be on Sensing Murder. You’re batting zero for … how many now?
I already gave my response to rhino’s passionate soliloquy. Which was that I really didn’t think enough of it or the perceived issue it lampooned to bother giving either a response.
Is this an Own Goal ?
In this morning’s Herald – “ Party may support law change to allow GCSB to keep watch on Kiwis but only if full intelligence review held. Labour would consider allowing the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders in limited circumstances but only if that was recommended by a full independent review of intelligence agencies, party leader David Shearer says.”
Who writes this stuff for them FFS. Why put “we support spying” and then only if you bother to read on do you find the conditions.
Why not
condemn the behaviour
demand the big look at intelligence
suggest a parliamentary committe to oversea intelligence
then in the small print at the bottom “if recommended anfd there are asfeguards we may agree”
David Shearer – the man who thoughtfully brings his own banana skins to slip on in case someone has forgotten to provide them (or mango skins, whatever).
How are judges appointed? Well since National got into power you’ll find ‘is friend of Chris Finlayson’ was a criteria. Finlayson to certain friend in Sydney law firm ‘Want to be a judge? Just let me know’.
See The Herald this morning. It is valid for the Law Commission to identify and discuss myriad aspects of our legal system, the role of the judiciary among them. It is valid for a government to engage in the debate which follows, of course.
My real concern is that in its destructive worship of austerity, its singlemindedness in retention of power, and its doubtless taste for authoritarianism, this government will unhesitatingly sully legitimate debate on the question of where and how the judiciary sits in the justice system.
Recall Simon Power’s risible ticking-off of the Chief Justice for her mature and informed comments about the justice system a couple of years ago. Risible indeed coming from a life-long National Party arse-wipe joke of a man.
On many occasions this government has sunk to the depths of defamation, pejorativeness and abuse of practitioners in law and other areas. Non-exhaustively, legal aid lawyers, Justice Binnie, teachers, unions.
It is routine. First blame the practitioners. Then, assisted by the patently shallow “journalism” of child-scribes on their way up and that of accommodating older hacks, sell the lunacy that less gas in the tank of any particular vehicle will naturally see it go further, more safely and more efficiently. When the vehicle conks out halfway down the road of ill-considered and often ridiculous “reforms” – blame the practitioners.
In terms of convention the judiciary may not be such a sitting-duck but of course McVicar and the SST could always be relied upon to spew out anything the spin-doctors vetoed. More or less the same result.
It is alarming to see this government and the delightedly malevolent Judith Collins poking and prodding in matters constitutional. They are just too dishonest and not nearly as competent as they claim.
I’m reminded of Glenda Jackson re Thatcher – the cost of everything, the value of nothing.
We’d be better off if the judiciary ran a review of the government. I can’t see this as anything but an attempt to scare any slight remnant of independence out of our judges and make them even more overtly political.
I’m not a big fan of judges in general, but I’m a sworn enemy of the WhaleSpew/MacVicar types who carry on with the rubbish that NAct MPs believe but can’t say in public.
lately i have had no luck getting html into comments. I do not understand what the fault is.
below was copy pasted direct from FAQ and even that didn’t work. As you can see bold and italic worked but strikeout and underline do not. i see others with underline and strikeout in comments so it is pretty confusing, Any ideas ? Anyone ?
bold; write my text
italic; write my text
strikeout. write my text
underline. write my text
can you write what you did for strikeout but put a space between each character so i can see the actual keystrokes.
test:
i wrote w o r d (with spaces) (afteredit: greater than less than characters did not show up just shows the ‘word’ inside them
word (as html text in FAQ, no spaces)
test after edit:
still nada, what am I doing wrong?
Tungsten, my friend tungsten; (just in case we need some confirmation without bias, i ghosted out of the shower yesterday and was working through Seven Nations Army in my head, turned the radio on (had been off to save power), Hauraki, and who woulda’ thunk it; this has happened many times before, Test-ReTest and all those Validity / Reliability study requirements; now gonna try this encode HTML stuff; could be some time… 🙂
thanks to everybody who persevered, yet it was felix’s link that helped the ghost back to the other side. now, if I could just materialize a root from branch office
🙂
Well, this is a change, and encouraging if it continues. Two articles today from the Dominion Post critical of the Key Govt.
The first one is about Buffoon Bridges’ anti democratic anti marine protest law
We kow we are never going to see the full text till after it has been signed off. Even if only half of the known details are true, the TPPA is a suidice agreement for the self-determination of all Nations who sign it and those that don’t will be signed up to something equally dangerous. No profit is worth our sovereignty as a Nation. No Nation should put profit before its people. I do not care what a court says, a Corporation is not a person and this single legal distinction, more than any war or financial scandal or illegal election is single handedly responsible for the ongoing destruction of real Democracy.
“Six hundred US corporate advisors have negotiated and had input into the TPP, and the proposed draft text has not been made available to the public, the press or policymakers.”
I am sure this is one of those passages of reality that Groser would rather we ignore
Thanks for the link, freedom (interesting website, “Free Malaysia Today”). It’s pretty critical of the US and its role in promoting neoliberalism internationally – not sure where it is re- Malaysian politics.)
This bit from the article is worrying:
The proposed legislation on Intellectual Property will have enormous ramifications for TPP signatories, including Internet termination for households, businesses, and organizations as an accepted penalty for copyright infringement.
Signatory nations would essentially submit themselves to oppressive IP restrictions designed by Hollywood’s copyright cartels, severely limiting their ability to digitally exchange information on sites like YouTube, where streaming videos are considered copyrightable.
“Broader copyright and intellectual property rights demands by the US would lock up the Internet, stifle research and increase education costs, by extending existing generous copyright from 70 years to 120 years, and even making it a criminal offense to temporarily store files on a computer without authorization. The US, as a net exporter of digital information, would be the only party to benefit from this,” said Patricia Ranald, convener of the Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network.
After a quick scan I’m not sure either where its editorial biases lie.
Right now Malaysia is in the midst of “election fever” – according to the radio, TV, and newspapers. The current government, headed by Najib, will likely be returned to power. The only question is by what margin.
I’ve only been here since January so I’m not up to speed on who the main players are except for the aforementioned Najib. The glaringly obvious thing here is that politics are very much “racial”. The Malays, which make up over half of the population, will likely as not vote for the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) backed Barisan Nasional party – Barisan Nasional has ruled the country since Malaysia became independent of the UK. The Chinese, who as a block control a great deal of the country’s finances and commercial entities, will make deals that will best serve their community. The Indians, well they don’t have the numbers or financial clout, will go along to get along.
As an “orang putih” I get an earfull from the locals about the different “races” when we are out of earshot from any who might overhear. The Malays moan about the Chinese, the Chinese complain that the Malays don’t play fair because of their demographic advantage, and the Indians swear that they can never catch a break.
Very interesting…here’s a speech I found on youtube given by Hannah Yeoh, a young Malaysian state politician…speaking (in part) on women in Malaysian politics; honestly she seems way more talented than a shit load of our hapless NZ ones.
CV
Those Asians always showing us up. Just when we get to sit complacently at the supposed top of the pile, someone still thinking comes along and rains on our parade.
Hay, here’s a thought brother, trade in one of those suits ya don’t need, you’ve got them all in spades anyway, and help a brother into a new set of Flat-Screen-PC compatible wheels; though, now i’m back on the race-course, Harvey or Noel might be interested; Frek, when you examine the backgrounds of, oh I don’t know, your average Act or NZ First candidate tracey, Virgil, “Brains”, Kyrano, Aloysius or even Tin-Tin would be better mariners.
including Internet termination for households, businesses, and organizations as an accepted penalty for copyright infringement
Was wondering how the flow of information would be stemmed, just stop people from accessing it!
Nothing the establishments despise/fear more, than the sharing of information amongst the plebs.
The internet has been a doubled edged sword for the planets rulers, while it provides them with greater capabilities to control, than ever before equally it provides greater ability for people to learn, and understand the frauds being perpetuated against humanity.
Taking complete control of the narratives/information flows, will be very high on the list of outcomes!
I would just like to repeat this anecdote from my burn ed colleague ghostrider; apparently, after checking out some interesting mark-downs at his local exorbitantly priced supermarket he struck up a conversation with a lady-pensioner (probably spying the flash mobility-scooter got him going), anyway, this lady was originally from Dartmoor (the UK one) and it seemed that her husband had been a principal who was very conversant re politics; they got talking about the lovely day, politics and the young of today, as you do, and regarding Thatcher, she considered her an important person to British political history (lets leave it at that) yet she COULD NOT STAND JOHN KEY. kinda makes me wonder what it is about him that revs Fran O’Sullivan’s motor running.
Rogue T
The answer is obviously that Jokeyhen is an upstart, johnny-come-lately, nouveau riche person of no standing in British class lines. Thatcher and others were excused their un-aristo starts because they were successful and Thatcher was a good swot. And she knew how to dress like a lady, even attempting to eclipse the Queen. (Who probably would have liked to e(clip)se her round the ears.)
Thatcher was also a bloody serious and capable pollie. When she went in to fuck the miners she did so front on and full on. Key just shuffled apologetically around the edges. Plenty of right wing NAT hardliners think that Key just needs to harden the frak up, and has needed to for the last, oh, four and a half years.
FWIW the sentencing regime works on the principle of precedent. Judges don’t have autonomy on sentences like the Herald seem to believe, they have to follow sentencing guidelines which are legislated by Govt. Whenever there’s a law change to sentencing the first sentences of the new laws are carefully analysed by the Chief Justice and discussed with all of the judges around the country. Any mistakes are quickly rectified before they become a precedent, from thereon they all have to follow the precedents set.
The reason they use precedent is to ensure uniformity in sentencing. If they don’t have uniformity the crim can appeal their sentence on the grounds that someone else got a much lighter sentence for a similar offence. It’s pretty basic stuff.
If sentences are wrong it’s because the law is wrong or some judges are not following the guidelines properly. The Chief Justice (I think) is in charge of monitoring the performance of judges in that respect, those who get it wrong are supposed to be warned & reprimanded.
So, without knowing what sentences were handed down for similar offences previously, the Herald’s survey is a pointless attack on judges who may just be doing their job.
Can’t make that conclusion from what’s been said there. Most likely scenario is the actual law is dictating those sentences, or that’s the precedents that have been set.
The judges’ job is to do what the written laws tell them. Their sentencing has a built-in check & balance via the appeals process. If the judge’s reading of the law, and subsequent sentencing, is wildly out you’ll see an appeal against the sentence either by the Crown or by the offender.
Too many people have this expectation that judges can suddenly get ‘tougher’ on offenders. They can’t, for that to happen the law has to be changed and judges don’t make the law (nor should they)
You are obviously not informed about Feminist Doctrine.
Here, let me help you:
“All men are rapists and that’s all they are” — Marilyn French
“The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.” — Sally Miller Gearhart, in The Future – If There Is One – Is Female.
“Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women’s bodies.” — Andrea Dworkin
Feminism was hijacked years ago by man haters and lesbians, it is an ideology of hate.
It helps explain why the Left is so broken, bogged down in Identity Politics and the hyper relativism of trendy Post Modern Philosophy
Don’t you understand the difference between what a character in a book says and what the book’s author thinks? Probably just another symptom of hate. You should probably get that looked at.
yes, i stumbled, fell over, the announcement of this party; the whities sure seemed to be a-feared of change (have very little awareness of the inevitability of demographics, and too much money to hate)
they were just plays on words for friends electric, you know, “friends” ;synth pop never really got better after Foxx, Krautrock, Ultravox and Numan imo (just kidding around). Anyway, you sometimes seem bright enough to read the signs; how do you think the domestic politics of NZ are going to impact demographics anyway; Maori role increases, Pasifika role increases, SE Asian role increases, Sub-continent increases, African increases, Middle-Eastern increases; while it is conceded that there is a drift towards conservatism in the post-empire after-taste hang-over, one size will definitely not fit all or do you not read beyond own subscriptions? and Gender politics, well, thanks to the roles of genetics, history, culture and language they are essential; I could write 500 Shades of Grey transcribing the utterances men make of their women in the pub, the work-place, the sports-club (well, maybe the gyms) and the smoko-rooms; Hell, I was a misogynist myself deep down for years;and, on the other side of the coin, how many women prefer their own, or the company of women to their husbands / partners, but you go ahead, flame-on.
Ansell is always happy to claim all the technological and cultural developments for himself and other Europeans. For example, he talks about Maori wanting money because some dams have been built and says they didn’t know how to build dams or turbines. Does he or any of his pathetic followers know how to do anything useful at all? Would he use a computer if he knew Turing was gay?
Pathetic and scared little people who should be flushed back down the sewer from whence they came.
A commentator on radionz this morning said that broadly 70% of NZ dairy farmers (I think just the dairy sector) had 30% equity in their businesses. After all this wealth that is being frequently talked about, dairy farmers are still in the poo. WTF I can’t understand it.
I There was a drought about 2008 that equalled the present one. I thought though that the backbone of the country’s economy, dairy, had more calcium in it. How can we raise some serious concern about the country and people’s welfare with the wider peopulation so we can get beyond this stale stalemate of 61 to 59, a risable Majority, and get some things done and new approaches trialled and get into new world mode with eagerness to conserve the good, progress in advantagous ways and improve our low levels of attainment????
Green on. Vote Green, join the Green Party, donate to the Green Party. Ditto Mana (although I still think party voting GP is better strategically than Mana).
What we want is a Labour led govt that doesn’t rely on Peters or Dunne.
That article exemplifies exactly why we shouldn’t use economics as the justification for caring for and protecting the environment. Just like with the clean, green brand and using the economic imperative of that as justification for ecological sensitivity, using the ETS etc is bound to fail. As soon as the economics don’t stack up, the trees will come tumbling down.
We need to value and revere nature for its own inherent worth, irrespective of what it can do for use and not because of the five second dollar value we can place on it.
That aside, anyone who converts to dairy from now on (apart from small/med scale farmers using sustainable management) is siding with evil and deserves all the approbation that will come their way.
“A commentator on radionz this morning said that broadly 70% of NZ dairy farmers (I think just the dairy sector) had 30% equity in their businesses. After all this wealth that is being frequently talked about, dairy farmers are still in the poo. WTF I can’t understand it. ”
It looks to be down to farms being way overpriced here, likely due to the amount of foreign buyers pushing the prices up. A typical Kiwi has to borrow huge sums to buy into a farm and the cost of capital is often too high for the income the farms generate. They make a living but rarely enough extra cash to pay down the principal on the mortgage
Eric Watson had a commentary in the Herald talking about his dairy farm investment in Georgia USA. He claimed the climate there is better for dairying which makes the yields per cow & hectare better and yet the price of farmland there is considerably less than here so the returns are much higher.
(If it was so great there though you have to wonder why foreigners buy our farms when the Yanks have such bargains to be had.)
Bassett, the executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, wants the U.S. government to lift what he calls the “truth embargo” and acknowledge that extraterrestrials are real and are engaging the human race.
Bassett and his allies are taking over the National Press Club in downtown D.C. from April 29 to May 3 to host the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure. “What we are going to do is bring the largest concentration of witnesses ever assembled in one place, at one time, and they are going to testify exactly as if they were in a real congressional hearing,” Bassett explained. Former members of Congress are being tapped to run the hearings, while witnesses, including former astronaut (and sixth man on the moon) Edgar Mitchell, are coming in from around the world. A film production crew from Los Angeles will film the whole thing, turning “Truth Embargo” into a documentary.
The Fermi paradox isn’t based in reality: “But no convincing evidence of this exists.”
In 2007 The National Press Club held a press conference in which a group of high-profile witnesses described their experiences. The moderator for the conference was Fife Symington, who described what he saw regarding the Phoenix Lights UFOs. Symington was the Arizona governor at that time. There was also good coverage of the Rendlesham Forest incident.
cha know, (refs not handy) but the introduction to me Oxford identifies the most influential philosophers beginning with Socrates…Plato…Aristotle…fec…wheres ya memory when ya need it…Aquinas…Augustine…Hobbes…Bacon…Berkeley…Locke…Kant…Kierkegaard…Spinoza….Liebniz…Hegel…Heidegger…Wittgenstein… (not in chronological order and some of these have been added personally), yet the list ends with Nietzsche. imho opinion, everything philosophical in the west ends and begins with Nietzsche (call it a hunch)… / and then on to Giddens, Foucault, Bourdieu, DERRIDA (k-p) Habermas and Goffman as the most cited in the Humanities Lit. (T.H.E), so I pray the feckin politicians listen to the philosophers and european sociologists for a change, yet I won’t be holding my breath or a torch for them.*sigh* anyway, appreciating all this sh*t comes naturally to me bad self; it certainly is not a worm-hole, it is liberating yet confining at the same time, as you can imaginitively see, and yes, it requires a fair amount of panadol sometimes, or some other distraction to shut the feckin brain off for a while. Oh Well, such is life, onwards and upwards 🙂 from my first stay in hospital, oo oo oo, what more’s a poor boy do…” ‘I Can’t Help Myself…when I get this feeling, I wanna be someone else…” Hope you have laughed and cried with me along the way. 🙂
We killed God yes….will we be arrested before getting to attend the Dionysian event with the 100 grumpy white guys (or are they the ones who really should be arrested). Or do we plead guilty to killing God and all his creation?
Every now and then an image comes along that highlights how lost we are as a society.
Sure, this image has been designed for a campaign, but it is still as edifying as the circumstance it portrays.
check social networks, street posters, car decals and other unexpected places for local events
Maybe some rich person out there wants to take out a Newspaper page or two on behalf of all kiwis who do not have a real voice in this discussion. (oh to have the resources of the hate machine)
This is not about party poitics, it is about self-determination and sending a message to Parliament
This is for Kiwis who want to say, once again, NO ASSET SALES
Seven was Sharp on the relaxation of drug laws post-Power
Take a L.E.A.P
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
-“prohibition creates gangsters”
-“criminalises consensual exchange”
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Will be shopping around for a new power supplier today!
I recommend Powershop. They have a $50 friend referral promotion at the moment: you and your friend both get $50 credit when they sign up. I’d be happy to refer you but I’d need your email address to do so. Let me know if you’re interested and we can work out how to exchange ‘real’ addresses anonymously.
Will talk to my partner and get back to you.Thanks.
Powershop only work out cheaper when you have spare cash you can buy up winter power in summer and vice versa.
Nah, not true.
Using Powershops detailed price history, I calculated I was about $20 ahead compared to one of the companies (Mercury I think), but only because I purchased every available special that powershop had. If I hadn’t, I would have been slightly behind.
Powershop also have the 30 minute power usage chart if you’ve got a smart meter, so you can see over the last 4 weeks how much power you used in any given 30 minute block. Since I am on a day/night meter, this lets me hightlight periods of high usage, remember what I was doing at the time, and make a conscious decision to defer that power usage to the night period when the power is cheaper.
Puchasing power in advance is something that powershop offers though, and this year although they put their prices up by 5% (thanks to Transpower etc), they gave us the opportunity to buy power in advance at the ‘current’ price.
I should also add with Powershop that all of these features are entirely optional: you can just treat it like any other power company “set and forget” and they’ll automatically bill you your usage at the end of the month. But you can also buy power in advance (months, or just the current month), track your power usage and buy specials etc. If you’ve got a smart meter it is all fully automatic. If you don’t then you’ll need to enter your own meter reads.
They are more or less all the same. They all use the same contractors for their field work, and a lot of them have the same billing system. Contact, Genesis and Pulse have GenTrack and MERC have SAP. Reading/billing are done on a 20 day cycle, with Genesis/Contact being read 2 monthly and the rest monthly.
Due to so many people switching there has been huge instances with data getting mixed up. For example if you live in Devon Street, New Plymouth, and switched to CEL, you might just end up getting signed in as a customer in Devon St, Rotorua.
And dont get me started on smart meters. The amount of issues that people are having after having one installed are horrendus, things not working, fuses blowing, part power, etc and so on.
C’mon Fa’afoi…do ya job and stick it to Collins if you can!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/8549984/Patience-wears-thin-in-police-force
“The average farm worker is now earning $5500 a year more than the national average wage and salary, according to a Federated Farmers/Rabobank survey, and pay levels for most pastoral farm positions have continued to increase.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877550
Quote from the NZ Herald.
A little more journo work and The Herald would have discovered that farm workers need to work 80 to 100 hours a week to get this. Many farmers require “couples” so often this is a combined household income, the conditions in dairy farms with over 500 cows are atrocious….come on Herald, do your work, do an hourly rate.
‘A little more journo work and The Herald would have discovered that ….’
2 issues with that statement, 1. They aren’t jouno’s but press release recyclers and 2. ‘work’ as in research and verifiability of facts from disparate sources doesn’t happen in granny’s world.
They’ve done their work which is giving a soapbox to their backers being the wealthy elite under the illusion the story has actually been validated.
In fact farmers around here that pay decent wages are having no trouble at all finding good staff, even for 90 hour weeks.
You will find that the ones, as usual, who complain about lack of staff, expect 100 hour weeks for less than 500 dollars.
Sounds about right. Decent pay, enough staff so that other staff can take their time off, and you won’t have to try and employ cheap foreign labour.
Same’s true for orchardists and fruit pickers, where I’m from. Only the greedies have trouble finding staff, usually corporate farmers. Give decent pay and conditions, voila, no problem finding staff. They should try it sometime.
Who says Shearer won’t listen?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877541
Labour would consider allowing the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders in limited circumstances but …
In reversal of the usual rule, everything after the “but” is bullshit, and I’d take the “limited” with a grain of salt, several Siberian mines and the Red Sea.
I think that this position is pretty good.
“”An inquiry’s necessary because it’s not just about the GCSB, it’s also about the SIS and the relationship with the police. It’s right across the board and what I don’t want to do is to have a narrow, quick-fix Bandaid type of solution for something that is much more fundamental.”
The essential point is that a full enquiry be held first. Surely you would expect the facts and consequences of any “reform” be considered? There is a probability that Mr Key will rush through changes without an enquiry and in a way to suit the National agenda.
What would you choose?
Band aid or decisions based on an enquiry?
Then what Labour should have said was that an inquiry was needed but not to say that they would support the spying before that inquiry.
FFS if a NZ citizen needs to be surveilled it should be a police job with police protections in place, not the job of the spooks – whose role is to keep a watch on the activities of foreign powers.
Or does Labour think that we should head down the US route where the bullshit ‘terrorism’ flag is waved around in order to justify expansion of state security powers over local citizens.
All this from Shearer, Mr Mercernary Man himself. How reassuring.
Read Trotter on the subject: he asks the question of “why a non military appointee?”
The answer he has is that the whole spy / surveillance thing has moved away from foreign nations (posing a national sovereignty threat) to the enforcement of international private interests (commercial copyright etc).
The police and the NZDF can quite easily do the jobs that the SIS and GSCB do.
Exactly DTB. Shearer has sold out our rights to not be spied on before the process has even begun. I don’t think they’ll kick up much of a fuss even at an inquiry, because they would want to spy on the same people that Key does. Given a golden opportunity to make a stand, he falls over in a puddle of his own dribble.
Apart from the egregious contempt for civil liberties, which Labour has long played fast and loose with (Hello Goff!), I’m pissed off by Shearer’s own utter, utter, utter stupidity. Once again, when an issue seems to be gaining some traction, Shearer barges in trying to prove how important and statesman-like he is and once again he fucks it up for everyone.
His brain-fade over his bank account might have been an honest mistake, but he gave ammunition to National – who can now say “He’s incompetent or a liar, take your pick. Do you trust this man with the country’s finances?”
Now it’s going to be, “But he supports expanded GCSB powers too,” thereby marginalising the Green campaign on the issue and undermining his own frigging deputy Robertson’s own work.
What’s he going to say in a debate?
“Well, ah, I mean… I mean I meant… within… I mean, ah, with appropriate safeguards…. and I do disagree – yes, I disagree – I’m making a stand here! I disagree… I mean I might, I might disagree over your placement of a comma on line twelve of… um, something you released…. um… oh dear, where’s my bit of paper…”
Key’s just going to smirk and crush him with a soundbite.
He’s worse than wrong, he’s a phuqyng idiot. Again.
One week, Dear God, please, one week without Shearer being a dick.
I think you’d have a better chance of finding a snowball in hell.
Let me channel McFlock for a second here:
Shearer’s performance or lack thereof doesn’t matter in the slightest.
In fact whichever talking head is Labour Leader is of zero importance to me personally, since I’m an Alliance supporter (although somehow I always end up reflexively smashing at the Cunliffe devotees but not the Shearer bearers, whoops).
Because in the end Labour is only there to facilitate the Greens and Mana, who will make it all good in the end.
So everyone, please relax. There is no problem.
CV, you’re shit enough at channelling that you should be on Sensing Murder. You’re batting zero for … how many now?
I already gave my response to rhino’s passionate soliloquy. Which was that I really didn’t think enough of it or the perceived issue it lampooned to bother giving either a response.
Is this an Own Goal ?
In this morning’s Herald – “ Party may support law change to allow GCSB to keep watch on Kiwis but only if full intelligence review held. Labour would consider allowing the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders in limited circumstances but only if that was recommended by a full independent review of intelligence agencies, party leader David Shearer says.”
Who writes this stuff for them FFS. Why put “we support spying” and then only if you bother to read on do you find the conditions.
Why not
condemn the behaviour
demand the big look at intelligence
suggest a parliamentary committe to oversea intelligence
then in the small print at the bottom “if recommended anfd there are asfeguards we may agree”
That paragraph was written by the Herald staffer, not Shearer. The article is here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877541
RBCV
+1
David Shearer – the man who thoughtfully brings his own banana skins to slip on in case someone has forgotten to provide them (or mango skins, whatever).
+1
a mild mango chicken with raita and papadoms to go please
http://i.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/8549746/Blunt-message-to-Telecom-staff
Is on $4.7 mill pay package. Institutes wage freeze, ‘me included’. Forgets to say whether his ‘incentive’ (3/4 of his package) is part of freeze…
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877551
How are judges appointed? Well since National got into power you’ll find ‘is friend of Chris Finlayson’ was a criteria. Finlayson to certain friend in Sydney law firm ‘Want to be a judge? Just let me know’.
add QC to that now.
See The Herald this morning. It is valid for the Law Commission to identify and discuss myriad aspects of our legal system, the role of the judiciary among them. It is valid for a government to engage in the debate which follows, of course.
My real concern is that in its destructive worship of austerity, its singlemindedness in retention of power, and its doubtless taste for authoritarianism, this government will unhesitatingly sully legitimate debate on the question of where and how the judiciary sits in the justice system.
Recall Simon Power’s risible ticking-off of the Chief Justice for her mature and informed comments about the justice system a couple of years ago. Risible indeed coming from a life-long National Party arse-wipe joke of a man.
On many occasions this government has sunk to the depths of defamation, pejorativeness and abuse of practitioners in law and other areas. Non-exhaustively, legal aid lawyers, Justice Binnie, teachers, unions.
It is routine. First blame the practitioners. Then, assisted by the patently shallow “journalism” of child-scribes on their way up and that of accommodating older hacks, sell the lunacy that less gas in the tank of any particular vehicle will naturally see it go further, more safely and more efficiently. When the vehicle conks out halfway down the road of ill-considered and often ridiculous “reforms” – blame the practitioners.
In terms of convention the judiciary may not be such a sitting-duck but of course McVicar and the SST could always be relied upon to spew out anything the spin-doctors vetoed. More or less the same result.
It is alarming to see this government and the delightedly malevolent Judith Collins poking and prodding in matters constitutional. They are just too dishonest and not nearly as competent as they claim.
I’m reminded of Glenda Jackson re Thatcher – the cost of everything, the value of nothing.
We’d be better off if the judiciary ran a review of the government. I can’t see this as anything but an attempt to scare any slight remnant of independence out of our judges and make them even more overtly political.
I’m not a big fan of judges in general, but I’m a sworn enemy of the WhaleSpew/MacVicar types who carry on with the rubbish that NAct MPs believe but can’t say in public.
“givin’ us a Heart Attack, Heart Attack…”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10877548
lately i have had no luck getting html into comments. I do not understand what the fault is.
below was copy pasted direct from FAQ and even that didn’t work. As you can see bold and italic worked but strikeout and underline do not. i see others with underline and strikeout in comments so it is pretty confusing, Any ideas ? Anyone ?
bold; write my text
italic; write my text
strikeout. write my text
underline. write my text
strikeout:
here’s my textunderline: testing never tried this before
PS: I used :strike, not strikeout
try ul not u
testing ul:
see if this works
can you write what you did for strikeout but put a space between each character so i can see the actual keystrokes.
test:
i wrote w o r d (with spaces) (afteredit: greater than less than characters did not show up just shows the ‘word’ inside them
word (as html text in FAQ, no spaces)
test after edit:
still nada, what am I doing wrong?
[left angle bracket]strike[right angle bracket]Text[left angle bracket]/strike[right angle bracket] should give
TextBTW, you have to have the WYSIWYG editor off to use HTML coding.
bold; write my text
italic; write my text
bold and italic work, which is why I am expressing my confusion
word🙂ok by using the whole word ‘strike’ it seems to function, so why not just ‘s’ as per FAQ?
‘b’ ‘i’ etc work for bold etc 😕
it’s a weird old world
Success!!!
Can’t seem to get underline to work, but it’s not something I would use anyway.
BTW, you have to have the WYSIWYG editor off to use HTML coding.
There is no WYSIWYG editor at the moment.
http://www.ironspider.ca/format_text/fontstyles.htm
my test, as cut and paste from FAQs
bold; write my text
italic; write my text
strikeout. write my text
underline. write my text
strikeoutfreedom, here it is, just change the bracket type.
(strike)strikeout(/strike)
underline doesn’t work a (u), or (underline)
test in Safari
strike
strikedoesn’t make any difference, tried it both ways, numerous times
I wonder if it is something to do with being on Ubuntu ? but that really makes no sense as the bold and italic work fine. 😕
StrikeoutBold
Italic
Underline
..to jump on the bandwagon.
Okay, so <u> and </u> get stripped out, and don’t appear in the editor.
“UL” is unordered list
does it work?
Edit: nope.
freedom, try a different browser.
What do you mean both ways?
Show us what you are actually typing, but use () brackets.
(s)wordythingtofillspace(/s)
test below with angle brackets
wordythingtofillspace
p.s. I only use firefox browser.
freedom (s)whatever(/s) doesn’t work. You need to write this
(strike)whatever(/strike)
Nope, that’s got nothing to do with it as the interpretation is done by the server once the comment has been posted.
go on strikeedit – ah what fun
confusing :x:
i suggest a strong cup of tea for everyone and if possible, play with a nearby kitten to alleviate aggro 🙂
as i do not have a kitten nearby i will make do with using powertools instead
leaving it alone now before i do something crazy like trying
underline😎didn’t we have The Day We Went To Bangor
😆
it’s gremlins man, those damn gremlins are out and they’ve been fed
http://gentlemint.com/media/images/2012/10/11/83bbbdba.jpg.505x650_q85.jpg
Tungsten, my friend tungsten; (just in case we need some confirmation without bias, i ghosted out of the shower yesterday and was working through Seven Nations Army in my head, turned the radio on (had been off to save power), Hauraki, and who woulda’ thunk it; this has happened many times before, Test-ReTest and all those Validity / Reliability study requirements; now gonna try this encode HTML stuff; could be some time… 🙂
Stone Cold
thanks to everybody who persevered, yet it was felix’s link that helped the ghost back to the other side. now, if I could just materialize a root from branch office
🙂
…didn’t hurt a bit ya’ big freakin spooky blouse, whatta ya playin’ at; getta beard-cut and getta feel job…
right, oops, left to the macrons and other little funny punctuation marks above the gaelic now and we’ll all be tickety boo in the cave Longshanks.
bullet point — doesn’t work with <ol> <ul> <li> 🙁
This line of text is not underlined. — so <span> and <u> don’t work either
tyre flat; a second opinion doc. you”ll know what they say about ritual parking
Well, this is a change, and encouraging if it continues. Two articles today from the Dominion Post critical of the Key Govt.
The first one is about Buffoon Bridges’ anti democratic anti marine protest law
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/8550388/Proposed-sea-protest-law-a-big-blow-to-human-rights
The second one written in a mildly piss take style about Key’s trip to China
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/8548292/Dear-friend-Key-and-party-feted
TPPA is not a good thing
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/04/14/msians-must-reject-the-us-trade-deal/
We kow we are never going to see the full text till after it has been signed off. Even if only half of the known details are true, the TPPA is a suidice agreement for the self-determination of all Nations who sign it and those that don’t will be signed up to something equally dangerous. No profit is worth our sovereignty as a Nation. No Nation should put profit before its people. I do not care what a court says, a Corporation is not a person and this single legal distinction, more than any war or financial scandal or illegal election is single handedly responsible for the ongoing destruction of real Democracy.
“Six hundred US corporate advisors have negotiated and had input into the TPP, and the proposed draft text has not been made available to the public, the press or policymakers.”
I am sure this is one of those passages of reality that Groser would rather we ignore
Thanks for the link, freedom (interesting website, “Free Malaysia Today”). It’s pretty critical of the US and its role in promoting neoliberalism internationally – not sure where it is re- Malaysian politics.)
This bit from the article is worrying:
After a quick scan I’m not sure either where its editorial biases lie.
Right now Malaysia is in the midst of “election fever” – according to the radio, TV, and newspapers. The current government, headed by Najib, will likely be returned to power. The only question is by what margin.
I’ve only been here since January so I’m not up to speed on who the main players are except for the aforementioned Najib. The glaringly obvious thing here is that politics are very much “racial”. The Malays, which make up over half of the population, will likely as not vote for the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) backed Barisan Nasional party – Barisan Nasional has ruled the country since Malaysia became independent of the UK. The Chinese, who as a block control a great deal of the country’s finances and commercial entities, will make deals that will best serve their community. The Indians, well they don’t have the numbers or financial clout, will go along to get along.
As an “orang putih” I get an earfull from the locals about the different “races” when we are out of earshot from any who might overhear. The Malays moan about the Chinese, the Chinese complain that the Malays don’t play fair because of their demographic advantage, and the Indians swear that they can never catch a break.
Very interesting…here’s a speech I found on youtube given by Hannah Yeoh, a young Malaysian state politician…speaking (in part) on women in Malaysian politics; honestly she seems way more talented than a shit load of our hapless NZ ones.
CV
Those Asians always showing us up. Just when we get to sit complacently at the supposed top of the pile, someone still thinking comes along and rains on our parade.
Waffle. She didn’t. It was quite something to experience a politician who doesn’t waffle and sidestep.
Another superb example of the wonder and beauty of Multiculturalism.
where has all this bonhomie lately come from bonhomme?
And that is a notable question.
Hay, here’s a thought brother, trade in one of those suits ya don’t need, you’ve got them all in spades anyway, and help a brother into a new set of Flat-Screen-PC compatible wheels; though, now i’m back on the race-course, Harvey or Noel might be interested; Frek, when you examine the backgrounds of, oh I don’t know, your average Act or NZ First candidate tracey, Virgil, “Brains”, Kyrano, Aloysius or even Tin-Tin would be better mariners.
now, there’s a an Echo Gaudette from the Beach.
Was wondering how the flow of information would be stemmed, just stop people from accessing it!
Nothing the establishments despise/fear more, than the sharing of information amongst the plebs.
The internet has been a doubled edged sword for the planets rulers, while it provides them with greater capabilities to control, than ever before equally it provides greater ability for people to learn, and understand the frauds being perpetuated against humanity.
Taking complete control of the narratives/information flows, will be very high on the list of outcomes!
Its not about money, its about control!
a Boo-Boo for Mister Park-Ranger
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877508
Racists and the Queens Chain
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877574
Matthias = Truth (We Can Remember It For You Wholesale)
from the UFB; Let SeE, and the BBC espionage studies in the DPRK
‘Tree Tree 1 2 3 Treee turn into Cow for me! (my name’s Mud Wiggle and I eat Mud)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10877519
(God ; too big a part to comment , Silly Sausage)
I would just like to repeat this anecdote from my burn ed colleague ghostrider; apparently, after checking out some interesting mark-downs at his local exorbitantly priced supermarket he struck up a conversation with a lady-pensioner (probably spying the flash mobility-scooter got him going), anyway, this lady was originally from Dartmoor (the UK one) and it seemed that her husband had been a principal who was very conversant re politics; they got talking about the lovely day, politics and the young of today, as you do, and regarding Thatcher, she considered her an important person to British political history (lets leave it at that) yet she COULD NOT STAND JOHN KEY. kinda makes me wonder what it is about him that revs Fran O’Sullivan’s motor running.
Rogue T
The answer is obviously that Jokeyhen is an upstart, johnny-come-lately, nouveau riche person of no standing in British class lines. Thatcher and others were excused their un-aristo starts because they were successful and Thatcher was a good swot. And she knew how to dress like a lady, even attempting to eclipse the Queen. (Who probably would have liked to e(clip)se her round the ears.)
Thatcher was also a bloody serious and capable pollie. When she went in to fuck the miners she did so front on and full on. Key just shuffled apologetically around the edges. Plenty of right wing NAT hardliners think that Key just needs to harden the frak up, and has needed to for the last, oh, four and a half years.
How many people know how our justice system works? The media don’t seem to.
Granny looks to be having a go at judges and sentencing, can expect more of this I think;
“You be the Judge”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10877196
FWIW the sentencing regime works on the principle of precedent. Judges don’t have autonomy on sentences like the Herald seem to believe, they have to follow sentencing guidelines which are legislated by Govt. Whenever there’s a law change to sentencing the first sentences of the new laws are carefully analysed by the Chief Justice and discussed with all of the judges around the country. Any mistakes are quickly rectified before they become a precedent, from thereon they all have to follow the precedents set.
The reason they use precedent is to ensure uniformity in sentencing. If they don’t have uniformity the crim can appeal their sentence on the grounds that someone else got a much lighter sentence for a similar offence. It’s pretty basic stuff.
If sentences are wrong it’s because the law is wrong or some judges are not following the guidelines properly. The Chief Justice (I think) is in charge of monitoring the performance of judges in that respect, those who get it wrong are supposed to be warned & reprimanded.
So, without knowing what sentences were handed down for similar offences previously, the Herald’s survey is a pointless attack on judges who may just be doing their job.
Doesn’t seem to be working
Can’t make that conclusion from what’s been said there. Most likely scenario is the actual law is dictating those sentences, or that’s the precedents that have been set.
The judges’ job is to do what the written laws tell them. Their sentencing has a built-in check & balance via the appeals process. If the judge’s reading of the law, and subsequent sentencing, is wildly out you’ll see an appeal against the sentence either by the Crown or by the offender.
Too many people have this expectation that judges can suddenly get ‘tougher’ on offenders. They can’t, for that to happen the law has to be changed and judges don’t make the law (nor should they)
There is a “story” behind the NBR firewall that a new “One Law For All” Party is about to be set up. Seemly 100 grumpy white men turned up for a John Amsell gig in Have-a-lot North. Read more on http://www.treatygate.wordpress.com . That site sees Willie Jackson as a Kiwi incarnation of Robert Mugabe!
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/poll-result-would-you-consider-voting-one-law-all-party.
An untypically poorly written piece in the NBR.
” 100 grumpy white men turned up”
As compared to the 100 angry lesbians who turnout for Feminists Against Men gigs.
Oh Well, it was good while it lasted said the Mac to the Nicks.
” 100 grumpy white men turned up”
As compared to the 100 angry lesbians who turnout for Feminists Against Men gigs.
No, and I w i l l s p e a k s l o w l y n o w…
It’s 100 grumpy white men as compared to everyone else. Geddit?
So how come you been out of power for 2 terms then?
Why the constant whining on here by the Far Left that Labour just isn’t really them anymore?
I haven’t been out of power for two terms, I’m still as powerful as I ever was.
I have become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.
Nah, KP, they just said they were lesbians to stop your unwelcome advances. They were angry though.
Snap 🙂
MO
Masterly riposte.
You are obviously not informed about Feminist Doctrine.
Here, let me help you:
“All men are rapists and that’s all they are” — Marilyn French
“The proportion of men must be reduced to and maintained at approximately 10% of the human race.” — Sally Miller Gearhart, in The Future – If There Is One – Is Female.
“Heterosexual intercourse is the pure, formalized expression of contempt for women’s bodies.” — Andrea Dworkin
Feminism was hijacked years ago by man haters and lesbians, it is an ideology of hate.
It helps explain why the Left is so broken, bogged down in Identity Politics and the hyper relativism of trendy Post Modern Philosophy
still a neo-platonist then?
Don’t you understand the difference between what a character in a book says and what the book’s author thinks? Probably just another symptom of hate. You should probably get that looked at.
I’m fairly sure that k_p doesn’t understand the difference between fiction and reality 🙂
Aww KP, find a nice man who’ll understand you. You’ll be less bitter, and think of how much you’ll have in common.
yes, i stumbled, fell over, the announcement of this party; the whities sure seemed to be a-feared of change (have very little awareness of the inevitability of demographics, and too much money to hate)
personally, we could do with an Unbelievable Party for the Body Electric
” the whities sure seemed to be a-feared of change”
What about the brownies and the yellowies?
Your electronic music is tame and boring.
Try BK Revolution as a contrast – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnvf2fDEcBE
they were just plays on words for friends electric, you know, “friends” ;synth pop never really got better after Foxx, Krautrock, Ultravox and Numan imo (just kidding around). Anyway, you sometimes seem bright enough to read the signs; how do you think the domestic politics of NZ are going to impact demographics anyway; Maori role increases, Pasifika role increases, SE Asian role increases, Sub-continent increases, African increases, Middle-Eastern increases; while it is conceded that there is a drift towards conservatism in the post-empire after-taste hang-over, one size will definitely not fit all or do you not read beyond own subscriptions? and Gender politics, well, thanks to the roles of genetics, history, culture and language they are essential; I could write 500 Shades of Grey transcribing the utterances men make of their women in the pub, the work-place, the sports-club (well, maybe the gyms) and the smoko-rooms; Hell, I was a misogynist myself deep down for years;and, on the other side of the coin, how many women prefer their own, or the company of women to their husbands / partners, but you go ahead, flame-on.
me, i prefer The Company of Strangers.
“Try BK Revolution as a contrast”
Doesn’t stand up nearly as well after ten years as Pulsing does after 30.
Revolution is an awesome hard house track – instant classic!
Ordinary, even at the time.
Some interesting remarks from Ansell about maori being less evolved that pakeha on that site, Boadicea.
And by “interesting” I mean “horrible, ignorant and disgraceful”.
that’s alright mama, that’s alright with we; public addresses are easy to see.
Ansell is always happy to claim all the technological and cultural developments for himself and other Europeans. For example, he talks about Maori wanting money because some dams have been built and says they didn’t know how to build dams or turbines. Does he or any of his pathetic followers know how to do anything useful at all? Would he use a computer if he knew Turing was gay?
Pathetic and scared little people who should be flushed back down the sewer from whence they came.
Ugh! John Ansell. “one law for all” sounds alot like “one nation”. Same deal. Remember that crazy Pauline Hanson?
http://www.qhatlas.com.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/Large/db5084.jpg
Surely hope John and Pauline don’t get together and have a baby.
funny, I was just thinking how universally loathed Hekia Parata is becoming; swimming to the Banks.
A commentator on radionz this morning said that broadly 70% of NZ dairy farmers (I think just the dairy sector) had 30% equity in their businesses. After all this wealth that is being frequently talked about, dairy farmers are still in the poo. WTF I can’t understand it.
I There was a drought about 2008 that equalled the present one. I thought though that the backbone of the country’s economy, dairy, had more calcium in it. How can we raise some serious concern about the country and people’s welfare with the wider peopulation so we can get beyond this stale stalemate of 61 to 59, a risable Majority, and get some things done and new approaches trialled and get into new world mode with eagerness to conserve the good, progress in advantagous ways and improve our low levels of attainment????
Labour on i guess
Green on. Vote Green, join the Green Party, donate to the Green Party. Ditto Mana (although I still think party voting GP is better strategically than Mana).
What we want is a Labour led govt that doesn’t rely on Peters or Dunne.
and nothing helps control droughts and protect Dairy Farmers like deforestation,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10877519
hang on 😕
That article exemplifies exactly why we shouldn’t use economics as the justification for caring for and protecting the environment. Just like with the clean, green brand and using the economic imperative of that as justification for ecological sensitivity, using the ETS etc is bound to fail. As soon as the economics don’t stack up, the trees will come tumbling down.
We need to value and revere nature for its own inherent worth, irrespective of what it can do for use and not because of the five second dollar value we can place on it.
That aside, anyone who converts to dairy from now on (apart from small/med scale farmers using sustainable management) is siding with evil and deserves all the approbation that will come their way.
“A commentator on radionz this morning said that broadly 70% of NZ dairy farmers (I think just the dairy sector) had 30% equity in their businesses. After all this wealth that is being frequently talked about, dairy farmers are still in the poo. WTF I can’t understand it. ”
It looks to be down to farms being way overpriced here, likely due to the amount of foreign buyers pushing the prices up. A typical Kiwi has to borrow huge sums to buy into a farm and the cost of capital is often too high for the income the farms generate. They make a living but rarely enough extra cash to pay down the principal on the mortgage
Eric Watson had a commentary in the Herald talking about his dairy farm investment in Georgia USA. He claimed the climate there is better for dairying which makes the yields per cow & hectare better and yet the price of farmland there is considerably less than here so the returns are much higher.
(If it was so great there though you have to wonder why foreigners buy our farms when the Yanks have such bargains to be had.)
DH
Innteeresting.
http://washingtonexaminer.com/extraterrestrial-truthers-holding-hearings-in-d.c.-next-month/article/2525371
Bassett, the executive director of the Paradigm Research Group, wants the U.S. government to lift what he calls the “truth embargo” and acknowledge that extraterrestrials are real and are engaging the human race.
Bassett and his allies are taking over the National Press Club in downtown D.C. from April 29 to May 3 to host the Citizen Hearing on Disclosure. “What we are going to do is bring the largest concentration of witnesses ever assembled in one place, at one time, and they are going to testify exactly as if they were in a real congressional hearing,” Bassett explained. Former members of Congress are being tapped to run the hearings, while witnesses, including former astronaut (and sixth man on the moon) Edgar Mitchell, are coming in from around the world. A film production crew from Los Angeles will film the whole thing, turning “Truth Embargo” into a documentary.
ahhh, yes its a Paradoxical Circle indeed.
yet, gotta go and have some lunch before Of Gods and Men…
The Fermi paradox isn’t based in reality: “But no convincing evidence of this exists.”
In 2007 The National Press Club held a press conference in which a group of high-profile witnesses described their experiences. The moderator for the conference was Fife Symington, who described what he saw regarding the Phoenix Lights UFOs. Symington was the Arizona governor at that time. There was also good coverage of the Rendlesham Forest incident.
Its a bit upsetting Ghost, since Nietzsche declared God dead, things have gone from bad to worse at Dionysian events for blokes.
primarily (somethings happening here, what it is, aint exactly clear, we gotta stop, Children, whats that sound, everybody look what’s going down…)
Yeah, and the 100 grumpy white men could make a good party dubious,…good boozers generally, not sure how fertile that makes them.
Just to clarify what Nietzsche actually meant.
cha know, (refs not handy) but the introduction to me Oxford identifies the most influential philosophers beginning with Socrates…Plato…Aristotle…fec…wheres ya memory when ya need it…Aquinas…Augustine…Hobbes…Bacon…Berkeley…Locke…Kant…Kierkegaard…Spinoza….Liebniz…Hegel…Heidegger…Wittgenstein… (not in chronological order and some of these have been added personally), yet the list ends with Nietzsche. imho opinion, everything philosophical in the west ends and begins with Nietzsche (call it a hunch)… / and then on to Giddens, Foucault, Bourdieu, DERRIDA (k-p) Habermas and Goffman as the most cited in the Humanities Lit. (T.H.E), so I pray the feckin politicians listen to the philosophers and european sociologists for a change, yet I won’t be holding my breath or a torch for them.*sigh* anyway, appreciating all this sh*t comes naturally to me bad self; it certainly is not a worm-hole, it is liberating yet confining at the same time, as you can imaginitively see, and yes, it requires a fair amount of panadol sometimes, or some other distraction to shut the feckin brain off for a while. Oh Well, such is life, onwards and upwards 🙂 from my first stay in hospital, oo oo oo, what more’s a poor boy do…” ‘I Can’t Help Myself…when I get this feeling, I wanna be someone else…” Hope you have laughed and cried with me along the way. 🙂
Hospital…get well!
We killed God yes….will we be arrested before getting to attend the Dionysian event with the 100 grumpy white guys (or are they the ones who really should be arrested). Or do we plead guilty to killing God and all his creation?
“hospital” when a wee nipper; Alls Good here, Cheers.
Every now and then an image comes along that highlights how lost we are as a society.
Sure, this image has been designed for a campaign, but it is still as edifying as the circumstance it portrays.
http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/559643_10152770476095602_543951126_n.jpg
A picture is worth millions of words freedom. Ouch!
lol
China’s Q1 QDP Growth Slows, oops
apparently there is a real haircut correction going on in the Asian and affiliated markets
-“huge decimation losses”
With Trimmings
http://www.times-age.co.nz/news/teachers-stage-protest-march/1829521
this was over 200 people in Masterton on a Saturday
Masterton
Get the idea Kiwis are losing their patience ?
how’s yours?
National Day of Action
April 27
Wellington
http://postimg.org/image/ywaocfttv/
check social networks, street posters, car decals and other unexpected places for local events
Maybe some rich person out there wants to take out a Newspaper page or two on behalf of all kiwis who do not have a real voice in this discussion. (oh to have the resources of the hate machine)
This is not about party poitics, it is about self-determination and sending a message to Parliament
This is for Kiwis who want to say, once again, NO ASSET SALES
here is a blank title image, just add your local event details and share
http://s5.postimg.org/s4k99l4uf/doa_blank.jpg
Seven was Sharp on the relaxation of drug laws post-Power
Take a L.E.A.P
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
-“prohibition creates gangsters”
-“criminalises consensual exchange”