i think to apply for a kiwi build home you must be on the electoral roll and have voted in the 2017 election because why should none voters get on the ballet ahead of those who got off there backsides and voted
You are clearly a believer in the Tammany Hall system of political corruption. Rather like the Labour Party here I suppose.
They did a lot of good in the first half century. After that they became notoriously corrupt and were finally destroyed. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-tammany-hall-1774023
I see you have put this in twice.
I is equally as silly the second time as it was the first.
There is no connection between what I have said and what you are rambling on about.
How to get young people to enroll? Along with the carrots, a little bit of stick. Prosecute a dozen or so and fine them for not enrolling (it is a legal requirement), pour encourager les autres.
In my extended family is a person in their late 50s who’s not on the roll. Never has been. Doesn’t stop them posting, and commenting on, enthusiastically, most of National’s more extreme bullshit about Labour on their Facebook page. Irony is that their spouse, also rabid Nat, is an electoral officer.
Agree. We also know rabid politically engaged people who have never voted (democracy is for idiots), but who buy their economic framework by making massive donations to National.
come on labour pick this up , but make the farms lease only so they provide more than one young farmer a stepping stone,
oh and the greens appear to favour corporate farming Hmmmmm insert grumpy emogi
When I heard that thought it was a bit back to the future.
That’s how Landcorp / Lands and Survey used to operate. Farms were developed on pioneer / marginal land and then leased and sold to young farmers. I think a lot of Western Southland was developed like this.
Leasing only would be the way to go now. In today’s world it would just be very difficult for young farmers, without family support, to move into a Landcorp type farm at market price, due to the price pressure put on the market by overseas buyers.
Do you mean Landcorp buys marginal land and then leases it out? Or do you mean that the existing Landcorp farms get given out on permanent lease?
Having Landcorp involved in supporting young farmers into farming would be great especially where it was sustainable or climate change prep. Lots of potential for overlap with the Greens climate and ag policies.
oops i miss read it they favour the land staying in landcorp ownership , which i’m good with but it still could be leased out with rules around looking after the land .
they would be a stepping stone as a young farmer could leese till they own all the stock then move into ownership
come on labour pick this up , but make the farms lease only so they provide more than one young farmer a stepping stone
You do understand that there’s nowhere for the young farmers to step to don’t you? All the farming land has been used up and is owned by old farmers and city ‘farmers’.
That’s why National has decided to sell all the Landcore land – and it won’t be going to young farmers but those old and city ‘farmers’. The ones that can afford to buy it.
It will be like fishing quota.
In a few short years will be in the hands of corporates and the wealthy sqatters next door. “Tenure review” all over again.
Leasehold to beginning youngsters only would genuinely help young farmers who cannot afford the next step.
Every time national comes out with a new policy it has two sides (truth & lies) to it dressed up as a “progressive policy” for a group of ‘intersted parties’ and this time it is young farmers eh!!!
Not in your nellie’
it will be featered off to their mates in large packages not for the 10 acre farming block you can bet.
My dear departed mum was very wise when she told me “If it sounds to good to be true then it is a lie”.
National are good at lies, and this is another one.
Draco you are so right here, (meant 100 acre mininum farm not 10 acres, that’s only what I’ve got. ( toy farm.)
Every time national comes out with a new policy it has two sides to it dressed up as a “progressive policy” for a group of ‘intersted parties’ and this time it is young farmers eh!!!
Not in your nellie’
it will be featered off to their mates in large packages not for the 100 acre farming block you can bet.
My dear departed mum was very wise when she told me “If it sounds to good to be true then it is a lie”.
National are good at lies, and this is another one.
That is incorrect, there is a well established system for young dairy farmers to get into a farm, the sharemilking system has been working for over 50 years.
Starting off as contract Miller’s and finishing up owning the herd and getting 50% of the milk receipts, huilding up to a 1000 cows on a single large farm or multiple farms, selling off a large portion of their herd gives a deposite on first farm purchase.
Other than the few that may take over the family farm (but still have to buy out their sibblings) nearly every dairy farming family has used this route to farm ownership. The system operates as strongly today as it every has. You may be aware of the term gypsie day which is used to describe the mass movement of sharemilkers moving between farms on 1st June each year as they move up to bigger farms or into their first own farm
That is incorrect, there is a well established system for young dairy farmers to get into a farm, the sharemilking system has been working for over 50 years.
And this well established process creates land how?
Or, to put it other words: ZOMG, I didn’t know we had God working for us.
Everything else you say can be safety ignore until you prove we actually do have God on our payroll.
/open-mike-15092017/#comment-1384925on Not ready yet
Plenty of sharemilkers say they haven’t a chance of getting their own place.
They can’t catch up with prices. A quiet word to sharemilkers today on gypsy day may not get them talking about their reality. But away from the group I think the facts would be that for each one that is managing on his own behalf, there are five who have had to borrow excessively, or step back for another couple of years and some have given up because the present day system has killed off that 50 year opportunity.
And I haven’t forgotten the sharemilker struggling to keep up with his plan who found that the farmer he worked with just kept overstocking with his own beasts. The sharemilkers plan was to work the place up and introduce his own cows but every time there was the opportunity to do that the owner took the opportunity to boost his own herd. His wife said he got into the pattern of pushing himself and collapsed from overwork.
I can;t give you any sources for what I have said. I try to keep up with what is happening in the rural sector. I think I would know more about it than the rural sector knows about the non-primary sector.
There’s also a lot of “amalgamations” that could end up in the hands of liquidators once their capital is exhausted. I have a feeling it’s these syndicated operations that are leading the fight against resource charging. there’s probably not that many of them, but they were pushing the boundaries of viability from the start and 30 – 50K per annum for water is the least of their problems.
This is quite interesting to and points to the above
it is not so much the deal (appealing as it was0…it is the barefaced lies, and cover up including support from supposedly non political public servants and public oversight that National have maintained ….a party of moral and ethical bankrupts who have to go before they corrupt our systems beyond repair.
I think that’s because having your leaders lie somehow legitimises your own lying. I’ve noticed a huge increase in lying behaviour among rural and construction people in the last 10 years. It’s now almost accepted. The same people are beside themselves at the prospect of a change in government.
New Zealand is poorly informed about the scam being inflicted upon us ….If Labour will not speak up about the elephant in the room then the the Greens should highlight this tax injustice,….. it would probably help if they cooperate and network with their Aussie compatriots, who have done good work in this area ……. https://greens.org.au/tax-avoidance
Nationals tax policy is apprently for the ‘creative’ …..
John Key: …. “, if they want to be creative and work hard, to significantly reduce their tax liability but in a lawful way.” ….
“, Mr Rozvany said just because something is legal does not mean it is ethical.
“It’s an interesting thing, ‘within the law’,” Mr Rozvany said.
“Many things were once legal. Rape and paedophilia were once legal.
“If you set up a sham transaction in a tax haven with a view to shifting profits from a high tax jurisdiction to a low tax jurisdiction that should be considered unacceptable to the international community.” ……
The amounts of money looted by ‘creative’ accountants’ are huge … sly politicians make it all loophole legal … “In the three years to 2015, Shell had racked up around $60 billion in revenue (when it owned the petrol stations and the upstream business) and appeared to pay zero tax.” …. https://www.michaelwest.com.au/shell-tax-ripped-out-as-in-house-deals-double/
Creative accounting ??? ….. “Ebay Australia and New Zealand does it all: Tax Avoidance 101 – don’t recognise revenue with customers in Australia, and then, Tax Avoidance 102 – minimise the profits on any revenues you do happen to recognise.” …. https://www.michaelwest.com.au/ebay-scores-own-goal-on-tax/
The overseas company CKI, who brought Wellingtons electricity lines network/infrastructure …. and has run at a fictitious loss ( with a underinvestment in maintenance ) ever since …. “Of course, those losses are not real and CKI did not pay $785m for a duffer………Wellington Network is in fact highly profitable, with an earnings margin consistently around 30 per cent before interest and tax.”…..
And then we have ‘legal shell companies and ‘Trusts’……“Working hard at” buying up our land and homes ….
”owner of the former Crafar and Synlait farms in Waikato and Canterbury. Milk New Zealand Holding is wholly owned not by Shanghai Pengxin, but by Milk New Zealand Investment, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The ownership was disclosed to the Companies Office on August 13……….Chalkie reckons owning New Zealand farms through a Caribbean tax haven may have tax advantages “-
The big four accounting firms have been branded as aggressive, unethical, and accused of “perpetrating the greatest tax crimes in history” by a leading corporate tax authority.
If you gut the public service and slash regulation, that’s what you get from right wing governments. Looting the common wealth, privatising profits, and evading tax. Jail the white collar crooks.
Thanks Muttonbird & ropata ….. National are audacious liars to be attacking anyone over tax …..
The Greens should announce they will push for George Rozvany to be part of the tax review ….. They need to quickly raise awareness and illuminate the simple truth.
Being that We do not need new or more taxes ….. just collection of what is due from the richest company s and people in the world.
The greens are the natural party to make some noise about this injustice … the rest seem compromised …..
Not too hard to fix though as it’s closing loopholes, making retrospective changes which comes from 2 main drivers IMO.
1. The right people plugging the laws i.e. hire the architects of these schemes to take them down. They’re hired guns who will happily swap sides if the price is right.
2. Government with a will to tax the top end effectively and not be swayed by the expected PR howls of ‘the sky is falling’.
Lets not forget the banks in particular are dwindling employers with offshore profits, ownership and technology racing toward a fully self service model.
Harmful regulations created our tax segregation and revenue black hole…. Good regulations can fix it.
But it needs to be co-ordination with others i … and globally the Greens are the best political movement …… genuinely working against injustice and exploitation ……
Almost like a vast right wing conspiracy …..there has been a uniformity in the building of networks which has allowed enormous corrupt money flows …… with corresponding harms of homelessness and exploitation of ordinary citizens everywhere …
Its more than just corporate tax evasion …. they have also helped money laundering.
Canada ……. “An agency report suggested there is a close relationship between money laundering in real estate and the services provided by lawyers, such as placing wire transfers in legal trusts and creating investment vehicles that can shield true ownership of property.” http://vancouversun.com/storyline/ottawa-will-attempt-to-close-money-laundering-loophole
You hit the nail on the head reason.
That was the main objective of money puppet john key to create heaps of tax loopholes for his M8 that is the only way to explain wh ffat has happened to our tax systems.
One can donate any amount into a trust and avoid many taxes and there are lots more loopholes to what a sham. !!!!!!!😬
It’s is ridiculous that a person under the bridge will pay more tax than a multi million dollar company and don’t mention gst because the buyer pays that tax the seller is just the collector of gst.
It just shows how unfair OUR society is and this needs to change.
And if the answer is ‘yes’ then you should now subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act and lose everything. After all, using a tax haven should be a crime.
I agree there defiantly needs to be some consequences for the creative types who work hard building the getaway ‘vehicles ‘ …. that make off with billions … and those who use them of course.
Its all reward and no risk at the moment …
Accountants and bankers make normal criminals or welfare fraud look like small chump change amateurs …..
“At least $US1 trillion in tax revenue is lost worldwide, and $50 billion in Australia, as a result of aggressive tax minimisation schemes established by the four giant firms who audit the books of nearly all the world’s major companies, said George Rozvany, a 32-year veteran of the corporate tax industry.”
“And I’m a conservative man, I think the figure is actually much higher,” he told the ABC.”
It is far from a victim-less crime…… “The people who are most affected are the most underprivileged in our society, those without a voice. The homeless, foreign aid programs.”
Where was the father. The rest of us fathers support our children so not sure why he should skip his duties
[You don’t get to interrogate people on their family situations. You want to attempt “doing a Metiria” on this poster and you’ll cop a permanent ban ] – Bill
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Although your comment was removed I would like to answer to help you understand.
The father got in trouble with the law and ended up in jail, after getting out he unfortunately got addicted to meth and is only recently clean and starting to rebuild his relationship with his son.
A relationship I feel is important and that I try to foster despite putting up with years of abuse from him while in his drug addled state.
Bill’s got that guy’s number. The only answer that would satisfy Notreadyet is “Yes, your implied accusation is absolutely correct, it’s my fault I’m living in poverty, I brought it on myself, I deserve it and the government bears no obligation towards me as a citizen to help me out of it.” Much better to leave people like that with an answer that satisfies you rather than them, something like “Fuck you,” perhaps.
Thankyou for filling in a gap in the story. Agree we definetly need safety nets to cover your situation. 5-10 years ago the country had to borrow billions so that the we could continue to give support to those like yourself that needed it. The squeeze you experienced came on because at the time it was all borrowed and precious/scarce $. A lot of people conveniently overlook or fail to remember the situation the whole world was in after 08 and we have generally(obviously not in your case) been better off than most
The amount by which “we” have been better off could easily have been directed to those who needed it most: the reason it wasn’t was a sadistic bad choice you made.
Greedy right wing idiots took bribes and let greedy right wing thieves destroy the global economy.
The squeeze you experienced came on because at the time it was all borrowed and precious/scarce $.
And that would be a load of BS as well. I seem to recall that National gave lots of tax cuts to the rich while increasing taxes upon the poor resulting in a lower tax take.
A lot of people conveniently overlook or fail to remember the situation the whole world was in after 08 and we have generally(obviously not in your case) been better off than most
Actually, we’re worse off because of all the same things that crashed the global economy – we just haven’t realised it yet. That’s the problem that happens when the incumbent government props up a housing bubble pushing a massive increase in private debt as their only economic idea of prosperity.
“…5-10 years ago the country had to borrow billions so that the we could continue to give support to those like yourself that needed it…..”
Oh my gawd! you are a special kind of stupid, aren’t you?
For your little brain, let me try to educate you….Billions were borrowed to BAIL OUT BANKS AND FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS, who CAUSED THE FINANCIAL CRASH.
THEY WERE BAILED OUT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE POOR, those who could LEAST afford to cu costs…JUST SO THE FILTHY, GREEDY *U*TS COULD KEEP THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS FAT!
If only IMO Labour had continued with the 2014 line, that any tax changes will not be implemented until after the next election. Then many who want a change of govt. but feel their personal wealth could be threatened by uncertainty (Nats scare tactics) could see that most of the scare mongering was unfounded, and that we have had 3 years that the Lab govt had build up trust in the voter. Then the Nats could have been thrown in disarray as they implode. And that Lab would have kept their integrity, instead of being seen by some as moving to with the mood of the polls.
No Herodotus – your ethical approach would not have worked – you seem to forget that National is a party of liars without memories. How much of a fuss was there when the GST was raised after Key’s assurance that it wouldn’t happen? A solution: Labour need to make sure the Greens get into Government with them then implement a ‘Captain’s call’ using the National line as a precedent – “we had to accommodate the policies of our support party in the coalition”. ACT were credited with Charter Schools on that basis, even though National clearly intended going down that track as they had employed the infamous Lesley Longstone on her UK implementation experience before the election.
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has been greeted with a massive crowd at University of Otago this morning.
About 700 staff and students turned up to see her speak and pose for selfies on the university’s Union Lawn.
With room at a premium people packed on to the balconies above the University Union.
Any signs that Jacindamania had dimmed were not apparent as she was given rapturous applause and people posed for selfies and stopped to hug Ms Ardern.
and she had a huge reception on the Coast as well Marty, so I ear, I would love our electorate to swing the party vote back to Labour.
And Marty, do you get “The Leader” over your way?
If so check out the back pages for Maureens ad, at the bottom of it is the national “N” with a ticked circled placed next to it, looks like the word “NO” she’s had that ad running for 5 weeks now, cracks me up everytime I see it.
this piece from a writer who everytime he puts finger to keyboard in recent years has raised my blood pressure or had me shaking my head in disbelief at his wilful blindness …a proud supporter (and to me , one eyed) of our current administration appears to had an epithany while out mixing with ‘the common folk’ ….and he senses the winds of change….better late than never is all I will add
(In less than 2 days – this video has had over 45,000 views…)
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
The TRUTH about the Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM!
“Penny Bright has been shining a light into the murky recesses of public/private partnerships in the Tamaki Regeneration scheme and revealed some disturbing details…”
When are mainstream media going to ‘pick up the ball’ on this apparently CENSORED story?
In FIVE years of this Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ project – there are more houses that have come down than gone up.
237 Tamaki State houses removed.
213 New houses built.
92 ‘social’ houses.
39 ‘affordable’ private sale houses for first home buyers.
82 private sale houses (high-end).
In an OIA reply from Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, dated 21 August 2017, information about the exact prices paid by private property developers for each and every former Housing NZ property was refused because of ‘commercial confidentiality’.
How disgraceful is that?
This is / was PUBLIC property!
Is the apparent ‘CENSORSHIP’ of this story, by mainstream media, because the paper trail goes straight to Bill English, Nick Smith and Steven Joyce?
Past and present Crown Shareholding Ministers in Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, to which 2,867 former Housing NZ properties were transferred on 31 March 2016?
Which, IMO, makes this Tamaki SCAM story – political dynamite?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate for Tamaki.
We are now in deep shit as CO2 levels have now stubbornly stayed above the critical 400ppm level now for over the last four years.
Increased CO2 levels now are scientifically confirmed as reducing our plant growth and their nutrient uptake levels causing our loss of minerals/vitamins avalable to us all during consumption. – Here are the facts;
“protein concentrations in grains of wheat, rice and barley, and in potato tubers, are decreased by 5–14% under elevated CO2 (Taub et al. 2008). Crop concentrations of nutritionally important minerals including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus may also be decreased under elevated CO2 (Loladze 2002; Taub & Wang 2008).”
Earth’s CO2 Home Page
Atmospheric CO2
2014 July 401.61ppm.
2015 july 404.50ppm.
2016 July 407.25ppm.
2017 Aug’405.07ppm.
August 2017
405.07
parts per million (ppm)
Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (NOAA-ESRL)
Preliminary data released September 11, 2017
We know that atmospheric CO2 has ranged between 172 and 300 part per million (ppm) for the past 1 million years. The earth cycled through cold glacial and warm inter-glacial periods without atmospheric CO2 exceeding 300 ppm.
The first time in human history that atmospheric CO2 exceeded 300 ppm was about the time the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
Now, the crossover to concentrations that stay above 400 ppm CO2 is nearly complete.
The other day on RNZ Phil Twyford told Susie Ferguson that under Labour rents would stabilise or go down, yet he wouldn’t guarantee it.
Do you think Phil will have to eat his words?
It was a bold and risky claim for Phil to make.
And while he didn’t guarantee it, if he’s wrong, not only will his credibility be damaged for asserting it, it will also damage the credibility of the Labour Party as it’s their policies and he is their housing spokesperson.
There’s been speculation that a number of landlords would sell up, thus freeing up more homes for sale and in turn reducing rental demand.
However, as landlords sell off their rentals and tenants move into home ownership, that will reduce the supply of rentals, thus merely offsetting the corresponding drop in rental demand. Hence, there would be no net difference in rental supply and demand from this shift.
Moreover, another aspect being overlooked is the growing trend of taking property off the rental market and setting them up as serviced apartments or Air BnB. Cashing in on our high tourist numbers and the shortage of hotel rooms whilst reaping a far higher nightly yield. Therefore, coming down too hard on landlords may result in further encouraging this shift. Resulting in reducing rental supply.
As for Phil’s claim that Labour will increase the housing supply, he’s overlooking it will take years for Labour’s Kiwibuild to meet current demand let alone get on top of it. Thus, in the meantime, Labour’s policies coupled with the overheated rental market will provide the scope landlords require to further increase rents.
Surely you’re not implying one has to critique National to be allowed to critique Labour?
Being from the left I don’t expect National to represent my left leaning views, hence I seldom waste my time pointing out their many flaws. I waste enough of my time dealing with the right within the left.
not a bad summation…couple of points…you have answered your own question re why he didnt guarantee it and as to eating his own words you will note as an experienced politician he never gave a timeframe so in effect it is neither bold nor risky and there will be no words consumed….however i suspect in their heart of hearts Labour expect the market to fall (not crash) due to a number of their announced policies and this is occurring on top of a faltering market already, so it is entirely possible there will be a rent reduction in the near term even if some investors quit the market , remembering that an investment property sold doesn’t disappear and still has function within the market.
In her attempt to secure a guarantee, Susie did set a time-frame when challenging him. And although he managed to talk his way out of committing to a guarantee (reasserting his reasoning and claim) he didn’t question the time-frame. Nor did he use it as an excuse for not committing when he had the opportunity too. Thus, the opportunity to lower first term voter expectation.
Therefore, he (through his continued assertion) has somewhat painted himself and the Party into a bit of a corner.
While Labour plan to introduce most of their housing policies rather smartly, their impact on house prices (if any at all) will take some time to eventuate, thus it will be market fundamentals and perhaps further Reserve Bank interventions that are more likely to cause a correction/fall.
And a fall in house prices doesn’t necessarily mean their will be a quick and widespread fall in rents. Some simply won’t sell in a depressed market and may decide to increase rents instead. Especially if rental demand remains strong.
beg to differ…the mere prospect or notice of their policies will impact the market …investors will not wait around and so the impact will precede the act….same with the building programme…as to how fast and widespread the impact is, well thats an unknown but the direction is not…and it aint upwards
As a number of their policies largely fall short, the impact you’re expecting may differ from the reality.
Take their so-called ban on offshore investors. The impact may initially result in a flurry (adding upward pressure) with offshore investors getting in before they are shutout.
Therefore, while they may act quickly, it’s not the in the manner you seem to be foreseeing.
Moreover, the ban doesn’t prevent offshore investors from buying new builds. Thus, prevent offshore demand driving upward pressure on land prices, building materials, etc… adding to the overall cost of a new home. Which, in turn, tends to pump up the price of older homes.
again i differ….the tenor and direction is increased restrictions and costs plus a reduction in demand (via migration )and the timing has been stated to be urgent(indeed the tendency may be to quit the market with the knowledge of the existing costs as opposed to the unknown, after all we are only one of many)….any last minute attempt to enter the market will be short lived…..all compounded by nervous banks reluctant to lend at current levels.
A reduction in immigration is not a total halt. And when you have a market that is already struggling to cope with current housing demand, any additional immigration is upward pressure.
Cost are generally passed on. Again, adding upward price pressure on rents. And restrictions (such as ring fencing losses) won’t impact all investors. And those impacted may restructure their affairs and increase rents to offset it.
A number of offshore investors don’t require the backing of our banks to purchase. And banks themselves are walking a fine line.
‘A number of offshore investors don’t require the backing of our banks to purchase. And banks themselves are walking a fine line.’
no they don’t, however those purchasing from them are likely to…part of the reason the banks are self imposing restrictions (over and above RBNZ requirements) is because existing rents are already unsustainable in the local market…as investors are aware any rent rise will simply increase defaults …on portfolios banks are already winding back.Costs cannot be passed on ad infinitum.
worst case most likely outcome would be that it competes with or otherwise extinguishes life forms that we could have learned from.
Like bacterial cane toads or rats.
Worst least likely outcome is that the bacteria is viewed as a declaration of war by an advanced society we hadn’t detected because they were all subspace fields and teleporting, and the species goes all Independence Day on us.
I’m reasonably certain that if there was life there we would have recognised it when Cassini first flew by. The lander would definitely have shown it up.
I’ll make it easy for you. An octopus is weird especially when compared to humans now imagine that weirdness multiplied by a million. A million, not 100 , not 1000, not 10000, and so on. Do you actually think your brain could conceive let alone recognise alien life. I know you do and I blame fucken star trek and their hunamoid aliens.
Do you actually think your brain could conceive let alone recognise alien life.
Yes, it can.
Or, to put in other words: Do you believe pakeha are human?
It’s really easy to recognise life:
1. They’re born
2. They move
3. They breed
4. They die.
All that’s been detected upon Titan id the possible precursor to life. IMO, there isn’t enough energy to go beyond that else it would already exist.
I know you do and I blame fucken star trek and their hunamoid aliens.
I’d say Fuck the humanoid aliens except that logic tells us that humanoid lifeforms are most likely what you’re going to get from an evolutionary process for an intelligent species.
If it is an intelligent being, and uses climate and interactions between organisms to form thoughts like we have neurons, then what thoughts would it have? And is humanity a planetary alzheimers?
Yeah, running back to a doom slogan kind of underlines the fact that you suggested on of humanity’s last acts should be barely a step removed from dumping cowshit in the streams of Titan just to see how bad the contamination will be.
the other point being is that your 5-point criteria that make it “really easy” to recognise life doen’t rule out Earth, which meets none of those points.
Mate your human centric view of the universe is quaint and illogical based on size alone – you cant even conceive how big it is or what is in it, yet your ego can write checks you cant cash and can’t even consider cashing – silly hu man.
And your plan is to leave a smear on a moon to see what happens – ffs come on.
Unless they end up like the dodo because our earth bacteria ate them all when we followed your plan.
And then we maybe never gain some revolutionary knowledge or medicine. Because we dumped a tonne of bacteria on a planet or moon we knew nothing about.
And that’s just the we’d be better off doing real science rather than assuming the universe is ours to shit all over argument, it’s not even the what if an entire ecosystem, of simple organisms maybe so, but an entire ecosystem grew and evolved over billions of years, creating an environment unique in the universe, right up until we came along – what does that say about us question.
Unless they end up like the dodo because our earth bacteria ate them all when we followed your plan.
Life’s a bitch and the you die.
And then we maybe never gain some revolutionary knowledge or medicine.
Extreme possibilities aren’t what makes life work.
hey, did you know that Mars had spent the last few billion years losing its magnetosphere and its atmosphere (in that order) and that the chances for life to survive that is between slim and none?
BTW, I suspect that the first Mars landing failed to have such restrictions in place. I doubt if the Soviets, or the USians immediately after them, had such concerns as you seem to have. Same as the first Europeans who visited NZ had such concerns.
I think you’ll find that even in the 1960s interplanetary probes were developed and constructed in clean rooms. Chances of taking extremophile bacteria to mars are therefore minimal. If only because bacteria would fuck up their chromatograph readings.
Hey, did you know that getting a few metres under Mars surface would provide thermal insulation, protection from cosmic rays, and maybe even water?
In 1991, as Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad reviewed the transcripts of his conversations relayed from the moon back to Earth, the significance of the only known microbial survivor of harsh interplanetary travel struck him as profound:
“I always thought the most significant thing that we ever found on the whole…Moon was that little bacteria who came back and lived and nobody ever said [anything] about it.”
“I always thought the most significant thing that we ever found on the whole…Moon was that little bacteria who came back and lived and nobody ever said [anything] about it.”
An interesting point about War of The Worlds was that it was the microbes that ‘won’ the war.
Voted Labour/Greens today and persuaded my friend to do the same, she was going to vote National….only one vote taken away from them, but it still felt good.
Who in their own sanity would vote for this National Party train wreck?
They are ending up selling everything in their next term if elected.
Also the National party will sign us up to corporte controlled trade deals that will control our Government and our lives from overseas for the next 75 yrs and we will loose our country along with our freedoms and democracy.
You mean Advance Voting is up 80k on the same time last election. Which the Electoral Commission was forecasting and doesn’t give anybody a steer on anything really.
Stuff.co is running a very unscientific poll that shows national ahead.
I gave my click to Labour but it looks like a few more clicks wouldn’t go astray to change this flawed poll.
I suppose everyone has commented on this but on the news about Oz the other day was that they had wiped their controls on every possible bit of media? sounds like, being able to be owned by one entity: Corporation Australia Ink I think. Inky dinky di etc. Wind back to flogging convicts on its way (sstart with NZs for practice).
Jian Yang will review his citizenship declaration! That’s nice.
Having listened to Yang speak in Parliament, in my opinion, he doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of the English language at all. Very hard to understand, even when I’m wearing my hearing aids! So now I’m wondering how was he able to teach the English language in the first place?
The police are still hanging around my ass I no that the police and national are blaming me for making them look like idiots well no they are doing fine fucking up there image with there own actions thanks very much.
Big upps for the number one song of the Worlds biggest count down of 1500 rock songs that is a awesome winning song.
Killing in the name
Rage Against The Machine.
Now my main message Fonterra Theo don’t you think It is time you clean up that mess in Mango. It would be wise if you did this because it would stain your image if I have to clean it up. Ka pai
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...
From 2015 to 2019 the NSA ran a program of mass surveillance of Americans' domestic communications. It was intrusive, totalitarian, and a collosal waste of money:A National Security Agency system that analyzed logs of Americans’ domestic phone calls and text messages cost $100 million from 2015 to 2019, but yielded ...
I must say that it’s at loggerheads with the inclusive and free society we want to create in New Zealand that one of our largest media outlets, MediaWorks, would allow Hannah Tamaki to perform on their show, Dancing With The Stars.Hannah Tamaki and her husband Brian are after all well-known ...
The media is reporting that an Auckland man has been charged with terrorism. Unfortunately, that's all we know, because all details have been suppressed. Who are they? What are they alleged to have done? Its all secret. There may be good reason for some of this (e.g. protection of the ...
Dr David ChagnéNew Zealand is involved in a US$12.8 million USDA grant to improve the quality of blueberry and cranberry. The four-year project, led by North Carolina State University, is part of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crop Research Initiative, which funds multi-year, multi-institutional collaborative ...
The Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book is now available! The book uses cartoons, humor, and critical thinking to expose how and why some people reject climate science. It's now available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. If you're near the DC area, you're very welcome to ...
by the Council of Disobedient Women When Moana Maniapoto recently lamented that Rachel Stewart was no longer writing for the Herald, political commentator Morgan Godfery was quick to brag on Twitter, like a schoolyard bully, how proud he was of “driving Rachel Stewart from the Herald”. What a contrast Morgan ...
You’re probably aware that the Achievement Standards used to assess senior school students’ learning are being reviewed. Science is one of the ‘pilot’ subjects in this process, where a ‘Subject Expert Group’ has developed 4 draft Science standards¹ (a significant step away from the current 30+, and a response to ...
John MacCormickTo succeed in an unpredictable and changing world, adaptability is the key. Let’s be chameleons. Technology continues to change people’s jobs and work environments. But change so far is not as fast and extensive as some pundits claim. Nor is it as fast and extensive as it needs ...
It seems we can’t even get through a week these days without the National Party's leader, Simon Bridges, making some sort of silly announcement about a policy that doesn’t actually exist.Usually concerning Bridges’ gut instinct and the undoing of whatever the Government has recently announced, National’s reactionary opinions and uncosted ...
Oh look! NZ First's secret slush fund was laundering donations from Talley's:One of the country's biggest fishing companies, Talley's, and its managing director donated nearly $27,000 to the New Zealand First Foundation, which has been bankrolling the New Zealand First Party. The foundation received $26,950 from seafood giant Talley's and ...
Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson, George ThomsonMinister Jenny Salesa announced the Government’s long-awaited Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill on Sunday 23 February. The Bill contains some important provisions as it works to strike a balance between ensuring regulated products are available to ...
Surprisingly enough, one could argue (as I often do) that the day inserted into a leap year is not that we label 29th February, but actually the 24th of February. Here I explain why, briefly. Almost everyone assumes that the day added into February in a leap year is the ...
If you haven’t watched Newsroom’s video showing Oranga Tamariki staff attempting to uplift a newborn baby yet you should do so. Although it's not the worst case as far as interventions go, it’s certainly not a good look for the Government. Because of this controversy there’s been a plethora of ...
Genesis Energy is planning to build the country's biggest PV solar farm:Power generator and retailer Genesis Energy says it is in advanced discussions to build New Zealand's biggest solar farm in northern Waikato. The company, which earlier reported a 15 per cent decline in operating earnings to $167.2 million, said ...
Transport is our second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Any credible effort to reduce emissions to net-zero has to target it. So what is the government doing? Subsidising some of the dirtiest, most inefficient vehicles on the roads:New Zealand's favourite cars - double cab utes - are largely exempt ...
You’ve really got to wonder what the NZ First Party was thinking and drinking last Friday? Not only did they hamstring the Greens by halting one of their main environmental policies, the electric vehicle fee-bate scheme, a policy that the public was led to believe was a done deal…but they ...
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Climate change leads to more violence against women, girlsRape, domestic violence, forced marriages: A new ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
I’m not quite sure of what to make of the new figures for COVID-19 (as we must now call the novel coronavirus – though I’m not sure the capitalisation is correct) from Hubei province:Image from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51495484The spike yesterday is a consequence of a using a different way of ...
Bob Jones has dropped his defamation case against Renae Maihi. Good. But at the same time, it perfectly exposes what the case was all about: not protecting Jones' reputation, but punishing someone who had dared to criticise him, and deterring others from doing the same. This rich pompous asshat dragged ...
As I've done for the past few years, I'm curating and presenting The Listening Lounge, the talk programme at Splore. On the morning of Saturday the 22nd at the Living Lounge stage, the korero goes like this.Yes, we're talking about drugs again, not just because I'm professionally interested in drug ...
What Were They Thinking? RNZ's CEO Paul Thompson (left) and Jim Mather, Chairman of the RNZ Board of Governors, attempt to justify the debacle arising out of their attempt to downgrade RNZ Concert to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation Select Committee at Parliament on Thursday, 13 February 2020.WHAT IS ...
Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
Back in 2017, right after being elected, Jacinda Ardern promised that there would be no new mines on conservation land. Since then, her government has done nothing to make that happen, and now the policy has been officially "parked" for the election:West Coast-Tasman MP Damien O'Connor says the "no new ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Broadcasting New Zealand First supports the commissioning of a business case to assess the viability of a new public media entity. “A strong media environment is critical for a healthy democracy. New Zealand First is a strong supporter of a diverse, independent media,” New Zealand First broadcasting spokesperson ...
Pounamou and technology industries in the West Coast region are set to receive more than $2 million in Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding. This was announced by the Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau during Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika. He said $800,000 would be given to Development West ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentTe Tii, the lower marae at Waitangi, is among more than 70 marae now connected to broadband internet thanks to the Provincial Growth Fund’s marae connectivity scheme, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today.In February 2019, the Provincial Growth Fund ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The West Coast has had a funding injection of over $1.2 million from the Provincial Growth Fund, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at Waitangi Day commemorations in Hokitika today. The PGF projects announced are: $800,000 to Development ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ...
Kia ora. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Nau mai haere mai ki te Whare Pāremata. E ngā mana whenua ki tēnei rohe Taranaki Whānui, Te Upoko o Te Ika, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Raukawa – kei te mihi, kei te mihi, kei te mihi. E ngā mana, e ngā ...
Tougher penalties for gun crime are a step closer with the passage of firearms reform legislation through another stage in Parliament. The Arms Legislation Bill has tonight passed its Second Reading. “The changes have one objective - to prevent firearms falling into the wrong hands,” said Police Minister Stuart Nash. ...
Introduction Mr Speaker We all know why we are here today. It has been a long journey. The journey did not actually begin on 15 March 2019. It began on 30 June 1997. Almost 23 years ago, Justice Sir Thomas Thorp told us what was wrong with our firearms legislation. ...
The Government’s work to put trades and vocational education back on the agenda took another major step forward today with the passing of the Education (Vocational Education and Training Reform) Amendment Bill, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “This is a watershed day for trades and vocational education. These law changes formalise ...
Speeding up the return of Christchurch regeneration activities to local leadership is behind the Greater Christchurch Regeneration Amendment Bill introduced to Parliament today by Minister Megan Woods. “As we approach nine years since the February 2011 earthquake in Canterbury, and with the transition to local leadership well underway, the time ...
Hundreds of New Zealanders and international visitors will be able to get back out into nature with the Milford Track partially reopening next week, after extensive assessments and repairs, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. The popular Great Walk has been closed since 3 February after an extreme ...
Up to 110 new EV chargers nationwide in cities and regions 50 electric vehicles for ride-sharing The Government is helping deliver more infrastructure and options for low emissions transport through new projects, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. Tauranga, Nelson, Levin, New Plymouth and Oamaru are just some ...
New Zealanders are increasingly better off under this Government as wages rise and families have more disposable income, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ reported today that average household disposable incomes after housing costs rose 4.9% in 2019. This was the highest rise in four years and came as ...
All New Zealanders need to have their voices heard at work to ensure we have an inclusive and productive economy. Today we introduce a Bill to do this for workers in the New Zealand screen industry, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “The Screen Industry Workers Bill will ...
The Government has announced further help for the Southland and Otago regions to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. “I’ve approved Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG), making $500,000 available to help with the clean-up in Fiordland, Southland, and the Clutha district in Otago,” Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
Following the announcement that more than 340 schools will be funded to run events promoting vocational education, the Government has announced it will fund a further 257 events to be run by employers and industry. “These industry-run events will allow more than 30,000 students to connect with more than 2,000 ...
Today the Government is making progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the introduction of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill in Parliament. “This Bill includes a series of reforms to improve the wellbeing of the 609,700 households that live in rented homes, and ...
A Government programme to wipe out pea weevil has achieved a world first, with Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor today announcing the successful eradication of the noxious pest from Wairarapa. This means the nearly four-year ban on pea plants and pea straw was lifted today. Commercial and home gardeners can again grow ...
The huge majority of New Zealanders think fishing industry donations to Members of Parliament at the last election have the potential to “strongly influence” decisions the MPs make, according to a poll conducted by Horizon Research. The poll, ...
Wellington councillors have voted to expand the mayor's proposed taskforce on the city's water problems, to include business and community members and water experts. The council has today voted to establish the taskforce proposed by mayor Andy Foster. The group he envisaged comprised only councillors, officials and iwi representatives. However, ...
“Let me be clear, Maori have a guardianship, ownership and protection role when it comes to the nations freshwater ways and let me be even clearer – if what has been happening to our freshwater eco-systems and ecology over the last hundred years ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yvonne Zurynski, Associate Professor of Health System Sustainability, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University If you have a rare disease, you may be the only person in Australia with that condition. You may not know, however, that being diagnosed with a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Akshaya Kamalnath, Lecturer (Corporate law), Auckland University of Technology Global investment company Goldman Sachs recently announced it would only take startups public if they had at least one diverse board member. In New Zealand, a new KiwiSaver fund, CareSaver, announced it would ...
BusinessNZ Energy Council (BEC) Executive Director Tina Schirr welcomes the release of the World Energy Council’s Issues Monitor for 2020. The Issues Monitor provides a snapshot of what keeps energy policymakers, CEOs and leading experts in 104 countries ...
Investors in the failed Ross Asset Management (RAM) company will be seeking $80 million from ANZ Bank when they start a legal claim next week. The group of more than 550 investors has claimed the bank either knew or should have known that Wellington financial adviser David Ross was operating ...
Apple exporter Scales Corporation has posted a higher full year profit of $121.6 million, boosted by $78m in asset sales and improvement in its food ingredients division. Revenue was up 20 percent to $484.6m, which included the first full year's trading of the petfood company, Shelby Foods, which Scales acquired ...
PGG Wrightson has reported a lift in earnings on improved sales for its livestock and horticultural businesses. The rural services company's net profit for the half year ended December was $12.8 million, compared with $0.3m the year before, which reflected the sale of its seeds business and accounting changes. Chief ...
The retirement village operator and takeover target Metlifecare has posted a larger half year profit, on the back of valuation gains, encouraging it to progress its development timeline. Its net profit rose 28 percent to $24.6 million in the six months ended December, as it built more retirement homes. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Words matter. Especially when you are the director-general of security and head of ASIO. Barely three months into the post, and delivering his first ASIO Annual ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Terry, Vice-Chancellor, Curtin University This is an edited extract of a speech to the National Press Club given by Chair of Universities Australia, Professor Deborah Terry AONew modelling for Universities Australia prepared by Ernst and Young finds close to 17,000 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Maguire, Lecturer in English and Creative Writing, James Cook University In today’s terms, June Dally-Watkins was Australia’s OG (original gangster) #girlboss. The illegitimate child of a single mother, Dally-Watkins came from humble rural beginnings and found fame as a young model ...
A new index ranking ‘soft power’ praises ‘a shining example of how to build a tolerant and inclusive society in the face of adversity’ – and offers a rejoinder to sneers at the prime minister’s appearances in international media, writes Toby Manhire.At the end of last week of Jacinda Ardern ...
Six60 are on pace to overtake Pink Floyd for one of the most formidable records in NZ chart history. Duncan Greive breaks down their dominance.Over the weekend, Six60 played Western Springs to around 50,000 people for the second straight year, a feat which seemed utterly unfathomable 18 months ago, but ...
The New Zealand College of Midwives (the College) has congratulated Ontario midwives following a landmark legal decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The Tribunal has ordered the Canadian Government to take concrete actions to end the ...
NZME, New Zealand’s largest media company, released its 2019 financial report yesterday. Michael Andrew checks in on the health of huge brands like the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB.It was apparently a good year for NZME, which yesterday reported a strong financial performance with $19.7m operating profit and the growth ...
Welcome to the Bulletin World Weekly, an email exclusively for The Spinoff Members. As a one-off, we’ve put today’s edition up for everyone to read. If you want to get this every week, sign up to The Spinoff Members here.In the last week, outbreaks of the Covid-19 coronavirus have shaken ...
Sam Brooks watches I Am Not Okay With This, the new show that feels like a calculated mash-up of a bunch of other Netflix shows you really liked.“Oh, it’s like Sex Education meets Stranger Things.”It’s not a new thing to describe a television show in this X-meets-Y fashion. It’s convenient ...
By Nicola Igusa The value of different perspectives in film making is valued now more than ever, says Auckland University of Technology screen production Associate Professor Arezou Zalipour. “We’ve just seen the historic win of Parasite at the 2020s Oscars – the first non-English language production to win Best ...
The New Zealand College of Midwives (the College) has congratulated Ontario midwives following a landmark legal decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The Tribunal has ordered the Canadian Government to take concrete actions to end the ...
Cross-examination strategies in rape trials remain resistant to reforms, which continues to negatively impact on complainants despite initiatives to improve the legal process, a University of Canterbury (UC) expert says. Professor Elisabeth McDonald specialises ...
Early model electric vehicles are already running low on juice, with some batteries down to around half their original capacity. With the international auto industry slow to find solutions, one New Zealand company is using Kiwi ingenuity to repurpose old batteries and keep the cars – and their owners – ...
The Government's looking at law changes to ensure small businesses are paid on time. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash said he is willing to legislate, if necessary, to ensure payments within 20 days, with interest imposed for late payments. He said prompt payment and cash flow are vital to small ...
Meridian Energy has made a record first half profit with improved revenue. The South Island generator's net profit for the six months ended December rose 26 percent to $191 million. Revenue was up 5 percent to $1.78bn on record hydro generation from the South Island lakes. It had significant customer ...
Economists are predicting a flat - or slightly down - March quarter, as the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus and the drought come to a head. The Institute of Economic Research's (NZIER) latest Quarterly Economic Predictions picks the virus impact will be short and sharp, with the economy gradually recovering ...
New Zealanders throw away 295 million single-use cups per year. Alice Neville ponders our obsession with takeaway culture, and looks at what’s needed for consumers to change their behaviour. How many commuters did you see clutching single-use takeaway coffee cups on your way to work this morning? Or how many empty ...
New Conservative is extremely concerned over what is tantamount to the confiscation by government of private land, without compensation. Taranaki farmers and landowners have had portions of their properties classed as “Significant Natural Areas” ...
Half of New Zealanders are more likely to vote for a political party in this year’s general election that promises to ‘significantly and urgently’ improve the unhealthy state of homes in Aotearoa. The Consumerlink survey, carried out for the Green Building ...
Mike, a 30-something professional, cares enough about better cannabis policy that he and other local supporters will be at the Riccarton Sunday Market, March 1st from 9am-2pm. “I don't want my kids to grow up in a country that criminalises them for ...
The Salvation Army is strongly opposed to the Government’s new Racing Bill. Today, Salvation Army staff will make our oral submission to the Bill. “Harm from gambling is already at unacceptable levels in this country and increasing availability and ...
One of the men charged over donations to the National Party was at one stage to have gone to the party's candidate college, which identifies and train potential members of Parliament. ...
Child poverty figures released today by Statistics New Zealand show further urgent Government action is needed to lift more children and whānau out of poverty, says The Salvation Army, which is calling for a change in core welfare benefits to be ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentChild poverty, welfare Max Rashbrooke (RNZ): Child poverty stats promising, but more is needed Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Child poverty ...
Data released under the Official Information Act today reveals almost 12,000 more children are dependent on welfare benefits since December 2017. "At 31 December 2019 there were 206,395 children aged 0-18 reliant on caregiver on a main benefit ...
The Government would consider direct assistance to tourism industry players if the fallout from coronavirus lasts well beyond the first half of the year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute Opposition leader Anthony Albanese sought to claim the climate policy high ground last week with his commitment to a net-zero emissions target by 2050. But figures on Australia’s emissions from the Department of the Environment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Marston, Head of School, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland The Australian government touts compulsory income management as a way to stop welfare payments being spent on alcohol, drugs or gambling. The Howard government introduced the BasicsCard more than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Clarkson, Professor in Archaeology, The University of Queensland About 74,000 years ago a volcanic eruption at what is now Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia, created one of the most dramatic natural disasters of the past 2 million years. The plume of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Omer Yezdani, Director, Office of Planning and Strategic Management, Australian Catholic University Philanthropy is a growing source of revenue for Australian universities. It’s essential to advancing quality research, equity and learning. On average, Australia’s top five fundraising universities receive nearly 20 times ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Dawson, Honorary Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne The assumption that retired people have minimal housing costs underpins the settings of our retirement incomes system. But the real state of housing for older Australians today makes it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Keating, Visiting Fellow, College of Business & Economics, Australian National University We are continually being told that more of us are employed than ever before. Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe points out (correctly) that a higher proportion of us are in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben McCann, Associate Professor of French Studies, University of Adelaide Berlin. February 26 1920. A new silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, is released to unsuspecting German audiences and quickly becomes a worldwide sensation. “When will I die?” asks one character ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New child poverty statistics show little change yet, Greenpeace call for fishing policy review over donations, and a focus on Covid-19 effects on forestry.New figures were released yesterday on one of the most important issues facing the country – how many ...
He may be marooned in Texas, but Joseph Parker is closer to a return to boxing's big time than you'd think. Joseph Parker’s road back to boxing relevance won’t ever lead to the now fully resurgent Tyson Fury. But that doesn’t mean the Gypsy King won’t be a key figure ...
A cruel string of injuries could have prematurely ended Shiray Kaka's sevens career. But with determination and meditation, she's back in the Black Ferns, focused on finally playing at the Olympics. This time last year, Shiray Kaka was living in Japan, studying to be a dog trainer and setting up ...
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Ngāpuhi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: the author backgrounds his interest in the story. A few years ago I become obsessed ...
A jury didn't accept abused woman Karen Ruddelle killed her partner in self-defence. What does that say about our attitudes towards women in violent relationships? Karen Anne Ruddelle was charged with murdering her partner. Last week, at the High Court in Auckland, she was acquitted of murder but convicted of ...
Former regional parks chair Sandra Coney says a purchase of the disputed land at Ihumātao by Auckland Council would be entirely in keeping with historical precedent and the actions of local government in preserving open spaces for future generations. With various claims being made about the Government stepping in to ...
If RNZ hopes to court the youth audience with its new brand it should take some cues from the ones who’ve had that audience all along: student radio. RNZ has had a month from hell. News the state-run broadcaster was considering scaling back its long-running RNZ Concert network to make room ...
The Grace Millane murder case wasn't a who-dunnit - in fact it was easily solved. But it sparked intense public interest and international media coverage. What were the ingredients that caught the world's attention? A media frenzy descended on the High Court in Auckland last week as a sentence was handed down ...
OPINION:By Murray Horton in Christchurch For as long as the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa (Cafca) has existed – more than 45 years now – we have called for the closure of the aluminium smelter, owned by giant transnational corporation, Rio Tinto. There are numerous grounds for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The inquiry into allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan is examining 55 separate incidents or issues, according to the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force report, tabled Tuesday. These involve “predominantly” allegations ...
Tourism bosses have been invited to join a new advisory group, allowing them to stay in "constant communication" with the government in their response to the coronavirus. ...
Alex Casey delivers her eighth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where a humble avocado changed everything forever. Click here for previous instalments. Glass me with the talking bottle, slice my hand off with a fax machine and send me straight to the Centre De Emergencies, because this was the most ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Coalition government has supported Labor’s motion in the Senate to call for men’s rights activist Bettina Arndt to be stripped of her Order of Australia award over her comments on last week’s horrendous murder-suicide ...
he Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa welcomes the withdrawal of the hugely controversial resolution on anti-semitism from the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting. It is a victory for free speech and human rights. PSNA looks forward to working with other organisations ...
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama is calling on New Zealand to back his country in pushing Australia to commit more to climate change action. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bianca Fileborn, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Melbourne The downfall of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has come to a head following his conviction for rape in the third degree and a criminal sex act in the first degree. He was acquitted ...
After days of rumours, Mediaworks have removed Hannah Tamaki as a cast member for the 2020 season of Dancing with the Stars. Sam Brooks reflects on the controversy.On Sunday, the NZ Herald gossip column Spy broke the news that Hannah Tamaki – wife of Destiny Church founder Brian and head of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Queensland Coroner James McDougall has handed down his findings into the tragic deaths of four people on Dreamworld’s Thunder River Rapids ride in 2016. He reported a litany of failings ...
Sri Krishnamurthi reflects in this special report on what life is really like trying to live and cope with the effects of a stroke for three years. Those were the most horrifying days of my life. It’s only now that I find the courage to write about my trials ...
Open Mike 15/09/2017 
Fans are outraged at the prospect of Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki joining the Black Caps ...9 mins ago
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...12 mins ago
This morning the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) pointed people at an article on "Playing Hide and Speak: Analyzing the Protected Disclosures Framework of the New Zealand Intelligence Community" by Caitlin Macdonald, Rhys Ball & William James Hoverd. The authors were trying to look at how the whistleblowing framework ...3 hours ago
I must say that it’s at loggerheads with the inclusive and free society we want to create in New Zealand that one of our largest media outlets, MediaWorks, would allow Hannah Tamaki to perform on their show, Dancing With The Stars.Hannah Tamaki and her husband Brian are after all well-known ...5 hours ago
The Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book is now available! The book uses cartoons, humor, and critical thinking to expose how and why some people reject climate science. It's now available for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. If you're near the DC area, you're very welcome to ...12 hours ago
by the Council of Disobedient Women When Moana Maniapoto recently lamented that Rachel Stewart was no longer writing for the Herald, political commentator Morgan Godfery was quick to brag on Twitter, like a schoolyard bully, how proud he was of “driving Rachel Stewart from the Herald”. What a contrast Morgan ...22 hours ago
High Risk Call: Insensitive though it may seem to even pose the question: how will the electorate respond to what the Prime Minister’s opponents will undoubtedly characterise as an attack on New Zealanders’ freedom of speech? At more than twelve month’s remove from the terrible events of 15 March 2019, ...2 days ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...4 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...7 days ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...1 week ago
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...8 hours ago
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...1 day ago
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...4 hours ago
The huge majority of New Zealanders think fishing industry donations to Members of Parliament at the last election have the potential to “strongly influence” decisions the MPs make, according to a poll conducted by Horizon Research. The poll, ...16 mins ago
Wellington councillors have voted to expand the mayor's proposed taskforce on the city's water problems, to include business and community members and water experts. The council has today voted to establish the taskforce proposed by mayor Andy Foster. The group he envisaged comprised only councillors, officials and iwi representatives. However, ...22 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yvonne Zurynski, Associate Professor of Health System Sustainability, Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University If you have a rare disease, you may be the only person in Australia with that condition. You may not know, however, that being diagnosed with a ...33 mins ago
Investors in the failed Ross Asset Management (RAM) company will be seeking $80 million from ANZ Bank when they start a legal claim next week. The group of more than 550 investors has claimed the bank either knew or should have known that Wellington financial adviser David Ross was operating ...40 mins ago
Apple exporter Scales Corporation has posted a higher full year profit of $121.6 million, boosted by $78m in asset sales and improvement in its food ingredients division. Revenue was up 20 percent to $484.6m, which included the first full year's trading of the petfood company, Shelby Foods, which Scales acquired ...44 mins ago
PGG Wrightson has reported a lift in earnings on improved sales for its livestock and horticultural businesses. The rural services company's net profit for the half year ended December was $12.8 million, compared with $0.3m the year before, which reflected the sale of its seeds business and accounting changes. Chief ...47 mins ago
The retirement village operator and takeover target Metlifecare has posted a larger half year profit, on the back of valuation gains, encouraging it to progress its development timeline. Its net profit rose 28 percent to $24.6 million in the six months ended December, as it built more retirement homes. The ...50 mins ago
Meridian Energy chief executive Neal Barclay says Rio Tinto's repeated threats to close down its aluminium smelter are getting old. ...58 mins ago
A new index ranking ‘soft power’ praises ‘a shining example of how to build a tolerant and inclusive society in the face of adversity’ – and offers a rejoinder to sneers at the prime minister’s appearances in international media, writes Toby Manhire.At the end of last week of Jacinda Ardern ...1 hour ago
As we acknowledged yesterday, Point of Order must declare a pecuniary interest in the boost to benefits announced by Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni. Some of the team are among the 800,000 people receiving New Zealand Superannuation and Veteran’s Pension who will enjoy a rate increase by just over 3 ...3 hours ago
Government announces it won't raise residency requirements, it will simply stop looking at new applications for a while. ...3 hours ago
The Government is planning for a serious hit to the New Zealand economy following the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. ...4 hours ago
The government wants to phase out high-emitting wood burners and coal burners in a bid to clean up the country's air. ...4 hours ago
Simon Bridges would have a testing time putting together a Cabinet that balanced talent with experience and not too many sore egos ...7 hours ago
The Government's looking at law changes to ensure small businesses are paid on time. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash said he is willing to legislate, if necessary, to ensure payments within 20 days, with interest imposed for late payments. He said prompt payment and cash flow are vital to small ...7 hours ago
Meridian Energy has made a record first half profit with improved revenue. The South Island generator's net profit for the six months ended December rose 26 percent to $191 million. Revenue was up 5 percent to $1.78bn on record hydro generation from the South Island lakes. It had significant customer ...7 hours ago
Economists are predicting a flat - or slightly down - March quarter, as the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus and the drought come to a head. The Institute of Economic Research's (NZIER) latest Quarterly Economic Predictions picks the virus impact will be short and sharp, with the economy gradually recovering ...7 hours ago
The Government's looking at law changes to ensure small businesses are paid on time. ...8 hours ago
The Government would consider direct assistance to tourism industry players if the fallout from coronavirus lasts well beyond the first half of the year. ...8 hours ago
OneCoin cryptocurrency scheme not direct focus of probe, Govt says; and NZME encouraged by talks with Government over plan to buy Stuff. ...8 hours ago
He may be marooned in Texas, but Joseph Parker is closer to a return to boxing's big time than you'd think. Joseph Parker’s road back to boxing relevance won’t ever lead to the now fully resurgent Tyson Fury. But that doesn’t mean the Gypsy King won’t be a key figure ...11 hours ago
A cruel string of injuries could have prematurely ended Shiray Kaka's sevens career. But with determination and meditation, she's back in the Black Ferns, focused on finally playing at the Olympics. This time last year, Shiray Kaka was living in Japan, studying to be a dog trainer and setting up ...11 hours ago
ReadingRoom is devoting all week to the best-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, the brilliant new thriller by Ngāpuhi author JP Pomare, inspired by creepy Australian cult The Family. Today: the author backgrounds his interest in the story. A few years ago I become obsessed ...11 hours ago
A jury didn't accept abused woman Karen Ruddelle killed her partner in self-defence. What does that say about our attitudes towards women in violent relationships? Karen Anne Ruddelle was charged with murdering her partner. Last week, at the High Court in Auckland, she was acquitted of murder but convicted of ...11 hours ago
Former regional parks chair Sandra Coney says a purchase of the disputed land at Ihumātao by Auckland Council would be entirely in keeping with historical precedent and the actions of local government in preserving open spaces for future generations. With various claims being made about the Government stepping in to ...11 hours ago
The Grace Millane murder case wasn't a who-dunnit - in fact it was easily solved. But it sparked intense public interest and international media coverage. What were the ingredients that caught the world's attention? A media frenzy descended on the High Court in Auckland last week as a sentence was handed down ...12 hours ago
Water meters might work, but they sure don't get you elected. ...20 hours ago
i think to apply for a kiwi build home you must be on the electoral roll and have voted in the 2017 election because why should none voters get on the ballet ahead of those who got off there backsides and voted
Shouldn’t be eligible if you voted National either!
You are clearly a believer in the Tammany Hall system of political corruption. Rather like the Labour Party here I suppose.
They did a lot of good in the first half century. After that they became notoriously corrupt and were finally destroyed.
https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-tammany-hall-1774023
If you voted National then you obviously do not agree with State housing.
Sticking to your principles, you would not accept one.
But, I note, like Ayn Rand, right wingers are quick to accept anything provided by those of us that pay taxes.
If you voted National then you obviously do not agree with State housing.
Sticking to your principles, you would not accept one.
But, I note, like Ayn Rand, right wingers are quick to accept anything provided by those of us that pay taxes. While dodging them, themselves.
I see you have put this in twice.
I is equally as silly the second time as it was the first.
There is no connection between what I have said and what you are rambling on about.
Forgot everything has to be explained to right wingers in words of less than one syllable. Sorry.
‘I is equally silly’… Chuckle chuckle.
Yes, he forgot to leave out the t in it too within that sentence. ☺
And i see that you’ve failed to comprehend it both times.
*Ballot*
How to get young people to enroll? Along with the carrots, a little bit of stick. Prosecute a dozen or so and fine them for not enrolling (it is a legal requirement), pour encourager les autres.
Change the law once in power.
Don’t prosecute those intending to vote lab/gr.
Don’t panic too much. The problem goes both ways.
In my extended family is a person in their late 50s who’s not on the roll. Never has been. Doesn’t stop them posting, and commenting on, enthusiastically, most of National’s more extreme bullshit about Labour on their Facebook page. Irony is that their spouse, also rabid Nat, is an electoral officer.
I just smile….
Agree. We also know rabid politically engaged people who have never voted (democracy is for idiots), but who buy their economic framework by making massive donations to National.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/96834696/national-to-offer-young-farmers-to-buy-landcorp-farms
come on labour pick this up , but make the farms lease only so they provide more than one young farmer a stepping stone,
oh and the greens appear to favour corporate farming Hmmmmm insert grumpy emogi
When I heard that thought it was a bit back to the future.
That’s how Landcorp / Lands and Survey used to operate. Farms were developed on pioneer / marginal land and then leased and sold to young farmers. I think a lot of Western Southland was developed like this.
Leasing only would be the way to go now. In today’s world it would just be very difficult for young farmers, without family support, to move into a Landcorp type farm at market price, due to the price pressure put on the market by overseas buyers.
Do you mean Landcorp buys marginal land and then leases it out? Or do you mean that the existing Landcorp farms get given out on permanent lease?
Having Landcorp involved in supporting young farmers into farming would be great especially where it was sustainable or climate change prep. Lots of potential for overlap with the Greens climate and ag policies.
How would leasing be a stepping stone?
“oh and the greens appear to favour corporate farming”
What does that mean?
oops i miss read it they favour the land staying in landcorp ownership , which i’m good with but it still could be leased out with rules around looking after the land .
they would be a stepping stone as a young farmer could leese till they own all the stock then move into ownership
Cheers, I didn’t realise the stock ownership would make the difference, that’s a good idea.
I put up a news post the other day but might do another one about the potential for Landcorp to do good without selling land,
You do understand that there’s nowhere for the young farmers to step to don’t you? All the farming land has been used up and is owned by old farmers and city ‘farmers’.
That’s why National has decided to sell all the Landcore land – and it won’t be going to young farmers but those old and city ‘farmers’. The ones that can afford to buy it.
It will be like fishing quota.
In a few short years will be in the hands of corporates and the wealthy sqatters next door. “Tenure review” all over again.
Leasehold to beginning youngsters only would genuinely help young farmers who cannot afford the next step.
Draco you are so right here,
Every time national comes out with a new policy it has two sides (truth & lies) to it dressed up as a “progressive policy” for a group of ‘intersted parties’ and this time it is young farmers eh!!!
Not in your nellie’
it will be featered off to their mates in large packages not for the 10 acre farming block you can bet.
My dear departed mum was very wise when she told me “If it sounds to good to be true then it is a lie”.
National are good at lies, and this is another one.
Draco you are so right here, (meant 100 acre mininum farm not 10 acres, that’s only what I’ve got. ( toy farm.)
Every time national comes out with a new policy it has two sides to it dressed up as a “progressive policy” for a group of ‘intersted parties’ and this time it is young farmers eh!!!
Not in your nellie’
it will be featered off to their mates in large packages not for the 100 acre farming block you can bet.
My dear departed mum was very wise when she told me “If it sounds to good to be true then it is a lie”.
National are good at lies, and this is another one.
That is incorrect, there is a well established system for young dairy farmers to get into a farm, the sharemilking system has been working for over 50 years.
Starting off as contract Miller’s and finishing up owning the herd and getting 50% of the milk receipts, huilding up to a 1000 cows on a single large farm or multiple farms, selling off a large portion of their herd gives a deposite on first farm purchase.
Other than the few that may take over the family farm (but still have to buy out their sibblings) nearly every dairy farming family has used this route to farm ownership. The system operates as strongly today as it every has. You may be aware of the term gypsie day which is used to describe the mass movement of sharemilkers moving between farms on 1st June each year as they move up to bigger farms or into their first own farm
And this well established process creates land how?
Or, to put it other words: ZOMG, I didn’t know we had God working for us.
Everything else you say can be safety ignore until you prove we actually do have God on our payroll.
/open-mike-15092017/#comment-1384925on Not ready yet
Plenty of sharemilkers say they haven’t a chance of getting their own place.
They can’t catch up with prices. A quiet word to sharemilkers today on gypsy day may not get them talking about their reality. But away from the group I think the facts would be that for each one that is managing on his own behalf, there are five who have had to borrow excessively, or step back for another couple of years and some have given up because the present day system has killed off that 50 year opportunity.
And I haven’t forgotten the sharemilker struggling to keep up with his plan who found that the farmer he worked with just kept overstocking with his own beasts. The sharemilkers plan was to work the place up and introduce his own cows but every time there was the opportunity to do that the owner took the opportunity to boost his own herd. His wife said he got into the pattern of pushing himself and collapsed from overwork.
I can;t give you any sources for what I have said. I try to keep up with what is happening in the rural sector. I think I would know more about it than the rural sector knows about the non-primary sector.
there are still smaller farms in reach and as with all things 1 action won’t solve everything but it will help
There’s also a lot of “amalgamations” that could end up in the hands of liquidators once their capital is exhausted. I have a feeling it’s these syndicated operations that are leading the fight against resource charging. there’s probably not that many of them, but they were pushing the boundaries of viability from the start and 30 – 50K per annum for water is the least of their problems.
This is quite interesting to and points to the above
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/election-2017/339524/water-tax-negligible-for-most-dairy-farms-industry-figures
hmm kind of proves my feeling that the water tax is just wedge politics , i may still vote labour but i will have to hold my nose to do i.
imagine if landcorp had of secured the crafer farms and put young kiwis on as a 10 year leasee ,
A flat-out straight-up lie from McCully and the government. And 2 years of trying to keep it out of the news.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/339438/saudi-sheep-deal-no-mfat-legal-advice-on-lawsuit-risk
Not as prominent as others within national it seems. Yet another dodgy deal the sheeple need reminding about.
it is not so much the deal (appealing as it was0…it is the barefaced lies, and cover up including support from supposedly non political public servants and public oversight that National have maintained ….a party of moral and ethical bankrupts who have to go before they corrupt our systems beyond repair.
sad thing is for good ole NZ is the electorate doesn’t seem to mind their lies based on the last fews GE’s.
I think that’s because having your leaders lie somehow legitimises your own lying. I’ve noticed a huge increase in lying behaviour among rural and construction people in the last 10 years. It’s now almost accepted. The same people are beside themselves at the prospect of a change in government.
lol..crap , just realised it reads ‘appealing’…..edit to ‘appalling’
For some reason Labour has chosen not to point out the enormous black hole in our Governments accounts and book keeping ….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-11/corporate-tax-minimisation-costs-governments-1-trillion/7587092
New Zealand is poorly informed about the scam being inflicted upon us ….If Labour will not speak up about the elephant in the room then the the Greens should highlight this tax injustice,….. it would probably help if they cooperate and network with their Aussie compatriots, who have done good work in this area ……. https://greens.org.au/tax-avoidance
Nationals tax policy is apprently for the ‘creative’ …..
John Key: …. “, if they want to be creative and work hard, to significantly reduce their tax liability but in a lawful way.” ….
“, Mr Rozvany said just because something is legal does not mean it is ethical.
“It’s an interesting thing, ‘within the law’,” Mr Rozvany said.
“Many things were once legal. Rape and paedophilia were once legal.
“If you set up a sham transaction in a tax haven with a view to shifting profits from a high tax jurisdiction to a low tax jurisdiction that should be considered unacceptable to the international community.” ……
The amounts of money looted by ‘creative’ accountants’ are huge … sly politicians make it all loophole legal … “In the three years to 2015, Shell had racked up around $60 billion in revenue (when it owned the petrol stations and the upstream business) and appeared to pay zero tax.” …. https://www.michaelwest.com.au/shell-tax-ripped-out-as-in-house-deals-double/
Creative accounting ??? ….. “Ebay Australia and New Zealand does it all: Tax Avoidance 101 – don’t recognise revenue with customers in Australia, and then, Tax Avoidance 102 – minimise the profits on any revenues you do happen to recognise.” …. https://www.michaelwest.com.au/ebay-scores-own-goal-on-tax/
More Local examples of Hard and creative work as defined by John key and the Nacts …., “Five big banks face about $2.4 billion of disputed tax assessments for 22 structured finance transactions.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/2946334/Westpac-expected-to-appeal-961m-tax-ruling ……
Or
The overseas company CKI, who brought Wellingtons electricity lines network/infrastructure …. and has run at a fictitious loss ( with a underinvestment in maintenance ) ever since …. “Of course, those losses are not real and CKI did not pay $785m for a duffer………Wellington Network is in fact highly profitable, with an earnings margin consistently around 30 per cent before interest and tax.”…..
“Wellington Network is owned by an entity in the Bahamas, where, like BVI, the tax system is a warm bath for companies to float in the dark and listen to the sound of money – no company tax, no withholding tax, no capital gains tax, nothing.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/10400785/We-need-to-talk-about-that-red-carpet-rollout
And then we have ‘legal shell companies and ‘Trusts’……“Working hard at” buying up our land and homes ….
”owner of the former Crafar and Synlait farms in Waikato and Canterbury. Milk New Zealand Holding is wholly owned not by Shanghai Pengxin, but by Milk New Zealand Investment, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. The ownership was disclosed to the Companies Office on August 13……….Chalkie reckons owning New Zealand farms through a Caribbean tax haven may have tax advantages “-
Fixing our broken tax system and stopping corrupt money flows will benefit all taxpayers who are not using tax havens…. http://ctj.org/pdf/offshoreshellgames2016.pdf
Its a pretty simple message …….
Do you use a tax haven ?, …..If the answer is no …… then you will be better off under a fair tax system …….
Stopping the legal cheating of loop-holes would not qualify as a new tax either …. would it ???
If that doesn’t make you angry there is something wrong with you.
+100 great comment and links.
If you gut the public service and slash regulation, that’s what you get from right wing governments. Looting the common wealth, privatising profits, and evading tax. Jail the white collar crooks.
Thanks Muttonbird & ropata ….. National are audacious liars to be attacking anyone over tax …..
The Greens should announce they will push for George Rozvany to be part of the tax review ….. They need to quickly raise awareness and illuminate the simple truth.
Being that We do not need new or more taxes ….. just collection of what is due from the richest company s and people in the world.
The greens are the natural party to make some noise about this injustice … the rest seem compromised …..
Not too hard to fix though as it’s closing loopholes, making retrospective changes which comes from 2 main drivers IMO.
1. The right people plugging the laws i.e. hire the architects of these schemes to take them down. They’re hired guns who will happily swap sides if the price is right.
2. Government with a will to tax the top end effectively and not be swayed by the expected PR howls of ‘the sky is falling’.
Lets not forget the banks in particular are dwindling employers with offshore profits, ownership and technology racing toward a fully self service model.
Agreed…. tc & Eco maori
Harmful regulations created our tax segregation and revenue black hole…. Good regulations can fix it.
But it needs to be co-ordination with others i … and globally the Greens are the best political movement …… genuinely working against injustice and exploitation ……
Almost like a vast right wing conspiracy …..there has been a uniformity in the building of networks which has allowed enormous corrupt money flows …… with corresponding harms of homelessness and exploitation of ordinary citizens everywhere …
Its more than just corporate tax evasion …. they have also helped money laundering.
New Zealand …. “a contentious exemption of professional services firms – mostly lawyers, accountants and real estate agents – from being covered by anti-money laundering laws passed in 2009.” http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11706741
Austrailia …“Australia’s anti-money laundering law does not cover real estate agents, lawyers and accountants, despite promises when the law was enacted in 2006 that the legislation would be widened.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-13/should-australias-anti-money-laundering-laws-be-extended/8703354
Canada ……. “An agency report suggested there is a close relationship between money laundering in real estate and the services provided by lawyers, such as placing wire transfers in legal trusts and creating investment vehicles that can shield true ownership of property.” http://vancouversun.com/storyline/ottawa-will-attempt-to-close-money-laundering-loophole
U.s.a Funny money’
In Miami, secretive buyers often purchase expensive homes using opaque legal entities such as offshore companies, trusts and limited liability corporations.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article69248462.html#storylink=cpy
Britain …”Foreign investors are using illicit wealth to buy up property in luxury developments across London, out-pricing locals, according to a new anti-corruption report.”… “”This has resulted in an oversupply of prime property whilst Londoners are in desperate need of affordable homes,” https://www.dezeen.com/2017/04/25/overseas-investors-london-housing-market-crisis-faulty-towers-report-property-transparency-international-uk/
Its time to reverse the race to the bottom National have us on ……it’s a harmful world wide failure.
You hit the nail on the head reason.
That was the main objective of money puppet john key to create heaps of tax loopholes for his M8 that is the only way to explain wh ffat has happened to our tax systems.
One can donate any amount into a trust and avoid many taxes and there are lots more loopholes to what a sham. !!!!!!!😬
It’s is ridiculous that a person under the bridge will pay more tax than a multi million dollar company and don’t mention gst because the buyer pays that tax the seller is just the collector of gst.
It just shows how unfair OUR society is and this needs to change.
And if the answer is ‘yes’ then you should now subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act and lose everything. After all, using a tax haven should be a crime.
I agree there defiantly needs to be some consequences for the creative types who work hard building the getaway ‘vehicles ‘ …. that make off with billions … and those who use them of course.
Its all reward and no risk at the moment …
Accountants and bankers make normal criminals or welfare fraud look like small chump change amateurs …..
“At least $US1 trillion in tax revenue is lost worldwide, and $50 billion in Australia, as a result of aggressive tax minimisation schemes established by the four giant firms who audit the books of nearly all the world’s major companies, said George Rozvany, a 32-year veteran of the corporate tax industry.”
“And I’m a conservative man, I think the figure is actually much higher,” he told the ABC.”
It is far from a victim-less crime…… “The people who are most affected are the most underprivileged in our society, those without a voice. The homeless, foreign aid programs.”
found this
https://battletothebeehive.co.nz/
a good thing?
bad thing?
Where was the father. The rest of us fathers support our children so not sure why he should skip his duties
[You don’t get to interrogate people on their family situations. You want to attempt “doing a Metiria” on this poster and you’ll cop a permanent ban ] – Bill
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Was he managing the Reserve Bank of America, and deregulating banking, perhaps.
Or maybe he was the one who cancelled the training incentive allowance.
No, I get it, he must’ve been the one who defunded mental health services.
Or perhaps he’s the one who fostered the poisonous misogynist idea that women should be reliant on men in the first place. No, wait, that was you.
That’s your policy? Blame someone, case closed.
Should the National Party be allowed to breed?
No.
Their children grow up to use much more common resources than ours.
And try and take even more off the rest of us.
“The rich are so envious of the poor, they take what little the poor have left”.
Although your comment was removed I would like to answer to help you understand.
The father got in trouble with the law and ended up in jail, after getting out he unfortunately got addicted to meth and is only recently clean and starting to rebuild his relationship with his son.
A relationship I feel is important and that I try to foster despite putting up with years of abuse from him while in his drug addled state.
Bill’s got that guy’s number. The only answer that would satisfy Notreadyet is “Yes, your implied accusation is absolutely correct, it’s my fault I’m living in poverty, I brought it on myself, I deserve it and the government bears no obligation towards me as a citizen to help me out of it.” Much better to leave people like that with an answer that satisfies you rather than them, something like “Fuck you,” perhaps.
Thankyou for filling in a gap in the story. Agree we definetly need safety nets to cover your situation. 5-10 years ago the country had to borrow billions so that the we could continue to give support to those like yourself that needed it. The squeeze you experienced came on because at the time it was all borrowed and precious/scarce $. A lot of people conveniently overlook or fail to remember the situation the whole world was in after 08 and we have generally(obviously not in your case) been better off than most
How magnanimous of you to give Michelle your approval.
What kindly wank you are.
The amount by which “we” have been better off could easily have been directed to those who needed it most: the reason it wasn’t was a sadistic bad choice you made.
Greedy right wing idiots took bribes and let greedy right wing thieves destroy the global economy.
What’s your excuse?
Disgusting that your brain is stuck in the late 19th century, with your vile self-serving “deserving poor” rhetoric.
What’s your excuse for your disgusting behaviour? Your amygdala got too large?
There’s only one gap in the story that ever needed filling – the gap between what the benefit grants and what is needed to live in dignity.
No we didn’t. The government doesn’t have to borrow – ever. And, in fact, it shouldn’t.
And that would be a load of BS as well. I seem to recall that National gave lots of tax cuts to the rich while increasing taxes upon the poor resulting in a lower tax take.
Actually, we’re worse off because of all the same things that crashed the global economy – we just haven’t realised it yet. That’s the problem that happens when the incumbent government props up a housing bubble pushing a massive increase in private debt as their only economic idea of prosperity.
“The country had to borrow billions”. To give tax cuts to those who didn’t need them! So National could bribe their way into power.
Fixed it for you.
We have to borrow billions to pay landlords. How about you spend your time fixing that rather than attempted to stuff a child back into the womb.
“…5-10 years ago the country had to borrow billions so that the we could continue to give support to those like yourself that needed it…..”
Oh my gawd! you are a special kind of stupid, aren’t you?
For your little brain, let me try to educate you….Billions were borrowed to BAIL OUT BANKS AND FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS, who CAUSED THE FINANCIAL CRASH.
THEY WERE BAILED OUT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE POOR, those who could LEAST afford to cu costs…JUST SO THE FILTHY, GREEDY *U*TS COULD KEEP THEIR BANK ACCOUNTS FAT!
Thank you for telling us your story Michelle.
People like you are an inspiration, and your child can grow up, justly proud, of their mother.
Kia kaha Michelle, we did not have these problems in earlier times. Good wishes to you all. Remember to get yourself a little treat now and then xx
Perhaps this was run out of Chris Bishop’s office?
I note he hasn’t condemned the tweets nor denied involvement.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/election/2017/09/hutt-valley-chamber-of-commerce-gets-facts-wrong-in-twitter-attack-on-jacinda-ardern.html
Grant hart, of husker du has died.
He was 56 and had liver cancer.
Amazing to me that the Media has made very little fuss about the Labour “U-turn” over taxes. That is a relief!
Splashed across the front page of the DomPost today so not quite.
OK Grey but Stuff online have “Editorial: Labour’s tax clarity is welcome” so not condemning anyway.
If only IMO Labour had continued with the 2014 line, that any tax changes will not be implemented until after the next election. Then many who want a change of govt. but feel their personal wealth could be threatened by uncertainty (Nats scare tactics) could see that most of the scare mongering was unfounded, and that we have had 3 years that the Lab govt had build up trust in the voter. Then the Nats could have been thrown in disarray as they implode. And that Lab would have kept their integrity, instead of being seen by some as moving to with the mood of the polls.
No Herodotus – your ethical approach would not have worked – you seem to forget that National is a party of liars without memories. How much of a fuss was there when the GST was raised after Key’s assurance that it wouldn’t happen? A solution: Labour need to make sure the Greens get into Government with them then implement a ‘Captain’s call’ using the National line as a precedent – “we had to accommodate the policies of our support party in the coalition”. ACT were credited with Charter Schools on that basis, even though National clearly intended going down that track as they had employed the infamous Lesley Longstone on her UK implementation experience before the election.
Identity theft shows that “National Party criminal” is a tautology.
nice
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/massive-crowd-greets-ardern-otago-uni
we WILL change this government and kick the gnats out and we will ALL be better off on that day.
and she had a huge reception on the Coast as well Marty, so I ear, I would love our electorate to swing the party vote back to Labour.
And Marty, do you get “The Leader” over your way?
If so check out the back pages for Maureens ad, at the bottom of it is the national “N” with a ticked circled placed next to it, looks like the word “NO” she’s had that ad running for 5 weeks now, cracks me up everytime I see it.
yeah we do – I’ll have a look and a laugh
Thank you Marty Mars. Great post. The labradoodle? knows a great human!!
OMG. Even the woolly wee dog was smitten. 🙂
Just had a coffee at Muffin Break in the Central ChCh Bus Station, and, of course, popped my bean in one of the columns.
Green column had slightly more beans than the Red column, with the Blue column third.
All looking good!
What’s the story with the Eminem case seems to have vanished?
this piece from a writer who everytime he puts finger to keyboard in recent years has raised my blood pressure or had me shaking my head in disbelief at his wilful blindness …a proud supporter (and to me , one eyed) of our current administration appears to had an epithany while out mixing with ‘the common folk’ ….and he senses the winds of change….better late than never is all I will add
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/96824698/martin-van-beynen-a-changing-of-the-guard-is-on-the-way
Amazing for a dreadful Nat man Pat. He must be getting out and about and out of his protective shell. Good eh!
might have been the trip up north…Christchurch has been somewhat internally focused in recent times
(In less than 2 days – this video has had over 45,000 views…)
NZ WHISTLE-BLOWER ALERT!
The TRUTH about the Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ – GENTRIFICATION $CAM!
“Penny Bright has been shining a light into the murky recesses of public/private partnerships in the Tamaki Regeneration scheme and revealed some disturbing details…”
When are mainstream media going to ‘pick up the ball’ on this apparently CENSORED story?
In FIVE years of this Tamaki ‘Regeneration’ project – there are more houses that have come down than gone up.
237 Tamaki State houses removed.
213 New houses built.
92 ‘social’ houses.
39 ‘affordable’ private sale houses for first home buyers.
82 private sale houses (high-end).
In an OIA reply from Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, dated 21 August 2017, information about the exact prices paid by private property developers for each and every former Housing NZ property was refused because of ‘commercial confidentiality’.
How disgraceful is that?
This is / was PUBLIC property!
Is the apparent ‘CENSORSHIP’ of this story, by mainstream media, because the paper trail goes straight to Bill English, Nick Smith and Steven Joyce?
Past and present Crown Shareholding Ministers in Tamaki Regeneration Ltd, to which 2,867 former Housing NZ properties were transferred on 31 March 2016?
Which, IMO, makes this Tamaki SCAM story – political dynamite?
Penny Bright
2017 Independent candidate for Tamaki.
We are now in deep shit as CO2 levels have now stubbornly stayed above the critical 400ppm level now for over the last four years.
Increased CO2 levels now are scientifically confirmed as reducing our plant growth and their nutrient uptake levels causing our loss of minerals/vitamins avalable to us all during consumption. – Here are the facts;
https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/effects-of-rising-atmospheric-concentrations-of-carbon-13254108
“protein concentrations in grains of wheat, rice and barley, and in potato tubers, are decreased by 5–14% under elevated CO2 (Taub et al. 2008). Crop concentrations of nutritionally important minerals including calcium, magnesium and phosphorus may also be decreased under elevated CO2 (Loladze 2002; Taub & Wang 2008).”
https://www.co2.earth/
Earth’s CO2 Home Page
Atmospheric CO2
2014 July 401.61ppm.
2015 july 404.50ppm.
2016 July 407.25ppm.
2017 Aug’405.07ppm.
August 2017
405.07
parts per million (ppm)
Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (NOAA-ESRL)
Preliminary data released September 11, 2017
We know that atmospheric CO2 has ranged between 172 and 300 part per million (ppm) for the past 1 million years. The earth cycled through cold glacial and warm inter-glacial periods without atmospheric CO2 exceeding 300 ppm.
The first time in human history that atmospheric CO2 exceeded 300 ppm was about the time the Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.
Now, the crossover to concentrations that stay above 400 ppm CO2 is nearly complete.
https://www.co2.earth/co2-past-present-future-article
The other day on RNZ Phil Twyford told Susie Ferguson that under Labour rents would stabilise or go down, yet he wouldn’t guarantee it.
Do you think Phil will have to eat his words?
It was a bold and risky claim for Phil to make.
And while he didn’t guarantee it, if he’s wrong, not only will his credibility be damaged for asserting it, it will also damage the credibility of the Labour Party as it’s their policies and he is their housing spokesperson.
There’s been speculation that a number of landlords would sell up, thus freeing up more homes for sale and in turn reducing rental demand.
However, as landlords sell off their rentals and tenants move into home ownership, that will reduce the supply of rentals, thus merely offsetting the corresponding drop in rental demand. Hence, there would be no net difference in rental supply and demand from this shift.
Moreover, another aspect being overlooked is the growing trend of taking property off the rental market and setting them up as serviced apartments or Air BnB. Cashing in on our high tourist numbers and the shortage of hotel rooms whilst reaping a far higher nightly yield. Therefore, coming down too hard on landlords may result in further encouraging this shift. Resulting in reducing rental supply.
As for Phil’s claim that Labour will increase the housing supply, he’s overlooking it will take years for Labour’s Kiwibuild to meet current demand let alone get on top of it. Thus, in the meantime, Labour’s policies coupled with the overheated rental market will provide the scope landlords require to further increase rents.
The Chairman
I am looking for how many National Ministers statements that you have held to such a high standard as this.
Can you advise me please?
I just want examples of the National Ministers mistakes by example as this, (like mcCully for example) just to log into our data base please.
Surely you’re not implying one has to critique National to be allowed to critique Labour?
Being from the left I don’t expect National to represent my left leaning views, hence I seldom waste my time pointing out their many flaws. I waste enough of my time dealing with the right within the left.
Easy sleazy out: You are not from the left – you fake that rubbish.
not a bad summation…couple of points…you have answered your own question re why he didnt guarantee it and as to eating his own words you will note as an experienced politician he never gave a timeframe so in effect it is neither bold nor risky and there will be no words consumed….however i suspect in their heart of hearts Labour expect the market to fall (not crash) due to a number of their announced policies and this is occurring on top of a faltering market already, so it is entirely possible there will be a rent reduction in the near term even if some investors quit the market , remembering that an investment property sold doesn’t disappear and still has function within the market.
In her attempt to secure a guarantee, Susie did set a time-frame when challenging him. And although he managed to talk his way out of committing to a guarantee (reasserting his reasoning and claim) he didn’t question the time-frame. Nor did he use it as an excuse for not committing when he had the opportunity too. Thus, the opportunity to lower first term voter expectation.
Therefore, he (through his continued assertion) has somewhat painted himself and the Party into a bit of a corner.
While Labour plan to introduce most of their housing policies rather smartly, their impact on house prices (if any at all) will take some time to eventuate, thus it will be market fundamentals and perhaps further Reserve Bank interventions that are more likely to cause a correction/fall.
And a fall in house prices doesn’t necessarily mean their will be a quick and widespread fall in rents. Some simply won’t sell in a depressed market and may decide to increase rents instead. Especially if rental demand remains strong.
beg to differ…the mere prospect or notice of their policies will impact the market …investors will not wait around and so the impact will precede the act….same with the building programme…as to how fast and widespread the impact is, well thats an unknown but the direction is not…and it aint upwards
As a number of their policies largely fall short, the impact you’re expecting may differ from the reality.
Take their so-called ban on offshore investors. The impact may initially result in a flurry (adding upward pressure) with offshore investors getting in before they are shutout.
Therefore, while they may act quickly, it’s not the in the manner you seem to be foreseeing.
Moreover, the ban doesn’t prevent offshore investors from buying new builds. Thus, prevent offshore demand driving upward pressure on land prices, building materials, etc… adding to the overall cost of a new home. Which, in turn, tends to pump up the price of older homes.
again i differ….the tenor and direction is increased restrictions and costs plus a reduction in demand (via migration )and the timing has been stated to be urgent(indeed the tendency may be to quit the market with the knowledge of the existing costs as opposed to the unknown, after all we are only one of many)….any last minute attempt to enter the market will be short lived…..all compounded by nervous banks reluctant to lend at current levels.
A reduction in immigration is not a total halt. And when you have a market that is already struggling to cope with current housing demand, any additional immigration is upward pressure.
Cost are generally passed on. Again, adding upward price pressure on rents. And restrictions (such as ring fencing losses) won’t impact all investors. And those impacted may restructure their affairs and increase rents to offset it.
A number of offshore investors don’t require the backing of our banks to purchase. And banks themselves are walking a fine line.
‘A number of offshore investors don’t require the backing of our banks to purchase. And banks themselves are walking a fine line.’
no they don’t, however those purchasing from them are likely to…part of the reason the banks are self imposing restrictions (over and above RBNZ requirements) is because existing rents are already unsustainable in the local market…as investors are aware any rent rise will simply increase defaults …on portfolios banks are already winding back.Costs cannot be passed on ad infinitum.
I see your red door, I want it painted black, no colors any more, I want them to turn black…
Best response, Marty!
A major builder has just announced his intentions to exit the residential building industry… So an already under strained industry is about to lose some of its capacity. And this after ONLY 7,200 homes last year were built in Auckland.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1709/S00468/horncastle-downsizes-as-retirement-looms.htm
Horncastle Homes is taking a new business direction and exiting the volume home building business in both Auckland and Christchurch.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1709/S00468/horncastle-downsizes-as-retirement-looms.htm
https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/horncastle-shuts-down-owner-eyes-retirement-vy-207731
If you need a laugh, still political, but a laugh. 14.17 length
So it wasn’t the IRD, it wasn’t the MSD.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11922751
Paula, Anne, Wayne …. we’re looking at ya!
So, if it wasn’t the staff at MSD or IRD then it must have been the minster.
Simple process of deduction really. Holmes would have been horrified that we didn’t get it.
Stuff poll has Natz way ahead!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96897026/were-curious-who-are-you-going-to-vote-for
#letsdothis
Bogus as, can vote multiple times by opening up a new window on your browser, also depends on who reads Stuff #nzpol
Opening it up in a new window on my browser didn’t allow me to vote twice.
Not that I wanted too. Merely testing your assertion.
It’s Stuff – no surprises there, if you’ve looked a the usual tone of the comments that appear on that site.
goodbye friend – you have shown us so much, I’m going to miss you, your photos, your insights, safe travels to the end
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/grand-finale/overview/
For sure, it seems unfair after all Cassini has done. Couldn’t they have let it hurtle off into space to keep doing what it does?
No, not enough fuel.
To escape Saturn’s gravity well you mean?
Yep. It was going to crash eventually. Better to have that in a time and place where we could watch.
Integration with the planet is such a human action, I wonder what Cassini would want, to fly free forever would surely be high on the list.
And here’s me thinking that the best thing we could do is dump a thousand kilos or so of bacteria across Titan and see WTF happens.
I dunno that seems pretty irresponsible sorta like interplanetary littering.
worst case most likely outcome would be that it competes with or otherwise extinguishes life forms that we could have learned from.
Like bacterial cane toads or rats.
Worst least likely outcome is that the bacteria is viewed as a declaration of war by an advanced society we hadn’t detected because they were all subspace fields and teleporting, and the species goes all Independence Day on us.
I’m reasonably certain that if there was life there we would have recognised it when Cassini first flew by. The lander would definitely have shown it up.
Ever looked at an octopus? Well times that by a million – you’d recognise it when it wanted you to.
Nope, NFI WTF you’re implying. An octopus is easily recognisable as living.
I’ll make it easy for you. An octopus is weird especially when compared to humans now imagine that weirdness multiplied by a million. A million, not 100 , not 1000, not 10000, and so on. Do you actually think your brain could conceive let alone recognise alien life. I know you do and I blame fucken star trek and their hunamoid aliens.
Yes, it can.
Or, to put in other words: Do you believe pakeha are human?
It’s really easy to recognise life:
1. They’re born
2. They move
3. They breed
4. They die.
All that’s been detected upon Titan id the possible precursor to life. IMO, there isn’t enough energy to go beyond that else it would already exist.
I’d say Fuck the humanoid aliens except that logic tells us that humanoid lifeforms are most likely what you’re going to get from an evolutionary process for an intelligent species.
Is the planet earth an intelligent being?
Still to be decided. The actions of the organisms, except humanity, do seem to act as a single organism though.
If it is an intelligent being, and uses climate and interactions between organisms to form thoughts like we have neurons, then what thoughts would it have? And is humanity a planetary alzheimers?
Humanity would be a disease that it needs to be rid of and is in the process of doing so by making the climate uninhabitable for it.
Yeah, running back to a doom slogan kind of underlines the fact that you suggested on of humanity’s last acts should be barely a step removed from dumping cowshit in the streams of Titan just to see how bad the contamination will be.
the other point being is that your 5-point criteria that make it “really easy” to recognise life doen’t rule out Earth, which meets none of those points.
Mate your human centric view of the universe is quaint and illogical based on size alone – you cant even conceive how big it is or what is in it, yet your ego can write checks you cant cash and can’t even consider cashing – silly hu man.
And your plan is to leave a smear on a moon to see what happens – ffs come on.
>95% of all life on Earth is now extinct.
I don’t have Human Centric view. My view is reality as it is and not how people would like it to be.
Sure ‘mr my view is reality’ – the funny thing is you are so silly and arrogant you can’t see the idiocy of your arrogance. I feel sorry for you.
really? Which instrument would have detected it?
We’re not even sure there’s no life on Mars yet.
And maybe complex life lives underground.
It’s doubtful there are Klingons living there, but nothing is certain from a pinprick of a single probe.
Well, so far indications are that it still only hosts the possibility of life.
If there ever was life on Mars, it’s been irradiated by now.
Some fungi eat radiation. Sure, it isn’t solar radiation, but subsurface extremophiles are definitely possible.
I’m going to have to point out that I’m not really concerned about fungi – they’ll adapt fast enough.
Unless they end up like the dodo because our earth bacteria ate them all when we followed your plan.
And then we maybe never gain some revolutionary knowledge or medicine. Because we dumped a tonne of bacteria on a planet or moon we knew nothing about.
And that’s just the we’d be better off doing real science rather than assuming the universe is ours to shit all over argument, it’s not even the what if an entire ecosystem, of simple organisms maybe so, but an entire ecosystem grew and evolved over billions of years, creating an environment unique in the universe, right up until we came along – what does that say about us question.
Life’s a bitch and the you die.
Extreme possibilities aren’t what makes life work.
hey, did you know that Mars had spent the last few billion years losing its magnetosphere and its atmosphere (in that order) and that the chances for life to survive that is between slim and none?
BTW, I suspect that the first Mars landing failed to have such restrictions in place. I doubt if the Soviets, or the USians immediately after them, had such concerns as you seem to have. Same as the first Europeans who visited NZ had such concerns.
I think you’ll find that even in the 1960s interplanetary probes were developed and constructed in clean rooms. Chances of taking extremophile bacteria to mars are therefore minimal. If only because bacteria would fuck up their chromatograph readings.
Hey, did you know that getting a few metres under Mars surface would provide thermal insulation, protection from cosmic rays, and maybe even water?
So?
Was that because they were concerned with pollution upon another world or because it was necessary for the electronics to continue to work?
I think you’ll find it as the latter.
[citation needed]
And what difference does that make to life there?
In 1991, as Apollo 12 Commander Pete Conrad reviewed the transcripts of his conversations relayed from the moon back to Earth, the significance of the only known microbial survivor of harsh interplanetary travel struck him as profound:
“I always thought the most significant thing that we ever found on the whole…Moon was that little bacteria who came back and lived and nobody ever said [anything] about it.”
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1998/ast01sep98_1
An interesting point about War of The Worlds was that it was the microbes that ‘won’ the war.
Limited contamination might have occurred, but NASA was looking at sterilization in 1963.
Martian life might exist in some form. Your confidence exceeds the available data.
As for War of the Worlds, that’s another reason to avoid just dropping a tonne of bacteria on every rock we manage to reach.
There’s reasonably strong support for extraterrestrial origins of life on earth – nothing cinematic – just protists in cometary ice.
Voted Labour/Greens today and persuaded my friend to do the same, she was going to vote National….only one vote taken away from them, but it still felt good.
Well done Nick,
Who in their own sanity would vote for this National Party train wreck?
They are ending up selling everything in their next term if elected.
Also the National party will sign us up to corporte controlled trade deals that will control our Government and our lives from overseas for the next 75 yrs and we will loose our country along with our freedoms and democracy.
Psychopaths and sociopaths do, as a matter of fact, think that they’re sane.
Nick, if she had voted National then she shouldn’t be your friend.
Great work!!
Voter turnout is 80,000 up according to RNZ news.
Bodes well.
OMG Ad !!! Don’t go there girlfriend …. It’s far too soon !
Let it go honey-child
Could be the ‘can’t wait til this shocker of an election is over so I’m getting it out of the way’ vote.
You mean Advance Voting is up 80k on the same time last election. Which the Electoral Commission was forecasting and doesn’t give anybody a steer on anything really.
Elections.org.nz advance voting stats.
Updated at 2pm weekdays and Saturdays.
Stuff.co is running a very unscientific poll that shows national ahead.
I gave my click to Labour but it looks like a few more clicks wouldn’t go astray to change this flawed poll.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96897026/were-curious-who-are-you-going-to-vote-for
I gave mine to ACT 😀
But, I guess if Stuff are going to take it as an indicator maybe I should give another to Labour… and another to Greens.
I just voted 3 times on the Stuff poll. Once each on Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. I think they counted.
They chose the worst picture that they could find for Ardern.
Great work!!
I suppose everyone has commented on this but on the news about Oz the other day was that they had wiped their controls on every possible bit of media? sounds like, being able to be owned by one entity: Corporation Australia Ink I think. Inky dinky di etc. Wind back to flogging convicts on its way (sstart with NZs for practice).
Jian Yang will review his citizenship declaration! That’s nice.
Having listened to Yang speak in Parliament, in my opinion, he doesn’t seem to have a good grasp of the English language at all. Very hard to understand, even when I’m wearing my hearing aids! So now I’m wondering how was he able to teach the English language in the first place?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11922788
The police are still hanging around my ass I no that the police and national are blaming me for making them look like idiots well no they are doing fine fucking up there image with there own actions thanks very much.
Big upps for the number one song of the Worlds biggest count down of 1500 rock songs that is a awesome winning song.
Killing in the name
Rage Against The Machine.
Now my main message Fonterra Theo don’t you think It is time you clean up that mess in Mango. It would be wise if you did this because it would stain your image if I have to clean it up. Ka pai
All the Kings Horses and all the Kings men couldn’t put Humpty to gather again