Open mike 16/03/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 16th, 2023 - 76 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

76 comments on “Open mike 16/03/2023 ”

  1. Sanctuary 1

    Frustrated by the PMs quick action, a bored press gallery is going to go on and on and about it to try to get Nash's scalp aren't they? The MSM is full of louche and unserious horse race reporters.

    Nash is a bit of a dick, but seriously – who outside the press gallery and the opposition thinks this is still a big issue since he was swiftly fired from his marquee portfolio? Hell, Hawkes Bay is the epicentre of the conspiracy theory laden hang 'em law and order brigade, ringing the police commissioner to complain about the courts being soft of crimes probably gains him votes.

    • tsmithfield 1.1

      Didn't Maurice Williamson resign from being a cabinet minister for a very similar offence? As it stands, what has he really suffered for his behaviour? No drop in pay or perks etc. He probably will be given some other job that has nowhere near as much pressure as minister of Police. So, what are the real consequences for Nash?

      • Tony Veitch 1.1.1

        Didn't Judith use her taxpayer funded trip to China to advocate for her husband's business – and suffered no consequences?

        • Robert Guyton 1.1.1.1

          That sorry saga dragged on and on and on. Nash's was quickly cauterised.

          • Peter 1.1.1.1.1

            I remember brazen lying and misrepresentation. From the Justice Minister no less.

            "A cup of tea … on the way to the airport," turned out to be something more than a little bit different than that.

            It's funny how the mob demanding any stupid Labour MP doing something stupid to be hung drawn and quartered, never to be seen again, are so humane when it comes to their own.

      • Robert Guyton 1.1.2

        Losing a role he relished. Public exposure for unprofessional behaviour. Bullying from Opposition politicians.

        Those sorts of real consequences.

      • Incognito 1.1.3

        Didn't Maurice Williamson resign from being a cabinet minister for a very similar offence?

        Nope, only if you look highly superficially. Williamson’s offence involved the infamous Donghua Liu, the political party donor extraordinaire and the same person who was given NZ citizenship against official advice after lobbying by MP Maurice Williamson.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Williamson#Suspensions

        https://natlib.govt.nz/records/33689376

        Your judgment seems a little clouded if you cannot tell the two apart.

      • Sanctuary 1.1.4

        Speaking of old Maurice, did anyone hear the hapless mayor boomer on RNZ this morning? I would suggest a listen, it is quite enlightening. Brown laid out his ideological starting point in as clear a fashion as you could expect and it was all done in his usual matrix of rambling, nauseating boomer victimhood.

        At a practical level his solutions are peek boomer as well – complain about it, see dragons everywhere, rule out every realistic option to deal with it that might cost him anything, then demand the poor, least privileged and disadvantaged carry the cost. You can hardly blame him – it was a virtuoso performance of the consequences of the collapse of local democracy. Here is a clearly inept man well out his depth, elected to represent the narrow interests of the 15% of the electorate that voted for him and knowing damn well who his constituency is. His razor gang consists of a coterie of similarly wildly over confident, superannuated yesterday's men from the wealthy side of town who are also determined to take us firmly back to the slash and burn days of the 1980s and 90s.

        • newsense 1.1.4.1

          Someone should post on or guest Bernard Hickey’s take- it’s a load of hooey.

          In fact such a load of poisonous hooey he’s brought in an ex-tobacco exec to sell it to us.

        • Anne 1.1.4.2

          Never again will I listen to that ignorant, simplistic red-necked dinosaur. Not only is he inarticulate to the point of senility but his cognitive dissonance is profound.

          Example: he justified not including Golf clubs in his council cost-slashing exercise because we need green spaces and they serve the purpose of acting as flood plains and that protects the houses from being flooded.

          Does that mean all the other 'free to all members of the public green spaces' don't count as green spaces? Sorry South Auckland, West Auckland, we're cutting your amenities because you don't matter but we must look after the elites (who he thinks he belongs to) cos they do matter.That sums up his philosophy.

          He's "gonna be tough because that's what the 180,000 people who voted for me want me to do" he said. Stuff the other 500,000 plus who didn't vote for him or didn't vote at all.

        • AB 1.1.4.3

          Climate-change induced damage and the costs associated with it are going to terrify everyone. There will be a lot of raising the drawbridge and frantically protecting whatever assets you have. People will protect themselves and be prepared to sacrifice others to do so. Given who votes and who doesn't, Brown may well become the new default for an electable local body politician.

          It is a painful irony that Brown's backers – who as small-state, free-market utopians have stalled effective action on climate change – now get to use the effects of climate change to further advance their project.

    • Muttonbird 1.2

      Nash is being done because he informally tried to influence the sentence of a person who had guns illegally.

      Normally, the Nats and their fellow travellers would applaud this type of intervention, and you can imagine Mark Mitchell making dozens of these types of calls every week.

      But not in this case. In this case the offender was a white farmer, not a brown gang member…

  2. Tony Veitch 2

    All power to the teachers for their strike today!

    • Adrian Thornton 2.1

      "All power to the teachers for their strike today!"….+5 from this household!!

    • PB 2.2

      And don't forget the Primary School Principals – often overlooked and forgotten but doing a job that most would run from at some speed.

  3. Adrian Thornton 3

    Talking about The Guardian…here is the sort of reactionary shit that they are well known for on the progressive Left…

    Guardian Columnist’s Latest Attack on ‘Heretics’

    "George Monbiot has been regularly smearing icons of the progressive left, writes Jonathan Cook. Now, it seems, it is comedian Russell Brand’s turn to come under his scalpel."

    …but then again, why anyone on the actual Left would trust The Guardian (and BBC) after they completely exposed themselves as being nothing more than the trusted guard dogs of the establishment status quo, is beyond me…all one can assume is that people who keep going back to the sources and defenders of establishment power for much of their political and geo-political information..must mostly support this current hegemonic ideology of free market Liberalism.

  4. Sanctuary 4

    That article you linked to is so dumb I felt my IQ dropping after reading just the first sentence. No wonder you've got some idiotic views if that is the sort of bullshit you are lapping up.

    Brand was never a leftist – he is just another superficially suave fraud, one of the new type of reactionary, conspiracy theory drenched snake oil grifter that preys on the guillable that has proliferated and prospered online – Andrew Tate, Jordan Petersen, the list goes on and on. Basically that are not half as clever as they think they are and they get an audience of the like minded. And Greenwald is just completely bonkers.

    • Incognito 4.1

      Messengers shooting at other messengers is such a mug’s game and simply a variation of angry (old white) men shouting at clouds. It is a game AT loves to play here, in a compulsive way.

      For completion’s sake, here’s a link to Monbiot’s opinion piece, which reads like an essay on the cult of personality and identity politics. I hope nobody will pop a vein in their brain as a result of reading it.

      https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/10/russell-brand-politics-public-figures-responsibility

      • Robert Guyton 4.1.1

        I'm strongly in agreement with Monbiot, on a number of issues. Having watched Brand for years myself, I experienced the same discomfort Monbiot describes. It doesn't surprise me at all that this fracturing has appeared at the level of popular commentators.
        I feel the same about Eisenstein 🙂

        • AB 4.1.1.1

          Agree. I very early on decided that Brand was an unserious clown with a tendency to be all over the shop in ridiculous ways – because he had no consistent underlying view of why things are the way they are. I've ignored the fool for years and it's no surprise to hear that he has become even sillier over time – because he lacks any sort of a baseline conceptual framework, there are no restraints on him going down all manner of rabbit holes.

          • Francesca 4.1.1.1.1

            I find Monbiot's stance on other journalists questionable in the light of his utterly limp and gutless non stance on Assange, and the assault on press freedom his case highlights

            I find Jonathan Cook a far more courageous and honest journalist….read his essay on intellectual cleansing part 2 to see how it works in the media these days

            https://www.medialens.org/2008/intellectual-cleansing-part-2/

            • Incognito 4.1.1.1.1.1

              So, the ‘damning’ critique of Monbiot is that he’s not been fighting the right or most just and appropriate cause? And Monbiot is to drop writing about “soil loss” because those same critics deem this less of a priority? Let’s not talk about silt ever again!

              • Francesca

                I find Monbiot on the environment excellent .I don't think he's so credible on other subjects.

                That he can discuss journalism and the threats to it without mentioning Assange is pretty telling in my book

                • Incognito

                  I don’t know what your book is telling you, only you know.

                  • Francesca

                    Don't fuss yourself over hypothetical books Incognito, I think you know as well as I do .When discussing threats to journalism, Assange would be a spectacularly egregious example of what happens to a journalist who publishes truthful fact based pieces . Taking a figure of speech literally to try and score points is at the lower end of debate.

                    Would "in my opinion " be more suited to your style guide?

                    • Incognito

                      I’m nonplussed by you telling us from your hypothetical book about one person who doesn’t write about another person because that’s not in his hypothetical book [of opinions]. Do carry on with your virtue signalling debate. BTW, my style guide is F7.

          • bwaghorn 4.1.1.1.2

            I've always thought he was just a it of light entertainment

            • Robert Guyton 4.1.1.1.2.1

              Brand?

              • weka

                On Brand or off Brand?

                • Robert Guyton

                  Ha!

                  Off.

                  Loved his energy earlier-on, but the whole, "I was a hedonist who enjoyed every pleasure, but now I'm a Buddhist … irks me 🙂

                  • Adrian Thornton

                    "I was a hedonist who enjoyed every pleasure, but now I'm a Buddhist … irks me"…me too, personally, he has always annoyed me, so I have never really watched or listened to him much…but I know enough about him to know that his main crime as far as the cult of the Liberal establishment goes…is pointing out, correctly, that the so called left media and right media are one of the same….as I have already mentioned, the Liberal media's destruction of Corbyn and Assange has proved this to be a fact in the UK…while all the US MSM is so fucked that only an idiot could take anything spewed out by it on matters of importance seriously….loss of narritive control is the thing both the Liberal and Right media and their supporters fear the most.

  5. tsmithfield 5

    I agree that pay for both teachers and nurses should be a lot more competitive and better conditions. That is called meeting the market since we are competing with Australia for those resources.

    So far as teachers go, I think there needs to be much more fundamental changes. From what I have seen, the quality of teachers in NZ often isn't very good, with a lot of them having major issues in the areas they are supposed to be teaching.

    So, I think the pay structure needs to be sufficient to attract people gifted in teaching to the role, rather than something better paying such as accounting etc. And, I think. the teacher training system needs to be setting much higher standards for those who aspire to be teachers. It shouldn't just be a cop-out profession for people not bright enough to make it elsewhere.

    And finally, there needs to be some way to measure performance, and reward for that. I am not talking about grades or similar. But many other professions work this out, so it shouldn't be impossible.

    • pat 5.1

      Education in NZ has a multitude of issues that need addressing , some in house but many from without.

      Entry level pay is an obvious barrier to choosing education as a career, but the teachers I know appear more concerned about MLEs, behavioural issues and a dearth of support in addressing them.

      • tsmithfield 5.1.1

        Yes, I agree. We have become rotten to the core, which is a major worry. The attendance stats for the third term last year is extremely troubling. If this continues, we will end up with a generation where a large percentage are too stupid for anything useful.

        And the level of family dysfunction leading to a breakdown in the regard for education, and disruptive behaviour of students in class makes it very difficult for teachers. So, there are multiple factors. Having said that, very gifted teachers often have ways of inspiring students from difficult backgrounds. So, getting the best people into the role is a key component of improving the system.

        • Belladonna 5.1.1.1

          Just in terms of the attendance stats. I had occasion to meet with the headmaster, deputy and dean in relation to an issue with my teen, recently.
          In the course of which, I asked how the school was following up his recent unjustified absence. [Unjustified in the MoE language = you are not at school, and the excuse you have provided is not acceptable. It's not illness or medical appointments, or external approved activities – which are coded differently]

          The answer was: They only followed up when unjustified absences fell to the 50-60% range. I pointed out, that one very quick way to encourage the 80-90% kids to fall to 50% was to give the strong message that the school didn't care whether the kids are there or not. And that they should put some more effort into catching the kids at the top of the cliff, and intervening when they have a greater chance of success; rather than the ambulance at the bottom, when school avoidance has become habitual.

          I doubt that it's shifted their policy one iota.

      • Stephen 5.1.2

        That’s the issue for me. In my Year 7 class of 27, we have; 2 with ASD, 2 with ADHD, 2 severely dyslexic, and 3 with various degrees of anxiety. In addition the range of abilities goes from Year 3/4 level to Year 10.

        The curriculum stuff is no problem. Endless resources, both paper and online.

        For the other issues our formal training has been the best part of nonexistent. Most of us rely on commonsense and parenting skills. Tricky if you’re young and newly qualified.

        Smaller class sizes, decent PD, and salary keeping up with inflation.

        That’s all I want.

        • Robert Guyton 5.1.2.1

          Stephen – I was like you, once upon a time…

          Back then, we didn't recognise adhd so much, nor dyslexia etc. Frontier stuff 🙂

          I had, at worst, 32 students 🙂

          "Smaller class sizes, decent PD, and salary keeping up with inflation.

          That’s all I want."

          100% support!

          • Stephen 5.1.2.1.1

            Thanks Robert. I’ve had 31 before. A real struggle to engage with all of them regularly.

        • Shanreagh 5.1.2.2

          My sister is a gifted secondary school teacher who her found her niche teaching what they called special needs classes. Before that she was regularly in huge classes with the proportions of 'needful' students being in the proportions you are stating Stephen. Even having found this niche she left after 5/6 years because the powers that be were always quick to cut back the resources, loading up the classes so she had large classes with pupils with special needs.

          My niece her daughter teaches in a large combined primary school class of around 40-55 students where they tried to have a class with two teachers teaching in the same space. After just about going batty the two teachers moved whatever surplus furniture they could locate, to partition the class to stop the noise. Totally and utterly frowned on as co-located teaching was the new way. The new set-up with the surplus furniture partition is not ideal but a better teaching environment than before.

          "Smaller class sizes, decent PD, and salary keeping up with inflation.

          That’s all I want."

          Was certainly my sister's plea. I'd imagine my niece would be quite keen on the smaller class sizes and a more permanent but movable if need be partitions

    • Robert Guyton 5.2

      "And finally, there needs to be some way to measure performance, and reward for that. I am not talking about grades or similar. But many other professions work this out, so it shouldn't be impossible."

      Completely wrong – you don't understand the teaching world.

      • Tony Veitch 5.2.1

        Ah, performance pay! The way to divide staffrooms and effectively nullify any collective actions by teachers to improve conditions for themselves and their charges!

        (Forgive me, I nearly said "clients.")

        Tomorrow's Schools – drafted by a grocer – one of the great failed experiments in NZ educations (along with National Standards)!

  6. weka 6

    Post up about the teachers strike. Feel free to use it as a general discussion post on the strike.

    .https://thestandard.org.nz/the-greens-backing-teachers-demands/

  7. Ad 7

    So if NZ GDP is now through the floor,

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/131512200/gdp-drops-06-economy-on-the-skids

    the NZ Current Account Deficit is now at the widest level in our history at a whopping 8.9% of GDP,

    big projects like CRL going up by $$$,

    and our new international liability position is still up there at $192.9 billion, are we expecting even more on the policy bonfire before Treasury can stabilise an actual budget due in May?

    Maybe they delay the budget to early June to give a bit more time to analyse all our negative financial news?

    I'd sure hate to see all of the above amount to a credit downgrade – like we got after Christchurch.

    • SPC 7.1

      The GDP figure is within our control – creating a recession to lower and even reduce GDP based on it being the traditional way to reduce inflation (even if the causes are not simply domestic demand, but international, weather related and structural – lack of workers and yet lack of housing for migrants).

      The Current Account deficit is related to our property speculation fueled economy (flow of offshore savings into domestic mortgages/property values beyond local wage and productivity levels). With each local boom binge this goes out of control and we have the corrective bust – it speaks to a failure to both bring down building cost and focus investment into productivity improvement and the export sector (also domestic services) of the economy.

    • Ad-you are right, the current account deficit is worrying. Basically we are living beyond our means and borrowing massively to pay for his.

      Inflows from immigration help to offset this as the people who come to live here from the better off countries usually bring their assets with them over time.

      The GDP is still growing 2.2% year on year, so at least at the moment, is not as big a problem.

      • SPC 7.2.1

        Last years growth rate was 2.2%. It's not current growth as indicated by the 0.6% decline in the last quarter.

        Only net inflows of those with assets assist, a net outflow going to Oz with their sold property cash is otherwise.

  8. SPC 8

    So after a 0.6% decline in GDP in December and further OCR rises since then, and the certainty that the March quarter (floods etc) will show another decline – thus the technical requirement to determine a recession being met. The "market" still expects a further OCR rise, 0.25% rather than the expected 0.5%.

    It is well known that OCR rises to contain inflation often overshoot to cause a recession. But once that stage is reached the OCR rises end.

    However it appears the "market" expects stagflation ("structural" issues being the cause rather than too much domestic demand), thus continuing inflation despite (artificially suppressed demand caused) recession.

    This is because of a neo-liberal bias to protect the real value of historic asset/wealth from being undermined by inflation. The same bias is why we have no CGT, stamp duties, wealth taxation or estate taxation.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/gdp-data-expected-to-show-economy-in-reverse/2TULEGCPYBGQBK3UXVNVEJAVCY/

    • SPC 8.1

      What we need is a period of inflation with compensating wage increases to restore a connection between wages and property values.

      That is one way to undo the damage done by the RBG when he pumped money through banks and reduced equity requirements for property investors at the same time (resulting in an increase in the number of multiple owner landlords).

      Our rate of home ownership is now below that of the UK and still falling, we are at risk of becoming a class based society (children of property owners who will own and those who are not and will not).

  9. Adrian 9

    Maybe if we got all the Road Cone Shifters into productive jobs GDP would quickly level out. There are too many jobs that have only recently been created that are not exactly productivity enhancing. Yes of course we need to take care of safety but last week I drove past almost half a kilometre of road cones on both side of a road and the job was 100 or so metres down an adjoining street. WTF. Human Resources jobs for another could be cut back to a tenth of existing for the same result.

    • Belladonna 9.1

      Sometimes I think it is only the manufacture and sale of roadcones (at $50 a pop) is the only thing which is keeping the NZ economy going!

      The numbers used are astounding!

    • weka 10.1

      how big is their garden? How many nights do they have people in the airbnb?

      I'm good with charging for watering lawns, but people need to be able to plant trees and grow food, even flowers. In a dry climate 700L water/day isn't a lot.

      • weka 10.1.1

        Central Otago average daily usage is 586. Not hard to understand why.

        https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/being-mindful-water-use

          • joe90 10.1.1.1.1

            Water isn't free. The infrastructure required to deliver potable water costs an arm and a leg yet these entitled boomers use twice the city average and refuse to pay their share

            And thinking that trotting off to the press with their tale of woe was a good idea outs them as fucking idiots, too.

            • weka 10.1.1.1.1.1

              of course it's not free. The debate is whether we have a user pays model, or a collectively paid model, or a hybrid.

              Have a go at the couple (I'm sure they can reduce their water use and/or afford the bill) but bear in mind their age peers who live off super and still grow some of their own food out of necessity. And what might happen under RW governance.

        • Robert Guyton 10.1.1.2

          Xeriscape for the win!

          • weka 10.1.1.2.1

            that would help! Still need to encourage people to grow food and plant trees.

            Metering water is a blunt instrument, we need something a bit more elegant as well.

            • Robert Guyton 10.1.1.2.1.1

              DB Brown is the person to ask about growing food crops/trees etc. without supplementary watering.

              It can be and should be, widely practiced.

              • weka

                it should. And the people without those skills/tech need to be able to water their gardens and trees to stop them dying.

                Telling people in a dry climate to save water above 700L/ day isn't quite the right framing.

              • PsyclingLeft.Always

                DB Brown for sure. An Informed and Informative person !

            • Shanreagh 10.1.1.2.1.2

              Metering water is a blunt instrument, we need something a bit more elegant as well.

              I agree. Not only is it a blunt instrument but it is an inequitable instrument.

              One of the truisms about equity is this

              'Treating unequal people equally is inequitable.'

              So large families, families where there are family members who need constant showers and/or use of washing machines use more water in their day to day lives, just to exist. We should not penalise them by charging for every drop of water they use.

              The Chch model with its allowance is fairer than a model where there is no allowance.

              The argument is about the size of the allowance.

              Where the Chch model seems unfair is that it is a hybrid system in that not all are bound by it. Eventually it will cover all residents once meters are widespread. This seems inherently unfair to me and means that some will be paying and others not just by accident of geography or pipes.

              Probably it would have been fairer to concentrate on getting all the meters in place then charged. KCDC did this, the only good thing about their operation of the water charging regime. .

      • Craig H 10.1.2

        It is proposed for increase to 900L from 1 July in the annual plan (source – pg 19) and from 1 July 2024 will be taken over by the new Southern water service entity, so will be interesting to see how that plays out next year.

      • Pingao 10.1.3

        In my experience of living in Christchurch for over 20 years (I moved away at the end of 2020), Christchurch people think water is free as it is not charged for separately in rates. As a result people have been cutting their lawns ultra short and then leaving the sprinkler on – sometimes in the middle of the day watering the footpath as much as the verge (observed during my Postie incarnation).

        The pure potable groundwater (one of the purest waters in the world, my plumbing tutor said it was the 4th purest) was so good it was untreated until recently.

        There is very high demand in summer which is when the city struggles to pump enough water to keep up (my understanding). One way to manage this is to put a price on water. This was effective in Auckland as when charges were initially applied, Auckland used 10% less water (comment from Tim Davie hydrologist during a postgrad lecture).

    • tsmithfield 10.2

      I agree with the principle of charging for what is used.

      However, in the Christchurch situation it is a bit fraudulent IMO. They had supposedly identified homeowners that were "high users" who were levied for the water charge.

      However, the CCC provided a tool to check if whether you were a high user or not. The thing is that it was possible to key in any address and see whether a particular property was a high user relative to other properties. Nearly every address I looked at was a "high user". So, it looked to me that the CCC was being quite deceptive in its categorisation to drive up the revenue grab.

      • weka 10.2.1

        what's the CCC definition of high user?

        • Pingao 10.2.1.1

          The high user rate definition is on the CCC website and is at a rate above the average daily user rate in Christchurch. Edit: The average household user rate is currently 700 litres per day so above this would trigger a high user charge.

          Search for CCC water user charges (can't post links on my mobile sorry).

    • Graeme 10.3

      A slightly less sensational follow up piece in Stuff / Press this morning.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/131514570/household-in-christchurch-faces-1600-bill-for-using-too-much-water

      The largest consumer got a bill for $1600,

      …property churned through about 12,300 litres of water each day between October and January …

      However, the Christchurch City Council says it is likely the property has a leak and the bill will be reimbursed if the leak is repaired.

      There's three sides to high water use, leaks, prats, (both are a spectrum), and people who need / want more water and are happy to pay for it.

      Leaks can be insidious things that can cost a considerable amount of time and resources to find and remedy. 12,000 litres / day (8.3 litres / minute) is quite a small flow, so a quiet hose, or a continuous dripper system. If it's leakage you could chew through well over $1600 trying to find it, and may not be just one leak.

      The prats think water is an entitlement, as much as they want, and cost socialised oner the whole community. Generally they are retired, pakeha, and in big scheme not that wealthy, just think they are. They would vote right and are the ones who get off their bikes about water meters. They probably bought shares in the power companies when they were sold off, and strangely would buy shares in any water infrastructure utilities that may be floated. Without saying it they hate 3Waters because it might take that opportunity away. I've got / had a few of them on the schemes I manage and have spent a long time getting inside their heads. It ebbs and flows but slowly the world moves forward.

      Then there's those that understand that infrastructure to supply water has initial and ongoing costs and are happy to pay for those in proportion to their demand on the system. These people are generally engaged, co-operative and a delight to work with. They are also the vast majority of the people I deal with.

  10. Stephen D 11

    Pablo putting things into perspective again.

    https://www.kiwipolitico.com/2023/03/the-return-to-big-wars/

    “It remains to be seen how long New Zealand’s foreign policy elite fully comprehend what their military commanders are telling them about what is on the strategic horizon. They may well still cling to the idea that they can trade preferentially with the PRC, stay out of Russian inspired conflicts and yet receive full security guarantees from its Anglophone partners. But if they indeed think that way, they are in for an unpleasant surprise because one way or another NZ will be pulled into the next Big War whether it likes it or not.”

    • SPC 11.1

      I would hope he understands that the purpose of containment (Cold War) is to prevent a Big War, not start one.

      And until any war with China, the USA, UK, Canada, Oz, EU, South Korea, Japan and ASEAN will all be trading with China.

      All "full security guarantees" means is there is being seen as one of the team or not being seen as part of the team (and implication as to being in the loop on intelligence and security briefings*). For example there is the Quad and at one point Rudd pulled Oz out of the Quad. Of course the current Labour PM of Oz has gone Quad + with the basing of foreign subs (UK and USA) in Perth – freedom of the seas and all that.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrilateral_Security_Dialogue

      *there is an undercurrent of being at risk of Rainbow Warrior events or mysterious IT attacks if not under protection, fear and gang security patches.

      PS “stay out of Russian inspired conflicts”, NATO has not acted because no member was attacked (and the nuke armed status of the cornered rat state of Putin) and the UN has not acted because of the UNSC vetoes of Russia and China.

    • aj 11.2

      What he has left unsaid is the terrifying logic that to get to the outcomes described below (short – to the point – overwhelming force – break the enemies capabilities in the shortest time) the use of nuclear weapons are even more likely to be used.

      One thing needs to be understood about Big Wars. The objective is that they be short and to the point. That is, overwhelming force is applied in the most efficient way in order to break the enemy’s physical capabilities and will to fight in the shortest amount of time. Then a political outcome is imposed. What military leaders do not want is what is happening to the Russians in Ukraine: bogged down by a much smaller force fighting on home soil with the support of other large States that see the conflict as a proxy for the real thing. The idea is get the fight over with as soon as possible, which means bringing life back to the notion of “overwhelming force,” but this time against a peer competitor.

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    TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 hours ago
  • Relentlessly negative
    Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 hours ago
  • Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    Bryce Edwards writes –  It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 hours ago
  • Promiscuous Empathy: Chris Trotter Replies To His Critics.
    Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played. “Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
    7 hours ago
  • Don’t run your business like a criminal enterprise
    The Detail this morning highlights the police's asset forfeiture case against convicted business criminal Ron Salter, who stands to have his business confiscated for systemic violations of health and safety law. Business are crying foul - but not for the reason you'd think. Instead of opposing the post-conviction punishment and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 hours ago
  • Misremembering Justinian’s Taxes.
    Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I - Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
    7 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Scoring 4.6 out of 10, the new Government is struggling in the polls
    It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    8 hours ago
  • Bishop scores headlines with crackdown on unwelcome tenants – but Peters scores, too, as tub-thump...
    Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    9 hours ago
  • Will it make the boat go faster?
    Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bryce Edwards: Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi The fact that a ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    12 hours ago
  • Is Simon Bridges’ NZTA appointment a conflict of interest?
    Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' at 10:10am on Tuesday, March 19
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st Century The SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims Stuff Steve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    12 hours ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things on Tuesday, March 19
    It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    14 hours ago
  • New Life for Light Rail
    This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail  Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    15 hours ago
  • Why Are Bosses Nearly All Buffoons?
    Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    17 hours ago
  • Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6.06 pm on March 18
    TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 day ago
  • Peters holds his ground on co-governance, but Willis wriggles on those tax cuts and SNA suspension l...
    Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 day ago
  • Labour’s final report card
    David Farrar writes –  We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how  went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promise The result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • “Drunk Uncle at a Wedding”
    I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 day ago
  • Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 day ago
  • Gordon Campbell on Dune 2, and images of Islam
    Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
    2 days ago
  • New Rail Operations Centre Promises Better Train Services
    Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
    2 days ago
  • Bernard's six newsy things at 6.36am on Monday, March 18
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: Wang Yi’s perfectly-timed, Aukus-themed visit to New Zealand
    Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    2 days ago
  • The Kaka’s diary for the week to March 25 and beyond
    TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Bitter and angry; Winston First
    New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
    2 days ago
  • Out of Touch.
    “I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • Bring out your Dad
    Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The bewildering world of Chris Luxon – Guns for all, not no lunch for kids
    .“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 days ago
  • Expert Opinion: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
    3 days ago
  • Manufacturing The Truth.
    Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet –  is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
    3 days ago
  • A Powerful Sensation of Déjà Vu.
    Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
    3 days ago
  • Can you guess where world attention is focussed (according to Greenpeace)? It’s focussed on an EPA...
    Bob Edlin writes –  And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago
  • Further integrity problems for the Greens in suspending MP Darleen Tana
    Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago
  • Jacqui Van Der Kaay: Greens’ transparency missing in action
    For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s Dawn Chorus with six newsey things at 6:46am for Saturday, March 16
    TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ Herald Thomas Coughlan Simeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • How Did FTX Crash?
    What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    4 days ago
  • Elections in Russia and Ukraine
    Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
    TL;DR: Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
    The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
    See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
    What was that judge thinking? Peter Williams writes –  That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
    Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
    It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    5 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
    It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
    For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
    Bryce Edwards writes –  Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
    Questions need to be asked on both sides of the world Peter Williams writes –   The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    6 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    6 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
    Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
    Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Government moves to quickly ratify the NZ-EU FTA
    "The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    10 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    12 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    13 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
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    1 day ago
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