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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 spacesand 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 the180,000 people whovoted 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.
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.
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…
That is the typical National Party hypocrisy that our esteemed MSM completely missed (again).
You can't tell me that when National was in government they didn't make similar calls. Its just that Stuart Nash was a bit sloppy and got caught.
The real question is not whether Stuart Nash should have made such an approach, it is why the police did not decide themselves to appeal such a soft sentence. Perhaps some journalist might ask them one day. It stinks of political cover-up.
"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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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.
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
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!
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?
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
"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.
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)!
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. .
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.
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).
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.
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).
…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.
“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.”
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.
*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.
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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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, ...
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, ...
.“$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 ...
“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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 → ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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, ...
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. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. 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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
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The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
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Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
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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.
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?
Didn't Judith use her taxpayer funded trip to China to advocate for her husband's business – and suffered no consequences?
That sorry saga dragged on and on and on. Nash's was quickly cauterised.
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.
Losing a role he relished. Public exposure for unprofessional behaviour. Bullying from Opposition politicians.
Those sorts of real consequences.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
Actually yes in this case. The Nats chief PR officer is applauding what Nash did.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/stuart-nash-resigns-mike-hosking-the-background-to-now-former-police-minister-stuart-nash-coming-on-the-show/2M5WWYR73RBZTJHXLDXP2J6IFA/
You got it perfectly Muttonbird.
That is the typical National Party hypocrisy that our esteemed MSM completely missed (again).
You can't tell me that when National was in government they didn't make similar calls. Its just that Stuart Nash was a bit sloppy and got caught.
The real question is not whether Stuart Nash should have made such an approach, it is why the police did not decide themselves to appeal such a soft sentence. Perhaps some journalist might ask them one day. It stinks of political cover-up.
All power to the teachers for their strike today!
"All power to the teachers for their strike today!"….+5 from this household!!
And don't forget the Primary School Principals – often overlooked and forgotten but doing a job that most would run from at some speed.
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.
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.
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
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 🙂
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.
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/
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!
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
I don’t know what your book is telling you, only you know.
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?
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 signallingdebate. BTW, my style guide is F7.I've always thought he was just a it of light entertainment
Brand?
On Brand or off Brand?
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 🙂
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Thanks Robert. I’ve had 31 before. A real struggle to engage with all of them regularly.
Once you hit 28/29/30+. it gets desperate 🙂
I often had 36 in the 60's. Most were taller than me. Conducting the class orchestra must have been a spectacle on reflection.
36!!
Exhausting!
Well done, you!
The orchestral scene you invoke is fascinating!
I'm seeing a solid lad on bass drum 🙂
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.
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
"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.
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)!
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/
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.
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.
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.
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/
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).
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.
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!
20% of residents use half of Christchurch's water.
https://twitter.com/OwairakaAroha/status/1636095143072927745
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/131482567/definitely-not-residents-refuse-to-pay–stupid-excess-water-charge-in-christchurch
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.
Central Otago average daily usage is 586. Not hard to understand why.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/being-mindful-water-use
Chch uses 540L/day
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/127243722/chance-to-find-out-your-water-use-before-homes-taking-too-much-are-charged
Comparing Ak with Chch is daft
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.
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.
Xeriscape for the win!
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.
DB Brown is the person to ask about growing food crops/trees etc. without supplementary watering.
It can be and should be, widely practiced.
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.
DB Brown for sure. An Informed and Informative person !
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. .
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.
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).
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.
what's the CCC definition of high user?
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).
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,
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.
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.”
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.
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.