Even simple steps in going green can have unexpected problems. Change wiring insulation to something soy-based, and rats are even happier to chew on it.
I gotta admit that when it comes to causing problems in new cars, it’s mostly just a “heh” moment for me. But if that problem spreads to wiring in buildings … well … vermin-damaged wiring is already a significant cause of fires with nasty toxic PVC insulation, so making the insulation more snackable is a definite worry.
Good to hear, take a stand NZ and remove the Israeli ambassador, through all the carnage during the conflicts of 2014, john key did diddly squat about it.
Meanwhile, Israel is celebrating today and those in Gaza are burying their dead (including children) the hospitals in Gaza are currently at breaking point.
Do we have an ambassador in Israel? I see that South Africa and Turkey have removed theirs.
Meanwhile the US has vetoed a UN call for an independent investigation into the cause of the Gaza killings.
Mind you we all know what caused it…
Some stupid prick had the bright idea that he should move the US Embassy to Jerusalem – I mean what could possibly go wrong? Now I hear 7 Republican Governors have endorsed him for a Peace Prize!
If, and it’s a big if, Trump’s payback by the Israelis for dropping the Iran deal and moving the embassy to Jerusalem is for them to cease all settlement building immediately then he deserves a nomination.
“Let’s call for restraint on both sides given where we’re at”.
So No Bridges wants the Palestinians to stop throwing rocks and the Israelis to stop killing people with shots from high-powered sniping rifles, reportedly to the head and genitals.
on the subject of rnz…
i have sworn off ‘the panel’ for a while now, however, while in the workshop yesty, my i pod went flat.
so i tuned into rnz, just in time to hear david farrar, excuse,diminish and celebrate the goings on in palestine.
i eventually calmed myself down from both the comments and the way an opposing point of view (allie jones from christchurch) was interupted.
it then became open season on the government performance for the national party pollster, advisor and princess party organiser. he was joined by a commenter who seemed to to be singing from the same songsheet.
i get the government is due to get criticised, but by a person holding such vile opinions is getting too much for me.
No I don’t agree with Farrar’s opinion re the current deaths in palestine.
I also didn’t agree with Jones views on the same show on Labour’s lack of preparedness when coming into govenment.
But I do agree with their right to express their opinions; even though I don’t agree with them.
This is an enduring principle of democracy, like all of the others; and one that is not time bound. Or do you consider this principle (and others) to be ‘so last century’. If so how do justify calling yourself a ‘democrat’? If in fact you do.
But I do agree with their right to express their opinions;
I don’t when those ‘opinions’ are manifestly wrong and supporting Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians is manifestly wrong on a public broadcast. There is neither right nor logic to Israel’s slaughter.
To paraphrase J M Barrie: Every time a National/ACT supporter says “silly little girl” somewhere a little girl resolves to never, ever, ever vote for them.
Being killed in Palestine, Being killed in Yarmouk refugee camp, being killed in Latakia refugee camp, dying in the Mediterranean
The International Organization for Migration has called the Mediterranean “by far the world’s deadliest border,” as more than 33,000 migrants have died at sea trying to enter Europe since 2000.
For an authentic voice on the crisis in Palestine you won’t get anywhere else in New Zealand.
Ramzy Baroud New Zealand Tour
AUCKLAND: FRIDAY 18 MAY
9:35am: Listen to 95bFM radio for Mikey Havoc’s live studio interview with Ramzy Baroud
10:30am book signing event at UBIQ Auckland University Bookshop, 2 Alfred Street, Student Commons (off Princes Street, City.)
AUCKLAND: SATURDAY 19 MAY
Ramzy will speak at the Nakba Rally, 2pm Aotea Square, Queen St, CBD.
AUCKLAND: SUNDAY 20 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm Freemans Bay Community Hall, 52 Hepburn St, Auckland.
HAMILTON: MONDAY 21 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm: Wintec, Room A2.05, City Campus, Hamilton.
Access via Gate 3 or Gate 2 on Tristram Street. Free parking.
WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY
Book signing from 12pm to 1pm: Vic Books, Easterfield Building, 1 Kelburn Parade, Wellington 6012. enquiries@vicbooks.co.nz
WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY
Evening event: 6pm Free Public talk: St Andrews on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington City 6011. (Wellington event book sales by Vic Books)
CHRISTCHURCH: WEDS 23 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral, 234 Hereford St, Christchurch 8011
DUNEDIN: THURSDAY 24 MAY
Free public talk: 5:15pm Burns 2 Lecture theatre, Ground Floor Arts Building, Albany Street, University of Otago.
When the crimes of the Holocaust are discussed, the discussion almost immediately becomes two pronged: one of the Holocaust as a despicable crime against humanity, which should be duly remembered, as not to be repeated against any other nation, and the memory of those who perished in that most dreadful time in history also be recalled. But there is also another Holocaust discussion, one that is hardly concerned with the plight of humanity and the dignity of people. It’s not about remembrance and is scarcely pertinent to issues concerning human rights. The second reference to the Holocaust is always used in political contexts, often infused to justify vile human rights violations against other nations, mostly Palestinians and Lebanese, and utilized as a pretext to infringe about the sovereignty of other nations, like Iraq, and now Iran.
I wonder where you got your (apparently false) impression from. Care to share who’s been duping you?
Kieren Read echoes the entire country’s thoughts on the Christchurch rebuild. He says the lack of progress on an indoor stadium reflects the lack of progress in Christchurch. John Key, Bingles and the previous National government crowed about the Christchurch rebuild being one of their crowning achievements. They said Christchurch would never stand alone.
The reality of National governments sucks eh, Christchurch.
Gerry Brownlee, the incompetent nincompoop who was appointed “Tsar” of Christchurch is primarily, obsessed with his own towering, but somehow also fragile, ego. His pathological levels of arrogance means he becomes becomes “incensed” at any criticism of his time in government, thinks he can pick and choose who talks to and dismiss anyone he doesn’t agree with with a maximum of condescending and patronising language.
His highly flawed character and refusal to listen to anyone who says anything he doesn’t like has made the rebuild of Christchurch a fiasco.
If the nats wanted to keep their base happy they could have poached a piece of stadium land in the cbd or very close to it after the quakes, and had people dreaming of a Lancaster Park of the future. Then they could have had the temporary stadium in the right place to start with instead of the middle of nowhere.
The temporary stadium cost $30 million, it needs some roofs at either end of the ground and the roofs on the sides need to be extended a bit. $40 million I reckon and you have a stadium that’s waterproof.
Which shows the problem with NZ as a whole, there are certain things a city needs like museums, art galleries etc to be considered a city and not just a collection of people living in the same general area (IMHO) so the Dunedin stadium is a good idea as its adds to the city
Given the DCC was running around trying to close community things like bowling clubs, the stadium was ill-considered – in fact if you’re looking for ill-conceived projects world wide, stadiums are second only to convention centers for not paying their way.
Sure they don’t pay their way but neither do a lot of things a city requires, like museums and art galleries, however the Dunedin stadium seems to be doing good at putting Dunedin on the map in a positive way
True PR
I was agin it, it seemed OTT but literally having a roof over the top – which made it expensive – was a rational measure considering Dunedin’s cold weather. And with the change in climate and weather drops etc it could be wise in any of the big cities.
We have to realise that tourism and performances are businesses and keep the money flowing. There has to be lots of things happening for employment and money circulation, we aren’t just cows and houses.
So Dunedin will find it keeps them on the map. Even if it is a base investment that needs subsidising, it will be the ginger that keeps other business fizzing.
The point is, both convention centres and stadiums are unlikely to pay their way even using indicators like SROI (Social return on Investment), whereas other facilities such as libraries, and local sports clubs (and perhaps museums and art galleries) would.
I agree with the convention centre but i’d argue that the importance of rugby and/or other sports (whether some on here like it or not) and musical acts are as important to a city as an art gallary
Rugby is of national significance, but perhaps the funding of local sports clubs and investment at grassroots level would be a better return on investment – both economically and socially.
(Coming from a rugby mad household, I have no love for the game myself, so I can’t be bothered having a look for any comparative studies. Might be worth having a look at though, in terms of funding stadiums or grassroots clubs)
The Dunedin Stadium is doing its job bringing in anchor events and tens of thousands of visitors. How one determines that it ‘pays its way’ or indeed whether it needs to is a bureaucratic equation explained here:
regardless of whether it turns out to be a net good, it was essentially a gift by rugby-loving councillors to the ORFU that turned into a badly-organised white elephant that still hasn’t had its true costs released. And apparently the concert sound can be hit-or-miss.
At least they’re finally getting in acts that started well after I was born, though. For the first several years it was like the same rich small-town businessmen who voted for it on council (some of them profiting from the land sale) had their personal spotify playlist as a booking guide.
But that’s all water under the bridge. There seems to be a bit more honest consultation regarding the waterfront redevelopment.
Indeed not all Dunedin.
My household pays Dunedin, Otago, and Wanaka rates into that stadium, and there’s one side of my household that will not visit the ForsythBarr stadium on principle. There’s no pleasing such (ahem) people.
I have a mate who just won’t STFU about how awful the plan was. As in almost every mention of the DCC or whatever brings a snide comment about the stadium.
I’m tempted to watch Frozen just so I know the song “let it go” lol
edit:
although on the other side, when the most recent hotel was declined ISTR a letter to the editor moaning that we didn’t get a smelter at Aramoana, either. Whingers have looooong memories 🙂
What on earth did Bowling Clubs have to do with the City Council?
Surely the Council didn’t own the land and provide the workers to maintain the greens did they?
If not what the hell did it have to do with them? Bowling clubs may be dying but if the people who play it are willing to keep the clubs going at their expense what does it have to do with anyone else?
Both stuff and the herald have launched one of their bleeding hearts crusades against poverty. How long before they say “Job done, our conscience is salved for now, fuck the poor lets get back to pimping the property market”… ?
12yrs ago I rented a 3brm house in a fairly affluent suburb on the North Shore in Auck for $270 per week. No catches, it was advertised in the ‘paper and was the typical basic weatherboard ’70s house in tidy condition. The same house now would easily fetch $600 per week.
At 18 I was earning adult wage doing shift work in a factory. I was paid the absolute minimum award wage, take-home pay was $96 per week. I was flatting and four of us were renting a nice 4brd house in a reasonable suburb in Auck for $50 per week. A 3brm house could be rented for half the miminum (award) wage.
Why are there working poor? Because they’re being bled dry by extortionate rents. No-one wants to admit it because the solution to usury rents is to lower the price of houses and we can’t have that can we. So they just chuck the poor a few crumbs every now & then to shut them up for a while.
“The UST 10yr yield is now at 3.08%, up +9 bps on the American inflation prospect. The Chinese 10yr is at 3.72% (up +1 bp) while the New Zealand equivalent is at 2.77% (up +4 bps).”
Who thinks that having part ownership of a house and a mortgage of $400k is affordable and still live in Auckland ??
“There’s no way they could take on a $600,000 mortgage – a $400,000 mortgage, maybe, then you’d get a much bigger group of people.” https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12051840
The NZ dream of owning your own home has “officially” been declared dead and buried. Thanks you to BOTH Nats and Lab for policies that have led up to this.
It had initially promised to build houses for between $500,000 and $600,000. They will now be priced according to the number of bedrooms, and three-bedroom homes will be sold for $650,000 – higher than promised during the election.
No What was promised “The stand-alone KiwiBuild homes in Auckland will be priced at $500,000-$600,000 with apartments and TERRACED HOUSES UNDER $500,000. ” https://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild
I really feel for the current government, national left behind a huge mess, it’s like every day we learn more about the disaster of the last nine years.
The new government is doing everything they can. Looking forward to the budget tomorrow.
And “Amy Adams: Careless fiscal strategy will send nation into decline.”
A bit sad is Amy because she can only put out her plaintive Chicken Licken doom is nigh line as she struggles to be credible any more. A good example of unaccepting defeat.
@ Cinny, Yes but Rogernomics started it. Labour lit the fuse and National ignited it. Labour still find it hard to come to terms, that rogernomics and free trade and liberalisation has created the increasing inequality. All the government subsidies like WFF and accomodation allowance and all the handouts to developers isn’t working, because it is based on a profit model not a long term and practical social good model.
If the main driver of everything is low cost and profit and a business gets more rights as an entity than a person, an offshore person or business has the same rights as a Kiwi or a Kiwi business so someone who pays 50 cents an hour is competing against $16 p/h , then of course we are going to have leaky buildings, lowered wages and high house prices, increasing bio security risks, more pollution and drop to the bottom.
What National has done is despicable and the Ponzi scheme worked for a bit but the wheels are coming off. Labour is better but still suffer from similar ideology for the most part such as TPPA and PPP’s and a lack of analysis of what went wrong and why.
But providing financial support for families with children is nothing new and nothing to do with Neo-liberalism:
In 1946 universal family-benefit payments replaced means-tested family allowances, and each mother received some money each week to spend on her children. … Between 1945 and 1960 parents living on a mid-range wage with two children would receive through family benefit payments and income tax relief about 50% of what a single old-age pensioner received.
Yes but globalism and the rise of tax havens and use of vehicles to blur the assets someone owns, so rich can be poor, has changed the equation and criteria of who we should be supporting. See 14.1.1.
What is going to happen within one generation, if less and less people are actually working in NZ and more and more people qualify for welfare well beyond natural population growth.
Can’t see how your rant at 14.1.1 has any relevance to my point. If you actually read what i have quoted you will see that “in 1946 universal family-benefit payments replaced means-tested family allowances”, so wealthy people got this in the past. Likewise owning a house has never ruled someone out of receiving the DPD.
You are just a xenophobe who gets all wound up when immigrants and the children of immigrants get the same allowances as the rest of us.
Well I do when the rest of us actually work and pay the taxes. The end result will no welfare at all if this abuse is allowed to continue. Obviously that’s fine if you are the ‘fake’ poor but less fine if you are the ‘real’ poor.
We are a country of only 4.5 million people – where do you think the tipping point will be 1 million people accessing NZ welfare, 2 million, 3 million…
If there’s a progressive taxation system, there’s no reason 4.5million shouldn’t get some benefit if the math adds up.
Now, that’s a lot of math, and to my mind UBI proponents tend towards a bit of hand-waving in the gap ‘twixt money in and money out, but it’s a logical possibility that deserves more than a simple rhetorical escalation.
I don’t think you should call savenz names solkta.
The situation is difficult and there is no easy answer that will please everyone and it needs to be looked at from all perspectives. It might not please you to have one point looked at and questioned which you might favour. The same will apply to someone else and their preference.
The right way may put limits on you, or me but the hard work of thinking it through should be done by people who are concerned about we people. Otherwise things can get bad and all of a sudden it’s TINA and machine-minds from Treasury and haute finance impose their favourite theories.
Do you really think the current government weren’t able to work out from available information how much they would be able to build and sell “affordable” housing for?
Yes National did fuck all to control housing prices but Labour promised prices far below what could be achieved and as much as I hate to admit it I am pretty sure it was pointed out to them at the time.
Come on cinny all power to you been a COL supporter but don’t believe every thing your fed, judge government with an open mind on their actions and outcomes not words, inputs and excuses
Yeah but it’s like who knew the extent ChCh appeared to be screwed over by the last lot, or middlemore etc, for example, and did our new government have knowledge of those two big issues prior to the election?
And how about the cattle disease? Did the prior government know how much damage they had done by not doing enough and the cost of their negligence? Do they care?
I knew it would be bad, but dang I didn’t think it would be that bad.
It’s impossible to leave the current bubble intact and build truly affordable houses. The bubble precludes affordability for the majority.
Deflate the bubble by turning down the immigration tap and making owning houses you don’t live in yourself, and land that is rezoned as residential, really unattractive as investments.
2015-2017, comparatively recently – perhaps even since Serco years for those linked items.
Prisons have for some time been under pressure from poor overcrowded conditions and trying to cope with gang stresses
for some time. The state didn’t want to cope and are paying Serco to remove the problem to as great a distance as possible. Which they are doing but not well enough to keep the problem out of the limelight.
It is government that can improve things by getting rid of Serco and instituting single cells again, and not holding so many on bail. And possibly changing the whole arid sexless system, to one that goes for habilitation.
“Starting Wednesday, foreigners will pay the province a 20 percent tax on top of the listing value, up from 15 percent now, and a levy on property speculators will be introduced later this year, according to budget documents released Tuesday. The government will also crack down on the condo pre-sale market and beneficial ownership to ensure that property flippers, offshore trusts and hidden investors are paying taxes on gains.”
“The levy, she said, will also capture “satellite families” — a term with Chinese origins to describe those families where the breadwinner remains in the home country while the children and spouse reside abroad to take advantage of educational and employment opportunities.”
Yes, but NZ is completely blind to what’s going on. One family is just bringing in more and more relatives under whatever weird rules NZ has. This is a real example of people I know living in Auckland – note they are NOT Chinese – it’s NOT just a Chinese issue.
Wealthy family arrive in NZ with 3 children under some investor category about 20 years ago both not speaking English and buy up some property. Husband leaves NZ and wife files for ‘abandonment’ and goes on DPB with 2 children even though she has a million dollar house. Husband takes other child back to home country. NZ Children grow up as NZ citizens with dual passports and go to university here. They marry and new partners get NZ citizenship and they leave to get good jobs overseas while buying up property in NZ. Aged parents arrive in NZ to look after grandkids and can get residency. The child that went back with Father as a child, comes to NZ not speaking English with new partner and has two kids and they get residency and access WFF and various government welfare for their low wage job and they bring over their aged parents to look after the kids.
So now we somehow have a family who have been on NZ social welfare all their lives while being uber wealthy and working offshore, and at this stage we have 4 aged parents, the main person who originally got residency who never worked and was on the DPB living in the million dollar house who now will get super as well, and 3 adult kids, 3 adult partners of which only one works in NZ (the one that did not get educated in NZ and has a low wage job and gets WFF stayed in NZ) and the other two tertiary educated in NZ are offshore workers and their two young children going to school here.
All their assets are in companies so apparently they own nothing.
That’s just one family where one family that has never worked in NZ, is now somehow about 20+ people with marriages etc, who have accessed NZ welfare systems most of their lives and buy property here without ever working here! They need to urgently tighten up the laws!
Just how is anything “exposed”.
Suppose I simply reproduced this but claimed that the people were, say, “Pacific Islanders” but gave no real evidence would you jump in and say we should keep out all Pacific Islanders from coming here?
Such a story, without names doesn’t actually expose anything.
The difference up until 20 years ago it was much harder and more expensive to travel and people were not getting divorced at the drop of a hat. People don’t even marry now, they have multiple relationships and children through their lifetime with different partners.
It’s a whole new society now and the tax laws and residency laws are still working on 1 migrant comes and works in NZ and marries one person and has 2 kids that they support..like 20 years ago, no longer happening in society…
@alwyn. No it is NOT Pacific Islanders, it’s an Asian country – not China – but now the 2nd generation have married native Chinese then their Chinese parents and relatives can also come into NZ under what ever weird loop hole there is.
Does it really matter what race they are, satellite families is a recent world wide issue, that needs to be addressed as it is disproportionally affecting NZ as we have a low population.
Even the voting rights for example when you have more people not living in a country or even speaking the language but have full voting rights and able to access family welfare in NZ on a large scale through marriages etc.
Surely it should be of concern whether you are a righty or a lefty?
It’s one thing to be a migrant and for what ever reason you are poor but you battle on in NZ and may need to access welfare. But to be rich get all the benefits of NZ society without paying taxes, and NZ allows it to be a place to send your relatives who are poorly educated to work and access welfare top ups, free health, super and gold cared for your elderly relatives who don’t work and free health, education and so forth for all your children who don’t work, who when becoming successful go overseas.
How will a capital gains or higher taxes tax those people? They pay no taxes so higher taxes doesn’t work and they can avoid capital gains by putting the houses and assets into individual names of relatives as their primary residence.
So any new taxes enable those satellite families to become richer while taxing tax resident families more and giving more voting rights to them to continue.
@Alwyn – also Pacific Islanders have low population in their country so are hardly going to create a massive social change in NZ within a few decades which is currently happening. They have historically worked in NZ when they come here and retire back in the Pacific, I don’t think they really fit the profile of what is happening with the rise of satellite families mostly from Asia that clearly is hitting Canada for example.
Pacific Islanders are also are not generally buying up million dollar houses for their relatives to live in NZ or leaving them empty, so not creating a shortage of houses and a market for larger houses that cost more or have a government political strategy to execute here.
Canada’s plan to tax foreign investors is already working
HOUSE prices in Toronto have fallen dramatically after a new tax on foreign investors was introduced. Should Australia follow suit?
“Announcing the measure, the government of British Columbia said the tax was intended to help cool the province’s booming property market, where demand from foreign investors — many from China — had increased the cost of a detached home some 39 per cent in just 12 months.
“There is evidence now that suggests that very wealthy foreign buyers have raised the price of housing for people in British Columbia,” the province’s premier Christy Clark said at the time.
“The foreign buyer tax is intended to make sure we can keep home ownership within the reach of the middle class.
Can you please explain what a tax on foreign investors in British Columbia has to do with supposedly massive house price falls in Toronto?
Toronto is in Ontario and is about 4,000 km East of Vancouver. If house prices in Vancouver fell when a tax is introduced while at the same time prices fell even more in Toronto without such a tax surely it provides no evidence at all that the tax does any good?
Do you think that the person who wrote this doesn’t actually have any idea at all about the Geography of Canada?
I’m sure they meant Vancouver.
BC have introduced a tax on foreign investors, and yes it is having the desired effect of:
a. bringing house prices down and
b. stopping the crazy practice of investing in houses for monetary gain. Like the dutch and their tulip bulbs.
I visited Vancouver in 2014 and was amazed to see rows of houses boarded up – this was before the fall when Canadians board up their houses for the winter. These apparently were all investment houses bought by foreign investors and left empty – to be on sold later for Capital gain. Vancouver’s housing market (like Auckland’s Melbourne’s and Sydney’s) was going through the roof at the time. Vancouver was also experiencing the same problems with increasing homelessness, as locals – no longer able to afford the skyrocketing rentals from a reducing housing stock (the houses were being bought up and left empty) were forced out of their homes.
I understand that those overseas investors are now targeting Toronto. So I guess Ontario will be forced to follow BC’s lead and introduce a tax as well.
I’m really concerned about this idea of an interest free loan to first home buyers because of a number of reasons all to do with inflaming house price and rent extortion further.
If they do this it should go to people shut out if social housing due to disability needs not being met.
…but if its free, why wouldn’t you want it? Surely you cannot discriminate who you give free stuff to. It’s either free for all, nothing is free for anyone.
Finance wouldn’t be needed or considered for the real strugglers if there were more state housing for them. Stop playing around with the problem government. Provide plain but reasonable living accommodation and run it to some standards, with advantages for keeping to them, and loss of privileges for not.
One part of the problem is that some of the lowest strugglers aren’t coping at any level, and no-one is going to take them in, they need pastoral care. For the really poor and needy people have concrete apartments up to 3 stories high, two apartments of two bedrooms each at each level. These can be available for those who haven’t learned to manage their lives without drunkenness and kicking walls in etc. Give them somewhere to live, and then give them pastoral care to help them make their lives in a self-respecting way.
I lived in a concrete apartment block in Melbourne. Good, and strong, fit for the purpose of rental.
Finance is easier to magic into existence than 100,000 homes. The latter takes time, the former can be implemented within weeks of announcement if not sooner.
Doesn’t make it the right thing to do. In fact, it provides nothing at all in terms of living quarters for those unable to find a place to sleep tonight. Might as well focus on the right issue, and solve that, instead of identifying another instance and making a token gesture.
Agree. Yet that is the first horse from the gate, and gives an indication that housing is about getting the middle class into owning homes rather than recognising the real crisis is that many cannot find somewhere to live, renting or otherwise.
The fiscal responsibility restriction that they have committed themselves to is only part of the problem. I would like the government to indicate that they recognise the housing crisis is a crisis for more than just the disappointed home buyers. And this action keeps feeding the inflationary nature of house prices in NZ.
ISTR that they’re also building houses and making housingnz a housing provider rather than a profit generating exercise. I believe they’ve stopped the housing sell off and have committed to increasing the HNZ stock.
But as I said, finance is the easy to do quickly. So they’ve done that too.
The day before the budget. The budget which will signify the beginning of the transformation of our great country from the corporate run shit box it is today, to a truly wonderful country that works together for all.
The budget to end poverty and homelessness.
The budget to end the underfunding of schools and hospitals.
The budget to end corporate greed.
The budget to end the hopeless situation our working poor have been in for the past 9 years.
I am very very excited about what tomorrow will start.
To clarify PR – I don’t think tomorrow will result in ending all those issues, but it will show a change of direction which will begin the process of eliminating those things.
“Tax hikes imposed or announced under the Labour Government have hurt the poorest the most, and it is planning more regressive taxes in the years to come.”
Thanks for pointing out the article, ankerawshark.
Let’s have a look at Jacinda’s spin from the article.
The criticism being offered, Ardern continued, implies that all those families smoked. “The reference to excise [tax on petrol] if we’re talking about someone in regional New Zealand, would amount to 3 cents [per litre] Does $75 dollars [per week] make up for that? Yes, it does.”
First off, re the number of low income smokers, it was reported in the same article that it sits at around 30 to 40%. So on top of the 3 cents per litre, 30 to 40 percent will be impacted by tax increases on tobacco.
Now lets look at the 3 cents per litre claim.
Jacinda overlooked (intentionally or not) that the prices of all goods and services will also be impacted as the burden of the 3 cents per litre increase will be passed on. Will the $75 on average be enough to offset that?
Additionally, those struggling that don’t have kids or their kids are now adults don’t get to receive a Families Package. So there is no offsetting for them.
Next, lets look at the winter energy payment. They seem to be a front runner for what the Government has in the pipeline – see link provided below.
From the link below. “The industry’s solution is for taxpayers to subsidise electricity purchases by the poor, thereby underwriting the electricity industry’s profits in the same way as the Accommodation Supplement has enabled landlords to hold up rents.
“Woods duly refers to ‘the wider context of supporting New Zealanders to afford their energy bills'”
Respect for workers, even skilled ones, comes second to squeezing the utmost out of them and reducing labour costs, boosting profits. Even for air traffic controllers who keep us safe, and keep the height of confidence in airlines and airports high, so also keeping their share prices high.
Solo controllers take ”creative ways” to relieve themselves while managing air traffic
(And greedy share market expectations for high returns not met because of investment in business development cause a drop in A2 milk shares for that reason. They don’t want to invest in a solid forward-looking good business, they just want to spin the roulette wheel winning all the way.)
I wonder how much the Government Super Fund, now operating under their investment orders from the Government, have got invested in A2?
Actually, however much it is it would still be a better investment than putting money into the Auckland tram system that Goff and Genter are so keen on throwing money at. That will prove to be a good way to lose the lot.
The offending, which saw a huge amount of untreated dairy effluent put into the Manganui River, which feeds into the Wairoa River and the Kaipara Harbour was described as “blatant, ongoing and serious”, with one of the farms being “awash with dairy effluent”, resulting in “gross contamination”.
And this is why it keeps happening:
The companies agreed to provide all the requested information but only provided some. What it did provide revealed that the companies had no remaining assets.
The accountant said if there were any funds they were likely to be in other companies or trusts related to the Websters, and access to these funds would be “very unlikely”.
Property records show that the Clear Ridge farm sold for $4.56 million in January, 2016, but there is no record of when the farm owned by Beejay Stud property was sold, or the sale price.
They’ve done the crime, admitted to it even, and then structured their finances in such a way so as not to pay.
This is why the government needs to change the law so that the finances can be traced and all of it returned to the government. Leave these fuckers with nothing.
Agree strongly!, time and time again criminal acts which accrue large sums of $$ for the offenders fall into a hole when it comes to compensating victims or paying fines. Money is sequestered into trusts or other worm holes to different dimensions and after playing golf, doing a few courses or having adverse social talking points jewellery for a bit the crims still get to enjoy their ill gotten gains.
Quite rightly the police swoop on the likes of head hunters presidents etc and grab everything as proceeds of crimes (act) leaving it to the offenders to prove from whence all the toys came from.
Maybe it’s time the same tactics were employed on farmers like these two, and other white collar crims still enjoying being broke but driving the trusts bimmer and living in the trusts Parnell digs.
Do you feel the same way about the attempts of King Salmon to get the tax-payer to pay for cleaning up the mess they are making in the Marlborough Sounds?
As far as I can see the company is causing the mess, and has plenty of money to fix it.
What the hell are those bludgers up to? I like their product but I don’t see why I, as a taxpayer, should have to clean up after them.
Still I imagine Shane Jones will kick in from the slush fund. Winston likes seafood companies. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/357367/thousand-tonnes-of-dead-fish-poses-problem-for-king-salmon
Well, almost – it’s more looking for a better way of disposing of waste and turning it into a product, rather than just cleaning it up.
So a 50/50 investment by the government would generate more tax revenue over time than was spent, rather than it simply being cleaning up after companies that ran cheap to strip profit and then wound up assetless before they got held to account.
But without looking more closely at the situation it’s difficult to tell whether the delays if the company doesn’t get the govt cash are real cashflow constraints, or just a bit of hopeful accounting looking for a subsidy.
King Salmon should build a fishmeal plant, that would take care of it.
Climate change strikes again, those rising sea temperatures, dead fish, high priced salmon, strains on those restaurants who use their product, due to inconsistency in availability, least that’s the word on the street.
Warning sounded over China’s ‘debtbook diplomacy’
Academics identify 16 countries loaned billions that they can’t afford to repay
“China’s methods were “remarkably consistent”, the report said, beginning with infrastructure investments under its $1tn belt and road initiative, and offering longer term loans with extended grace periods, which was appealing to countries with weaker economies and governance.
Construction projects, which the report said had a reputation for running over budget and yielding underwhelming returns, make debt repayments for the host nations more difficult.
“The final phase is debt collection,” it said. “When countries prove unable to pay back their debts, China has already and is likely to continue to offer debt-forgiveness in exchange for both political influence and strategic equities.”
Yes you can vote an administration out.Unfortunately you can not vote the debt out.Private bondholders especially are insistent and persistant in wanting their pound of flesh.
Maybe we should learn a trick or two from our national bird, and use camouflage against super powers…
the reality of what happens to natives, have a look at what’s happened over the years to our native birds – marooned onto smaller and smaller places like Tiritiri Matangi Island …
Dr Roger Blakeley is a former Secretary for the Environment. Bob Norman is a former Commissioner of Works. Alex Gray is a professional civil engineer and Senior Project Manager. Keith Flinders is an Electrical Services Consultant.
4 Points –
1. Costs of Diesel v Electric Locomotives.
2. Reliability and Time performance
3. Greenhouse gas emissions
4. Towards Full Electrification of the North Island Main Trunk
Dr Blakely was also the chief planning officer for Auckland Council to help negotiate it through the Unitary Plan process, after he had worked with Porirua District Council (IIRC), noted for it’s community planning processes.
I spoke to him at one of the last Auckland conversations I attended, and he said he was looking forward to going back to Wellington and working on national issues there.
TBH, reading the article it seems that Kiwirail (by continuing to misuse figures and conclusions found to be flawed) is positioning itself for a subsidy if the government decides to follow through on its transition policy. There may be another reason for such determined adherence to diesel, but I’m thinking that is probably the most likely.
Molly, as you say-follow the money. I wonder whether there are other money-driven motives in the deals which would be struck with the suppliers of the trains, as to whether they be electric or diesel.
Whatever it is, this debate has been going on for years about the diesel versus electric options, and also about the quality of the Chinese diesels. I just googled ‘trains purchase from China’ and got good media coverage. The issue is not new but may be for the new Minister.
When the Labour government is in power they spent a bit more on service and social services the people who receive this income don’t invest it in shears or property they spend it so the reality is a labour lead government allways gets more revenue flowing in our tax system that’s a fact. Ka kite ano.
Does the Govt have the money? Yes
EXPLAINER: Cutting through the spin on how much money the Government has to spend this year.
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
New Zealand now has the fourth most depressed construction sector in the world behind China, Qatar and Hong Kong. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 8:46am on Thursday, May 2:The Lead: ...
Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
New Zealand Food Safety is monitoring overseas recalls of Indian packaged spice products manufactured by MDH and Everest due to concerns over a cancer-causing pesticide. ...
By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
MONDAY I lined up the latest round of civil servants from city hall against the wall, and signalled for the firing squad to drop their rifles. I stepped up onto a wooden crate to look at the office workers in the eye. But that didn’t feel right, so I found ...
Keen hiker and second-year MSc student Liam Hewson wears two hats when he’s in the great outdoors. “The scientist in me appreciates nature and goes, ‘Oh, there’s that thing and there’s another thing,’ but then the tramper and the outdoorsy person in me thinks, ‘Cool bush.’” Born and bred in ...
After a long and illustrious career as a goal kicker, Dan Carter’s favourite way to unwind is… kicking goals. Why can’t he get enough of it? And what it’s like to watch him do it for an hour straight? A semicircle of people wielding cameras and phones has formed in ...
Dame Susan Devoy takes us through her life in television, including late night ER debriefs, her proudest CTI moment and the show she watches in secret. Quite aside from her four world champion squash titles, Dame Susan Devoy will likely go down in history as one of the best Celebrity ...
Hera Lindsay Bird reveals the best places in Ōtepoti to score more for your apocalypse-prep book hoard.Sometimes I get the feeling I’ve been killed in a car crash, and this second half of my life is just the brain unspooling itself, like one of those episodes of a hospital ...
ThreeNow’s new murder mystery series takes us on a dark, damp journey into the Australian wilderness.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. High Country is ThreeNow’s new Australian eight-part crime drama, set in a remote part of the Victorian highlands. It tells ...
Introducing a new way to read The Spinoff every weekend. After nearly 10 years of being an online magazine, we’re finally embracing the weekend liftout. Despite our best efforts to convince you otherwise, writers and editors at The Spinoff don’t work weekend. It is through the sheer power of technology ...
Tip one: let yourself be nurtured by this big old man. Tip two: don’t ask him to adopt you. So, you’ve arrived at your first session with a new therapist. He tells you to make yourself comfortable and you opt for the tweed armchair, hoping it makes you look like ...
I didn’t know books could open you back up; that there were books that stayed with you, where reading was like a chemical event. I knew nothing.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Not too long ago, I was listening to the American ...
Everyone thinks he’s dead. Every day they expect his body to be washed up along the coast. Most likely up Karitane way, the way the tide’s running. But nobody’ll be too surprised if his body’s never found. Even in death he wouldn’t have wished for such attention. He would have ...
Former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has already started training for the Enhanced games, though says he won’t start taking performance enhancing substances until about nine months out from the competition. The Australian world champion was the first athlete to be announced by Enhanced, but he says the organisation has had ...
Council members voted 21 to 4 in favour of Ahluwalia returning to the Laucala campus following a much-awaited meeting in Vanuatu this week. It comes as USP and its two unions — the Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff (AUSPS) and the Administration and Support Staff Union ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicola Henry, Professor & Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University Shutterstock Following an emergency meeting of the National Cabinet this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a raft of measures to tackle the problem ...
Analysis - A poll showing the opposition is more popular than the government raises questions, politicians go through their 'trial by pay rise' and a Green MP loses her cool in the debating chamber. ...
The entire stretch of Tokomaru Bay on the East Coast will be subject to a joint customary marine title for two hapū, and extending up to four miles out to sea. A High Court judge has found the two groups, who during the case settled a dispute over boundaries for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Hall, Lecturer, Media & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University A longstanding feud between TikTok and Universal Music Group seems to have finally reached an end, with both parties signing a deal that will see Universal-backed music returned to the social media ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Siobhan O’Dean, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney After several highly publicised alleged murders of women in Australia, the Albanese government this week pledged more than A$925 million over five years ...
Political parties have now fully disclosed the donations they received last year - with National getting more than double the cash of any other party. ...
A Pacific regionalism expert has called out New Zealand's Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS military pact. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University Bruno Scramgnon/Pexels All systems are “go” for tonight’s launch of China’s next step in a carefully planned lunar exploration program. Placed on top of a powerful Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e 6 ...
National returned a massive donation the day after a Newsroom story linked the donors to a property being investigated for operating unlawfully as a migrant workers’ hostel. The party’s 2023 donation filings, released on Friday, show it returned a $200,000 donation from Buen Holdings on August 23. That was the ...
Pacific Media Watch New Zealand has slumped to an unprecedented 19th place in the annual Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index survey released today on World Press Freedom Day — May 3. This was a drop of six places from 13th last year when it slipped out of its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joshua Black, Political Historian and Administrator Officer, Australian Historical Association, Australian National University Australia has had its fair share of public record-keeping controversies in recent years. Some have been mere farce, as in the case of two formerly government-owned filing cabinets (containing ...
Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL), a United Nations-affiliated organization dedicated to fostering peace through civilian-led initiatives, has issued a statement in response to the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. ...
A poem by Tessa Keenan, from AUP New Poets 10. Mātou These days we are a photograph; one of a farm strewn with cows that used to be bright harakeke or swamp. The kids point at it and say the sun sits behind a smudge (left by someone at Christmas); ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan (Faber & Faber, $25)The masterful Irish writer ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. Key facts Marriages and civil unions In ...
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lennon Y.C. Chang, Associate Professor of Cyber Risk and Policy, Deakin University Taiwan stands out as a beacon of democracy, innovation and resilience in an increasingly autocratic region. But this is under growing threat. In recent years, China has used a variety ...
In this excerpt from her new memoir, Dame Susan Devoy remembers her turn as star contestant on the 2022 season of Celebrity Treasure Island. The most anxious time of every day was pre-elimination, when you knew this could be your final day on the show. I felt such contradictory emotions, ...
A week that began in triumph ended in an all-too-familiar disaster for the Green Party. Duncan Greive asks if there’s something in the mission that breaks its best and brightest. A long, strange week for the Green party began with a fantastic poll result. On one level this is hardly ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Vanuatu’s former prime minister and opposition MP Ishmael Kalsakau has stepped down — just two days after he confirmed he was the rightful opposition leader. Kalsakau, MP for Port Vila, confirmed to ABC’s Pacific Beat, and the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday that he ...
What’s to blame for the coalition’s choppy start? Six months in, and the mojo meter is in the doldrums. A new poll would put National out of power and sees its leader, Chris Luxon, sliding in popularity. How much is it about policy, how much coalition management and a perception ...
The striking report goes far beyond the proposed repeal of the Oranga Tamariki Act’s Treaty of Waitangi provision, and its impact should be felt far beyond the unique circumstances of the claim it addresses. Earlier this week, the Waitangi Tribunal released an interim report on the government’s proposed repeal of ...
The world has been experiencing a productivity slowdown, from which New Zealand has not been exempt. COVID-19 temporarily boosted labour productivity, but more recently, productivity has retreated. The overall trend since 2007 has been one of slow productivity ...
What’s more wasteful than spending $315k on syrup and machine maintenance? Trying to drum up a controversy about it.Cast your mind back to the pre-pandemic idylls of 2019. A “rat” was a disgusting rodent and not a self-administered plague test; the sixth Labour government was in power; and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Fitz-Gibbon, Professor of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Monash University Ken stocker/Shutterstock In the wake of numerous killings of women allegedly by men’s violence in 2024, thousands of Australians have joined rallies across the country to demand action ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University Oleg Ivanov IL/Shutterstock Waiting times for public hospital elective surgery have been in the news ahead of this year’s federal budget. That’s the type of non-emergency surgery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of Melbourne Amna Artist/Shutterstock One of the earliest descriptions of someone with cancer comes from the fourth century BC. Satyrus, tyrant of the city of Heracleia on the Black Sea, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Rose, Professor of Sustainable Future Transport, University of Sydney LanaElcova/Shutterstock Electric vehicles are often seen as the panacea to cutting emissions – and air pollution – from transport. Is this view correct? Yes – but only once uptake accelerates. Despite the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giselle Natassia Woodley, Researcher and Phd Candidate, Edith Cowan University There is widespread agreement Australia needs to do better when it comes to gender-based violence. Anger and frustration at the numbers of women being killed saw national rallies over the weekend and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Graham, Lecturer in Economics, University of Sydney Mark and Anna Photography/Shutterstock As home ownership moves further out of reach for many Australians, “rentvesting” is being touted as a lifesaver. Rentvesting is the practice of renting one property to live ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sukhmani Khorana, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney Netflix The new season of Heartbreak High is garnering mixed reviews. Critics are writing about the racy story lines, comparing it to other coming-of-age series about teenage relationships and ...
Bob Carr intends to launch legal action against Winston Peters and Julie Anne Genter is facing a second allegation of bullying. Both sucked the air out of an announcement on education, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in ...
Even simple steps in going green can have unexpected problems. Change wiring insulation to something soy-based, and rats are even happier to chew on it.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2018/05/07/rats-love-car-wiring-soy-based-insulation/588638002/
I gotta admit that when it comes to causing problems in new cars, it’s mostly just a “heh” moment for me. But if that problem spreads to wiring in buildings … well … vermin-damaged wiring is already a significant cause of fires with nasty toxic PVC insulation, so making the insulation more snackable is a definite worry.
Israeli war criminals still not being held to account by the media.
It wasn’t a clash.
It was a massacre.
Stop lying media.
Stop lying.
Headlines in the Herald!
New Zealand roundly condemns Israeli action in Gaza and calls in Israel’s ambassador for dressing down!
Nah, only kidding. We’d never do something so morally uplifting, would we?
I refuse to read that scum rag.
Roundly condemned, yes.
New Zealand to call in Israeli ambassador over Gaza deaths, yes.
You were saying?
Well, knock me down with a feather!
Perhaps there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon! Well done, this government.
Good to hear, take a stand NZ and remove the Israeli ambassador, through all the carnage during the conflicts of 2014, john key did diddly squat about it.
Meanwhile, Israel is celebrating today and those in Gaza are burying their dead (including children) the hospitals in Gaza are currently at breaking point.
Do we have an ambassador in Israel? I see that South Africa and Turkey have removed theirs.
Those two bastions of
democracy
No doubt you were an avid supporter of apartheid South Africa and cheered on as the racist regime massacred people at Sharpeville and Soweto.
Amazing you can defend the actions of the Israelis.
Comtemptible.
Tuppence will be an immigrant pom of the Thatcher loving type. He’ll think apartheid benefitted blacks and ended too soon.
Meanwhile the US has vetoed a UN call for an independent investigation into the cause of the Gaza killings.
Mind you we all know what caused it…
Some stupid prick had the bright idea that he should move the US Embassy to Jerusalem – I mean what could possibly go wrong? Now I hear 7 Republican Governors have endorsed him for a Peace Prize!
If, and it’s a big if, Trump’s payback by the Israelis for dropping the Iran deal and moving the embassy to Jerusalem is for them to cease all settlement building immediately then he deserves a nomination.
I doubt that will be the case though.
No Trump’s payback will be a theme park next to a Trump hotel like the one in Indonesia.
https://thinkprogress.org/white-house-chinese-financing-trump-project-violate-constitution-76456a21225a/
“Let’s call for restraint on both sides given where we’re at”.
So No Bridges wants the Palestinians to stop throwing rocks and the Israelis to stop killing people with shots from high-powered sniping rifles, reportedly to the head and genitals.
Well throwing rocks doesn’t seem to be working out too well does it greysie.
They don’t have much else to throw.
And expected someone treated like that to throw nothing is as callous as treating them like that in the first place.
Nothing callous about it. That makes no sense. Thinking you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs would be callous.
Did you just call 58 dead “eggs”?
Your point is? You seem to have missed mine.
My point is that hamas isn’t averse to creating victims greysie.
Radio New Zealand please explain why you repeat the pr of dairy farming as news.
on the subject of rnz…
i have sworn off ‘the panel’ for a while now, however, while in the workshop yesty, my i pod went flat.
so i tuned into rnz, just in time to hear david farrar, excuse,diminish and celebrate the goings on in palestine.
i eventually calmed myself down from both the comments and the way an opposing point of view (allie jones from christchurch) was interupted.
it then became open season on the government performance for the national party pollster, advisor and princess party organiser. he was joined by a commenter who seemed to to be singing from the same songsheet.
i get the government is due to get criticised, but by a person holding such vile opinions is getting too much for me.
Go and have a nice cup of tea then if its all too much for you..
I listened too, and Allie Jones, representing the red team, was just as strong in presenting her point of view.
Its called debate where you contest ideas. This is what happens in a democracy. I presume you believe in democracy?
ha ha ha, believe in democracy.. excellent.
thigh slapping stuff.
i will take democracy without the lies, spin, lobbying and obfuscation thanks.
your view of red and blue, as ‘views’ is so last century.
do you agree with and share farrar’s view of the most recent deaths in palestine?
No I don’t agree with Farrar’s opinion re the current deaths in palestine.
I also didn’t agree with Jones views on the same show on Labour’s lack of preparedness when coming into govenment.
But I do agree with their right to express their opinions; even though I don’t agree with them.
This is an enduring principle of democracy, like all of the others; and one that is not time bound. Or do you consider this principle (and others) to be ‘so last century’. If so how do justify calling yourself a ‘democrat’? If in fact you do.
I don’t when those ‘opinions’ are manifestly wrong and supporting Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians is manifestly wrong on a public broadcast. There is neither right nor logic to Israel’s slaughter.
….he was joined by a commenter who seemed to to be singing from the same songsheet. “He” being David Farrar.
And by sheer chance (?) the guest commenter was Farrar’s favourite journalist, Richard Harman.
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2016/05/why_richard_harman_is_the_best_political_journalist_in_nz.html
To paraphrase J M Barrie: Every time a National/ACT supporter says “silly little girl” somewhere a little girl resolves to never, ever, ever vote for them.
Sanctuary …100+++++
We could do an add like the “a little girl waits” ad”…………
Being killed in Palestine, Being killed in Yarmouk refugee camp, being killed in Latakia refugee camp, dying in the Mediterranean
The International Organization for Migration has called the Mediterranean “by far the world’s deadliest border,” as more than 33,000 migrants have died at sea trying to enter Europe since 2000.
http://syriadirect.org/news/history-is-repeating-itself-for-palestinian-refugees-displaced-for-second-time-in-south-damascus-evacuations/
“Gaza bleeds alone as liberals and progressives go mute”
Ramzy Baroud May 2, 2018
“Ramzy Baroud: bringing the voices of Palestine to NZ”
Kia Ora Gaza May 8, 2018
‘A horrific situation’: Dozens killed as US opens Jerusalem embassy
Ramzy Baroud May 15, 2018
For an authentic voice on the crisis in Palestine you won’t get anywhere else in New Zealand.
Ramzy Baroud New Zealand Tour
AUCKLAND: FRIDAY 18 MAY
9:35am: Listen to 95bFM radio for Mikey Havoc’s live studio interview with Ramzy Baroud
10:30am book signing event at UBIQ Auckland University Bookshop, 2 Alfred Street, Student Commons (off Princes Street, City.)
AUCKLAND: SATURDAY 19 MAY
Ramzy will speak at the Nakba Rally, 2pm Aotea Square, Queen St, CBD.
AUCKLAND: SUNDAY 20 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm Freemans Bay Community Hall, 52 Hepburn St, Auckland.
HAMILTON: MONDAY 21 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm: Wintec, Room A2.05, City Campus, Hamilton.
Access via Gate 3 or Gate 2 on Tristram Street. Free parking.
WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY
Book signing from 12pm to 1pm: Vic Books, Easterfield Building, 1 Kelburn Parade, Wellington 6012. enquiries@vicbooks.co.nz
WELLINGTON: TUESDAY 22 MAY
Evening event: 6pm Free Public talk: St Andrews on the Terrace, 30 The Terrace, Wellington City 6011. (Wellington event book sales by Vic Books)
CHRISTCHURCH: WEDS 23 MAY
Free public talk: 7pm Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral, 234 Hereford St, Christchurch 8011
DUNEDIN: THURSDAY 24 MAY
Free public talk: 5:15pm Burns 2 Lecture theatre, Ground Floor Arts Building, Albany Street, University of Otago.
Thanks Jenny
+1
Malcolm Evans
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Screen-Shot-2018-05-15-at-9.40.43-PM-768×502.png
Allowing holocaust deniers into New Zealand as they’re Palestinian supporters?
This is a new low
You’re saying Ramzy Baroud is a holocaust denier? Why?
Does this sound like Holocaust denial?
I wonder where you got your (apparently false) impression from. Care to share who’s been duping you?
Defending the massacre of unarmed civilians.
Shameful.
Kieren Read echoes the entire country’s thoughts on the Christchurch rebuild. He says the lack of progress on an indoor stadium reflects the lack of progress in Christchurch. John Key, Bingles and the previous National government crowed about the Christchurch rebuild being one of their crowning achievements. They said Christchurch would never stand alone.
The reality of National governments sucks eh, Christchurch.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2018/05/rugby-kieran-read-slams-lack-of-development-for-new-christchurch-stadium.html
Gerry Brownlee, the incompetent nincompoop who was appointed “Tsar” of Christchurch is primarily, obsessed with his own towering, but somehow also fragile, ego. His pathological levels of arrogance means he becomes becomes “incensed” at any criticism of his time in government, thinks he can pick and choose who talks to and dismiss anyone he doesn’t agree with with a maximum of condescending and patronising language.
His highly flawed character and refusal to listen to anyone who says anything he doesn’t like has made the rebuild of Christchurch a fiasco.
If the nats wanted to keep their base happy they could have poached a piece of stadium land in the cbd or very close to it after the quakes, and had people dreaming of a Lancaster Park of the future. Then they could have had the temporary stadium in the right place to start with instead of the middle of nowhere.
The temporary stadium cost $30 million, it needs some roofs at either end of the ground and the roofs on the sides need to be extended a bit. $40 million I reckon and you have a stadium that’s waterproof.
Dunedin is fine with it.
Dunedin has already established itself as the premier entertainment venue for sport and music in the South Island.
The Christchurch one won’t be seen for at least a decade.
In fact, but for the Christchurch disaster, Dunedin’s stadium project would have ended a few political careers.
Which shows the problem with NZ as a whole, there are certain things a city needs like museums, art galleries etc to be considered a city and not just a collection of people living in the same general area (IMHO) so the Dunedin stadium is a good idea as its adds to the city
Given the DCC was running around trying to close community things like bowling clubs, the stadium was ill-considered – in fact if you’re looking for ill-conceived projects world wide, stadiums are second only to convention centers for not paying their way.
Sure they don’t pay their way but neither do a lot of things a city requires, like museums and art galleries, however the Dunedin stadium seems to be doing good at putting Dunedin on the map in a positive way
True PR
I was agin it, it seemed OTT but literally having a roof over the top – which made it expensive – was a rational measure considering Dunedin’s cold weather. And with the change in climate and weather drops etc it could be wise in any of the big cities.
We have to realise that tourism and performances are businesses and keep the money flowing. There has to be lots of things happening for employment and money circulation, we aren’t just cows and houses.
So Dunedin will find it keeps them on the map. Even if it is a base investment that needs subsidising, it will be the ginger that keeps other business fizzing.
I’ll admit I have a bias in that I’m from Dunedin and a roofed stadium makes for better rugby 🙂
The point is, both convention centres and stadiums are unlikely to pay their way even using indicators like SROI (Social return on Investment), whereas other facilities such as libraries, and local sports clubs (and perhaps museums and art galleries) would.
I agree with the convention centre but i’d argue that the importance of rugby and/or other sports (whether some on here like it or not) and musical acts are as important to a city as an art gallary
Rugby is of national significance, but perhaps the funding of local sports clubs and investment at grassroots level would be a better return on investment – both economically and socially.
(Coming from a rugby mad household, I have no love for the game myself, so I can’t be bothered having a look for any comparative studies. Might be worth having a look at though, in terms of funding stadiums or grassroots clubs)
The Dunedin Stadium is doing its job bringing in anchor events and tens of thousands of visitors. How one determines that it ‘pays its way’ or indeed whether it needs to is a bureaucratic equation explained here:
http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/facilities/forsyth-barr-stadium/an-explanation-of-forsyth-barr-stadium-financials-september-2013
Dunedin is justifiably proud of its well conceived and highly effective stadium.
It’s a model that Auckland can but aspire to.
lol not all Dunedin, mate.
regardless of whether it turns out to be a net good, it was essentially a gift by rugby-loving councillors to the ORFU that turned into a badly-organised white elephant that still hasn’t had its true costs released. And apparently the concert sound can be hit-or-miss.
At least they’re finally getting in acts that started well after I was born, though. For the first several years it was like the same rich small-town businessmen who voted for it on council (some of them profiting from the land sale) had their personal spotify playlist as a booking guide.
But that’s all water under the bridge. There seems to be a bit more honest consultation regarding the waterfront redevelopment.
Indeed not all Dunedin.
My household pays Dunedin, Otago, and Wanaka rates into that stadium, and there’s one side of my household that will not visit the ForsythBarr stadium on principle. There’s no pleasing such (ahem) people.
I have a mate who just won’t STFU about how awful the plan was. As in almost every mention of the DCC or whatever brings a snide comment about the stadium.
I’m tempted to watch Frozen just so I know the song “let it go” lol
edit:
although on the other side, when the most recent hotel was declined ISTR a letter to the editor moaning that we didn’t get a smelter at Aramoana, either. Whingers have looooong memories 🙂
“close community things like bowling clubs”.
What on earth did Bowling Clubs have to do with the City Council?
Surely the Council didn’t own the land and provide the workers to maintain the greens did they?
If not what the hell did it have to do with them? Bowling clubs may be dying but if the people who play it are willing to keep the clubs going at their expense what does it have to do with anyone else?
Well, in one case the DCC owned the land, went to annual leases after the long term lease expired, and then sold the site.
Both stuff and the herald have launched one of their bleeding hearts crusades against poverty. How long before they say “Job done, our conscience is salved for now, fuck the poor lets get back to pimping the property market”… ?
12yrs ago I rented a 3brm house in a fairly affluent suburb on the North Shore in Auck for $270 per week. No catches, it was advertised in the ‘paper and was the typical basic weatherboard ’70s house in tidy condition. The same house now would easily fetch $600 per week.
At 18 I was earning adult wage doing shift work in a factory. I was paid the absolute minimum award wage, take-home pay was $96 per week. I was flatting and four of us were renting a nice 4brd house in a reasonable suburb in Auck for $50 per week. A 3brm house could be rented for half the miminum (award) wage.
Why are there working poor? Because they’re being bled dry by extortionate rents. No-one wants to admit it because the solution to usury rents is to lower the price of houses and we can’t have that can we. So they just chuck the poor a few crumbs every now & then to shut them up for a while.
+ yes rent exploited cannot thrive when they can’t get buy without charity.
Higher wages and subsidies only feed the rental beast.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/103761074/new-zealands-working-poor-and-the-push-to-understand-how-many-are-struggling
All many of us can do
https://youtu.be/Sy8iSijA638
QFT
Capitalism is based around unearned incomes. The ability of a few to own everything and thus live off of the work of everyone else.
The owners. the rentiers, are bludgers. Simple as that really.
The problem we have is that, as their bludging increases, it increases poverty and eventually collapses society. This is the path that the governments of the last thirty plus years have accelerated as they kowtowed to the rich.
“The UST 10yr yield is now at 3.08%, up +9 bps on the American inflation prospect. The Chinese 10yr is at 3.72% (up +1 bp) while the New Zealand equivalent is at 2.77% (up +4 bps).”
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/93747/dairy-prices-rise-us-inflation-jumps-canadian-house-prices-slump-china-electricity
Who thinks that having part ownership of a house and a mortgage of $400k is affordable and still live in Auckland ??
“There’s no way they could take on a $600,000 mortgage – a $400,000 mortgage, maybe, then you’d get a much bigger group of people.”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=12051840
The NZ dream of owning your own home has “officially” been declared dead and buried. Thanks you to BOTH Nats and Lab for policies that have led up to this.
It had initially promised to build houses for between $500,000 and $600,000. They will now be priced according to the number of bedrooms, and three-bedroom homes will be sold for $650,000 – higher than promised during the election.
No What was promised “The stand-alone KiwiBuild homes in Auckland will be priced at $500,000-$600,000 with apartments and TERRACED HOUSES UNDER $500,000. ”
https://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild
I really feel for the current government, national left behind a huge mess, it’s like every day we learn more about the disaster of the last nine years.
The new government is doing everything they can. Looking forward to the budget tomorrow.
And “Amy Adams: Careless fiscal strategy will send nation into decline.”
A bit sad is Amy because she can only put out her plaintive Chicken Licken doom is nigh line as she struggles to be credible any more. A good example of unaccepting defeat.
@ Cinny, Yes but Rogernomics started it. Labour lit the fuse and National ignited it. Labour still find it hard to come to terms, that rogernomics and free trade and liberalisation has created the increasing inequality. All the government subsidies like WFF and accomodation allowance and all the handouts to developers isn’t working, because it is based on a profit model not a long term and practical social good model.
If the main driver of everything is low cost and profit and a business gets more rights as an entity than a person, an offshore person or business has the same rights as a Kiwi or a Kiwi business so someone who pays 50 cents an hour is competing against $16 p/h , then of course we are going to have leaky buildings, lowered wages and high house prices, increasing bio security risks, more pollution and drop to the bottom.
What National has done is despicable and the Ponzi scheme worked for a bit but the wheels are coming off. Labour is better but still suffer from similar ideology for the most part such as TPPA and PPP’s and a lack of analysis of what went wrong and why.
But providing financial support for families with children is nothing new and nothing to do with Neo-liberalism:
https://teara.govt.nz/en/family-welfare/page-4
Yes but globalism and the rise of tax havens and use of vehicles to blur the assets someone owns, so rich can be poor, has changed the equation and criteria of who we should be supporting. See 14.1.1.
What is going to happen within one generation, if less and less people are actually working in NZ and more and more people qualify for welfare well beyond natural population growth.
Can’t see how your rant at 14.1.1 has any relevance to my point. If you actually read what i have quoted you will see that “in 1946 universal family-benefit payments replaced means-tested family allowances”, so wealthy people got this in the past. Likewise owning a house has never ruled someone out of receiving the DPD.
You are just a xenophobe who gets all wound up when immigrants and the children of immigrants get the same allowances as the rest of us.
Well I do when the rest of us actually work and pay the taxes. The end result will no welfare at all if this abuse is allowed to continue. Obviously that’s fine if you are the ‘fake’ poor but less fine if you are the ‘real’ poor.
We are a country of only 4.5 million people – where do you think the tipping point will be 1 million people accessing NZ welfare, 2 million, 3 million…
If there’s a progressive taxation system, there’s no reason 4.5million shouldn’t get some benefit if the math adds up.
Now, that’s a lot of math, and to my mind UBI proponents tend towards a bit of hand-waving in the gap ‘twixt money in and money out, but it’s a logical possibility that deserves more than a simple rhetorical escalation.
I don’t think you should call savenz names solkta.
The situation is difficult and there is no easy answer that will please everyone and it needs to be looked at from all perspectives. It might not please you to have one point looked at and questioned which you might favour. The same will apply to someone else and their preference.
The right way may put limits on you, or me but the hard work of thinking it through should be done by people who are concerned about we people. Otherwise things can get bad and all of a sudden it’s TINA and machine-minds from Treasury and haute finance impose their favourite theories.
Do you really think the current government weren’t able to work out from available information how much they would be able to build and sell “affordable” housing for?
Yes National did fuck all to control housing prices but Labour promised prices far below what could be achieved and as much as I hate to admit it I am pretty sure it was pointed out to them at the time.
True but at least NZFLG admit there is a problem.
Come on cinny all power to you been a COL supporter but don’t believe every thing your fed, judge government with an open mind on their actions and outcomes not words, inputs and excuses
I certainly judged Ponyboy on his lies and fudging beewee.
Yeah but it’s like who knew the extent ChCh appeared to be screwed over by the last lot, or middlemore etc, for example, and did our new government have knowledge of those two big issues prior to the election?
And how about the cattle disease? Did the prior government know how much damage they had done by not doing enough and the cost of their negligence? Do they care?
I knew it would be bad, but dang I didn’t think it would be that bad.
It’s impossible to leave the current bubble intact and build truly affordable houses. The bubble precludes affordability for the majority.
Deflate the bubble by turning down the immigration tap and making owning houses you don’t live in yourself, and land that is rezoned as residential, really unattractive as investments.
Serco strikes again.
When will the rabid right accept that private industry cannot run core social services satisfactorily?
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2018/05/death-at-wiri-prison.html
Come on Muttonbird, the rabid ideologies of the right can’t even accept they are ideologies.
So how can they see their own failures?
So a prisoner dying is a sign that private industry can’t run core social services
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11764877
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/99184832/prisoner-stabbed-in-gangrelated-assault-at-maximumsecurity-auckland-prison
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/76819718/Death-at-Auckland-Prison-in-Paremoremo
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11516982
Looks like the state isn’t up to it either
2015-2017, comparatively recently – perhaps even since Serco years for those linked items.
Prisons have for some time been under pressure from poor overcrowded conditions and trying to cope with gang stresses
for some time. The state didn’t want to cope and are paying Serco to remove the problem to as great a distance as possible. Which they are doing but not well enough to keep the problem out of the limelight.
It is government that can improve things by getting rid of Serco and instituting single cells again, and not holding so many on bail. And possibly changing the whole arid sexless system, to one that goes for habilitation.
Another right wing commentator on this site deliberately misrepresenting what I said.
Sheesh do you guys need reading glasses or somthing?
Ideologies of the right persuasion are completely, and deeply emotionally committed to it, it seems
The fact you have to lie to defend your bat shit crazy ideological position is at the end of the day, quite funny.
So once again that’s for proving my point Puckish Rogue, ideological purists are quite dangerous – thank goodness they are out of government.
Trump’s Nobel prize under threat.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/05/north-korea-threatens-to-cancel-trump-meeting-after-military-drills-in-south-korea.html
Vancouver’s Hot Housing Market Gets Tougher for Wealthy Chinese
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/british-columbia-extends-housing-crackdown-with-tax-increases
“Starting Wednesday, foreigners will pay the province a 20 percent tax on top of the listing value, up from 15 percent now, and a levy on property speculators will be introduced later this year, according to budget documents released Tuesday. The government will also crack down on the condo pre-sale market and beneficial ownership to ensure that property flippers, offshore trusts and hidden investors are paying taxes on gains.”
“The levy, she said, will also capture “satellite families” — a term with Chinese origins to describe those families where the breadwinner remains in the home country while the children and spouse reside abroad to take advantage of educational and employment opportunities.”
Satellite families are here too. Been going on for ages.
Nat voters of course don’t see the problem as long as their property portfolios show gains.
Yes, but NZ is completely blind to what’s going on. One family is just bringing in more and more relatives under whatever weird rules NZ has. This is a real example of people I know living in Auckland – note they are NOT Chinese – it’s NOT just a Chinese issue.
Wealthy family arrive in NZ with 3 children under some investor category about 20 years ago both not speaking English and buy up some property. Husband leaves NZ and wife files for ‘abandonment’ and goes on DPB with 2 children even though she has a million dollar house. Husband takes other child back to home country. NZ Children grow up as NZ citizens with dual passports and go to university here. They marry and new partners get NZ citizenship and they leave to get good jobs overseas while buying up property in NZ. Aged parents arrive in NZ to look after grandkids and can get residency. The child that went back with Father as a child, comes to NZ not speaking English with new partner and has two kids and they get residency and access WFF and various government welfare for their low wage job and they bring over their aged parents to look after the kids.
So now we somehow have a family who have been on NZ social welfare all their lives while being uber wealthy and working offshore, and at this stage we have 4 aged parents, the main person who originally got residency who never worked and was on the DPB living in the million dollar house who now will get super as well, and 3 adult kids, 3 adult partners of which only one works in NZ (the one that did not get educated in NZ and has a low wage job and gets WFF stayed in NZ) and the other two tertiary educated in NZ are offshore workers and their two young children going to school here.
All their assets are in companies so apparently they own nothing.
That’s just one family where one family that has never worked in NZ, is now somehow about 20+ people with marriages etc, who have accessed NZ welfare systems most of their lives and buy property here without ever working here! They need to urgently tighten up the laws!
savenz
I have heard hints about this but not seen it exposed so brightly. Thanks we need to know this.
Just how is anything “exposed”.
Suppose I simply reproduced this but claimed that the people were, say, “Pacific Islanders” but gave no real evidence would you jump in and say we should keep out all Pacific Islanders from coming here?
Such a story, without names doesn’t actually expose anything.
Insert your own names to appreciate the scenario.
The difference up until 20 years ago it was much harder and more expensive to travel and people were not getting divorced at the drop of a hat. People don’t even marry now, they have multiple relationships and children through their lifetime with different partners.
It’s a whole new society now and the tax laws and residency laws are still working on 1 migrant comes and works in NZ and marries one person and has 2 kids that they support..like 20 years ago, no longer happening in society…
@alwyn. No it is NOT Pacific Islanders, it’s an Asian country – not China – but now the 2nd generation have married native Chinese then their Chinese parents and relatives can also come into NZ under what ever weird loop hole there is.
Does it really matter what race they are, satellite families is a recent world wide issue, that needs to be addressed as it is disproportionally affecting NZ as we have a low population.
Even the voting rights for example when you have more people not living in a country or even speaking the language but have full voting rights and able to access family welfare in NZ on a large scale through marriages etc.
Surely it should be of concern whether you are a righty or a lefty?
It’s one thing to be a migrant and for what ever reason you are poor but you battle on in NZ and may need to access welfare. But to be rich get all the benefits of NZ society without paying taxes, and NZ allows it to be a place to send your relatives who are poorly educated to work and access welfare top ups, free health, super and gold cared for your elderly relatives who don’t work and free health, education and so forth for all your children who don’t work, who when becoming successful go overseas.
How will a capital gains or higher taxes tax those people? They pay no taxes so higher taxes doesn’t work and they can avoid capital gains by putting the houses and assets into individual names of relatives as their primary residence.
So any new taxes enable those satellite families to become richer while taxing tax resident families more and giving more voting rights to them to continue.
@Alwyn – also Pacific Islanders have low population in their country so are hardly going to create a massive social change in NZ within a few decades which is currently happening. They have historically worked in NZ when they come here and retire back in the Pacific, I don’t think they really fit the profile of what is happening with the rise of satellite families mostly from Asia that clearly is hitting Canada for example.
Pacific Islanders are also are not generally buying up million dollar houses for their relatives to live in NZ or leaving them empty, so not creating a shortage of houses and a market for larger houses that cost more or have a government political strategy to execute here.
Canada’s plan to tax foreign investors is already working
HOUSE prices in Toronto have fallen dramatically after a new tax on foreign investors was introduced. Should Australia follow suit?
“Announcing the measure, the government of British Columbia said the tax was intended to help cool the province’s booming property market, where demand from foreign investors — many from China — had increased the cost of a detached home some 39 per cent in just 12 months.
“There is evidence now that suggests that very wealthy foreign buyers have raised the price of housing for people in British Columbia,” the province’s premier Christy Clark said at the time.
“The foreign buyer tax is intended to make sure we can keep home ownership within the reach of the middle class.
“I make no apologies for that.”
http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/canadas-plan-to-tax-foreign-investors-is-already-working/news-story/38af5331ef2fd9c9730dc5b24c8096e5
Can you please explain what a tax on foreign investors in British Columbia has to do with supposedly massive house price falls in Toronto?
Toronto is in Ontario and is about 4,000 km East of Vancouver. If house prices in Vancouver fell when a tax is introduced while at the same time prices fell even more in Toronto without such a tax surely it provides no evidence at all that the tax does any good?
Do you think that the person who wrote this doesn’t actually have any idea at all about the Geography of Canada?
I’m sure they meant Vancouver.
BC have introduced a tax on foreign investors, and yes it is having the desired effect of:
a. bringing house prices down and
b. stopping the crazy practice of investing in houses for monetary gain. Like the dutch and their tulip bulbs.
I visited Vancouver in 2014 and was amazed to see rows of houses boarded up – this was before the fall when Canadians board up their houses for the winter. These apparently were all investment houses bought by foreign investors and left empty – to be on sold later for Capital gain. Vancouver’s housing market (like Auckland’s Melbourne’s and Sydney’s) was going through the roof at the time. Vancouver was also experiencing the same problems with increasing homelessness, as locals – no longer able to afford the skyrocketing rentals from a reducing housing stock (the houses were being bought up and left empty) were forced out of their homes.
I understand that those overseas investors are now targeting Toronto. So I guess Ontario will be forced to follow BC’s lead and introduce a tax as well.
I’m really concerned about this idea of an interest free loan to first home buyers because of a number of reasons all to do with inflaming house price and rent extortion further.
If they do this it should go to people shut out if social housing due to disability needs not being met.
Yet another subsidy idea, while not addressing why they now need to subsidise so many people…
…but if its free, why wouldn’t you want it? Surely you cannot discriminate who you give free stuff to. It’s either free for all, nothing is free for anyone.
Finance wouldn’t be needed or considered for the real strugglers if there were more state housing for them. Stop playing around with the problem government. Provide plain but reasonable living accommodation and run it to some standards, with advantages for keeping to them, and loss of privileges for not.
One part of the problem is that some of the lowest strugglers aren’t coping at any level, and no-one is going to take them in, they need pastoral care. For the really poor and needy people have concrete apartments up to 3 stories high, two apartments of two bedrooms each at each level. These can be available for those who haven’t learned to manage their lives without drunkenness and kicking walls in etc. Give them somewhere to live, and then give them pastoral care to help them make their lives in a self-respecting way.
I lived in a concrete apartment block in Melbourne. Good, and strong, fit for the purpose of rental.
Finance is easier to magic into existence than 100,000 homes. The latter takes time, the former can be implemented within weeks of announcement if not sooner.
Doesn’t make it the right thing to do. In fact, it provides nothing at all in terms of living quarters for those unable to find a place to sleep tonight. Might as well focus on the right issue, and solve that, instead of identifying another instance and making a token gesture.
There’s no single right thing to do.
Agree. Yet that is the first horse from the gate, and gives an indication that housing is about getting the middle class into owning homes rather than recognising the real crisis is that many cannot find somewhere to live, renting or otherwise.
The fiscal responsibility restriction that they have committed themselves to is only part of the problem. I would like the government to indicate that they recognise the housing crisis is a crisis for more than just the disappointed home buyers. And this action keeps feeding the inflationary nature of house prices in NZ.
ISTR that they’re also building houses and making housingnz a housing provider rather than a profit generating exercise. I believe they’ve stopped the housing sell off and have committed to increasing the HNZ stock.
But as I said, finance is the easy to do quickly. So they’ve done that too.
It feels like Christmas Eve today.
The day before the budget. The budget which will signify the beginning of the transformation of our great country from the corporate run shit box it is today, to a truly wonderful country that works together for all.
The budget to end poverty and homelessness.
The budget to end the underfunding of schools and hospitals.
The budget to end corporate greed.
The budget to end the hopeless situation our working poor have been in for the past 9 years.
I am very very excited about what tomorrow will start.
Not sure if genuine or sarcasm…
Indeed, Puck.
To clarify PR – I don’t think tomorrow will result in ending all those issues, but it will show a change of direction which will begin the process of eliminating those things.
That is why I am excited.
Does it have to be either of those things? Does your radar not detect irony, despair, hope, faith…?
I was hoping for sarcasm otherwise Enough might be a little disappointed tomorrow
More good news for the poor – not.
“Tax hikes imposed or announced under the Labour Government have hurt the poorest the most, and it is planning more regressive taxes in the years to come.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/103942557/addiction-to-cigarette-taxes-rising-to-22b
the Chairman read Gordon Campbell latest article on the poor and regressive tax. I trust his view point 100%
Thanks for pointing out the article, ankerawshark.
Let’s have a look at Jacinda’s spin from the article.
The criticism being offered, Ardern continued, implies that all those families smoked. “The reference to excise [tax on petrol] if we’re talking about someone in regional New Zealand, would amount to 3 cents [per litre] Does $75 dollars [per week] make up for that? Yes, it does.”
First off, re the number of low income smokers, it was reported in the same article that it sits at around 30 to 40%. So on top of the 3 cents per litre, 30 to 40 percent will be impacted by tax increases on tobacco.
Now lets look at the 3 cents per litre claim.
Jacinda overlooked (intentionally or not) that the prices of all goods and services will also be impacted as the burden of the 3 cents per litre increase will be passed on. Will the $75 on average be enough to offset that?
Additionally, those struggling that don’t have kids or their kids are now adults don’t get to receive a Families Package. So there is no offsetting for them.
Next, lets look at the winter energy payment. They seem to be a front runner for what the Government has in the pipeline – see link provided below.
From the link below. “The industry’s solution is for taxpayers to subsidise electricity purchases by the poor, thereby underwriting the electricity industry’s profits in the same way as the Accommodation Supplement has enabled landlords to hold up rents.
“Woods duly refers to ‘the wider context of supporting New Zealanders to afford their energy bills'”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/102708888/way-to-be-cleared-for-big-electricity-players-to-prey-on-lowincome-households
On top of all that, income tax (which is progressive) has been ruled out from the tax working group’s terms of reference.
So once we breakdown the spin we soon realise the touted benefits are unlikely to outweigh the mounting new costs the poor will face going forward.
Respect for workers, even skilled ones, comes second to squeezing the utmost out of them and reducing labour costs, boosting profits. Even for air traffic controllers who keep us safe, and keep the height of confidence in airlines and airports high, so also keeping their share prices high.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/headlines.cfm?c_id=3
BUSINESS
Nine-hour shift, no toilet break: Air traffic controllers fight for toilet change
16 May, 2018 9:56am
Quick Read
Solo controllers take ”creative ways” to relieve themselves while managing air traffic
(And greedy share market expectations for high returns not met because of investment in business development cause a drop in A2 milk shares for that reason. They don’t want to invest in a solid forward-looking good business, they just want to spin the roulette wheel winning all the way.)
A2 Milk’s share price crashes, pulls down entire market.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12052316
I wonder how much the Government Super Fund, now operating under their investment orders from the Government, have got invested in A2?
Actually, however much it is it would still be a better investment than putting money into the Auckland tram system that Goff and Genter are so keen on throwing money at. That will prove to be a good way to lose the lot.
This is why we have a deteriorating environment:
And this is why it keeps happening:
They’ve done the crime, admitted to it even, and then structured their finances in such a way so as not to pay.
This is why the government needs to change the law so that the finances can be traced and all of it returned to the government. Leave these fuckers with nothing.
+1 Draco.
+100 Draco
Agree strongly!, time and time again criminal acts which accrue large sums of $$ for the offenders fall into a hole when it comes to compensating victims or paying fines. Money is sequestered into trusts or other worm holes to different dimensions and after playing golf, doing a few courses or having adverse social talking points jewellery for a bit the crims still get to enjoy their ill gotten gains.
Quite rightly the police swoop on the likes of head hunters presidents etc and grab everything as proceeds of crimes (act) leaving it to the offenders to prove from whence all the toys came from.
Maybe it’s time the same tactics were employed on farmers like these two, and other white collar crims still enjoying being broke but driving the trusts bimmer and living in the trusts Parnell digs.
Putting a huge amount of effluent into a river would be a health hazard to everyone downstream, surely.
Forget environmental policy, do them under OSH. The managers/directors will be personally liable.
And the council dropped the personal charges, relying solely on the easily-dodged corporate ones. Muppets.
Do you feel the same way about the attempts of King Salmon to get the tax-payer to pay for cleaning up the mess they are making in the Marlborough Sounds?
As far as I can see the company is causing the mess, and has plenty of money to fix it.
What the hell are those bludgers up to? I like their product but I don’t see why I, as a taxpayer, should have to clean up after them.
Still I imagine Shane Jones will kick in from the slush fund. Winston likes seafood companies.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/357367/thousand-tonnes-of-dead-fish-poses-problem-for-king-salmon
Well, almost – it’s more looking for a better way of disposing of waste and turning it into a product, rather than just cleaning it up.
So a 50/50 investment by the government would generate more tax revenue over time than was spent, rather than it simply being cleaning up after companies that ran cheap to strip profit and then wound up assetless before they got held to account.
But without looking more closely at the situation it’s difficult to tell whether the delays if the company doesn’t get the govt cash are real cashflow constraints, or just a bit of hopeful accounting looking for a subsidy.
King Salmon should build a fishmeal plant, that would take care of it.
Climate change strikes again, those rising sea temperatures, dead fish, high priced salmon, strains on those restaurants who use their product, due to inconsistency in availability, least that’s the word on the street.
Warning sounded over China’s ‘debtbook diplomacy’
Academics identify 16 countries loaned billions that they can’t afford to repay
“China’s methods were “remarkably consistent”, the report said, beginning with infrastructure investments under its $1tn belt and road initiative, and offering longer term loans with extended grace periods, which was appealing to countries with weaker economies and governance.
Construction projects, which the report said had a reputation for running over budget and yielding underwhelming returns, make debt repayments for the host nations more difficult.
“The final phase is debt collection,” it said. “When countries prove unable to pay back their debts, China has already and is likely to continue to offer debt-forgiveness in exchange for both political influence and strategic equities.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/15/warning-sounded-over-chinas-debtbook-diplomacy
This (link below) is well worth a look
https://youtu.be/E5vUaCj0QGI
Sounds exactly like what the West did.
Confessions of an economic Hitman
Pretty much.
The Chinese make better roads though, lol
Yes but I guess at least with the west you can vote them out, hopefully.
Yes you can vote an administration out.Unfortunately you can not vote the debt out.Private bondholders especially are insistent and persistant in wanting their pound of flesh.
Some would say that the slim hope is more a means of control than empowerment.
But all we can do is keep NZ dancing around the elephants’ feet, trying to avoid being trodden on.
Maybe we should learn a trick or two from our national bird, and use camouflage against super powers…
the reality of what happens to natives, have a look at what’s happened over the years to our native birds – marooned onto smaller and smaller places like Tiritiri Matangi Island …
There’s also an art to being one of the weaker members in the game of bullrush, as I recall.
The trains …
Radio comment reported in full on Scoop.
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=109380
Dr Roger Blakeley is a former Secretary for the Environment. Bob Norman is a former Commissioner of Works. Alex Gray is a professional civil engineer and Senior Project Manager. Keith Flinders is an Electrical Services Consultant.
4 Points –
1. Costs of Diesel v Electric Locomotives.
2. Reliability and Time performance
3. Greenhouse gas emissions
4. Towards Full Electrification of the North Island Main Trunk
The facts in plain language – a must read.
Dr Blakely was also the chief planning officer for Auckland Council to help negotiate it through the Unitary Plan process, after he had worked with Porirua District Council (IIRC), noted for it’s community planning processes.
I spoke to him at one of the last Auckland conversations I attended, and he said he was looking forward to going back to Wellington and working on national issues there.
TBH, reading the article it seems that Kiwirail (by continuing to misuse figures and conclusions found to be flawed) is positioning itself for a subsidy if the government decides to follow through on its transition policy. There may be another reason for such determined adherence to diesel, but I’m thinking that is probably the most likely.
Molly, as you say-follow the money. I wonder whether there are other money-driven motives in the deals which would be struck with the suppliers of the trains, as to whether they be electric or diesel.
Whatever it is, this debate has been going on for years about the diesel versus electric options, and also about the quality of the Chinese diesels. I just googled ‘trains purchase from China’ and got good media coverage. The issue is not new but may be for the new Minister.
There is no sign yet of a national rail strategy from this government.
Easy to blame the Kiwirail Board, when it’s not now.
This government are very keen on electrified light rail funneled through NZTA.
But when it come to Kiwirail they show no sign of a single nationwide role and purpose, instead choosing to improve its network RLTP by RLTP.
When will OUR Labour leaders speak with similar forthrightness?
http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/05/16/uk-shadow-foreign-secretary-condemns-israels-calculated-and-deliberate-policy-to-kill-and-maim-unarmed-protestors/
Good morning The AM Show
When the Labour government is in power they spent a bit more on service and social services the people who receive this income don’t invest it in shears or property they spend it so the reality is a labour lead government allways gets more revenue flowing in our tax system that’s a fact. Ka kite ano.
Does the Govt have the money? Yes
EXPLAINER: Cutting through the spin on how much money the Government has to spend this year.
P.S ECO MAORI has to choose his words Wisley Ka kite ano