We've been doing the Flutracking survey each week for a few years, they also ask Covid questions now too. There was a distinct lack of flu during lockdown too.
The main reason is the lack of inwards air travel who dont go through the 2 week isolation -quarantine. It peters out by time people with flu leave.
But the other things are important too, I use the supermarket sanitiser on way out, and the reduction of air spreading by ill people using sick leave – which was increased recently
I use the supermarket sanitiser on the way in so that I don't add my bacteria to the things I touch, trolley, goods looked at and replaced etc. I thought that was best. Yet you use it going out?
I tend to wear gloves all the time when out and about anyway. Bloody doorknobs. Not latex, just normal gloves. Bung sanitiser on them regularly, but the hands themselves less often.
National completely agrees with you about EV's. We should expect to see strong pushback against Labour Ministers and MPs at the National Agricultural Fieldays which start tomorrow. Not sure if any of the Greens are fronting.
Last night Toyota made a public statement that it won't be bringing in electric utes in the foreseeable future.
Of course that's just a competitive gift to Ford and Volkswagen, but also means Toyota will be supporting a very long second hand and parts market here for the Hilux.
Anyone working in the farming or rural community or indeed the construction and tradie sectors knows that it is pretty pathetic to call utes a status symbol. It's the thing you need to do your work, and it's not replaceable. That's one reason why nearly every vehicle manufacturer has stopped making sedans.
So there's no need to worry, National will repeal the scheme you are worried about, and will of course also get rid of all that cycleway investment.
You may also find that rural communities will need to organise their own collective responses to transport solutions, since their regional and local councils are dominated by National Party people. That I suspect will be up to a few charismatic individuals.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
They don't agree with me, I support the feebate scheme and think it's not going nearly far or fast enough. If you can't be bothered to read a post and make an effort to understand it, then don't bother using it to derail to your own agenda.
Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you. You put out a set of fact-free rhetorical questions, doing exactly what I said you did.
You agreed at length with the GenZero commentary against utes. So I commented on that.
You questioned the focus on cities rather than on isolated communities. So I commented on that.
You wondered whether rural communities could organise themselves with their own solution. So I commented on that.
"Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you."
Why though? You flat out lied about National agreeing with me, why should I let something like that stay under my post?
The points you are making about rural communities would work if you related them to the post. You've got useful perspectives to bring for sure, from a range of experiences, but the rhetoric you use is just too problematic. Stop blocking your own engagement.
Kirk Serpes – Another master of the sweeping assertion which limits opportunity to discuss possible moves to fit the future.
'Everyone did pretty fine 20 years ago' – meaning nothing – pub talk! 'without a massive ……vehicle' – ditto, emotional language. 'Nobody needs' – personal opinion based on ? | 'grotesque luxury item' – emotional language and opinion again | 'Taxed much much higher than proposed' – Could be sound idea but lacking factual information to assist judgment of idea.
Weka, thank you for your post here and thread. As a townie only once removed from farming stock I think we need to work on ways to influence uptake of ideas and transport in the rural sector.
We need to get away from BAU. I will be thinking about your post as I go about my day and will comment later.
Your argument that utes are not a status symbol is not valid I think. I remember the Queen Street farmers going in for deer and venison with their Range Rovers in da city.
Also utes look like a manly vehicle, driven by a bloke for all seasons and reasons, salt of the earth. People don't necessarily sift through their thinking for the emotional base.
Late in my teaching career I bought a secondhand ute. I joked with my colleagues about finally becoming a 'real bloke'. It was useful for carrying horse manure to the plot, gravel for the driveway, political hoardings, bikes, pine cones and firewood- all sorts.
But the reaction from the boys was interesting. There was a group, I suspect rural lads, who approved the ute. It was 'blokey', practical, functional, cheap to buy.
You're right, greywarshark, we have to recognise the 'emotional base' for it informs what we buy, how we vote, and more.
Wise politicians respect this. Adsters know it. Con men use it.
We have a Toyota Ractis ..it fits in with emissions, has huge room in the rear when you lay the two back seats down. It easily carried a wheel chair/ walker/ toiletting chair two suitcases and sundry bags. At times two cubic m of pine, or rubbish and trimmings for the dump etc. So we are amused when people say they "need" a ute.
It just seems to my eye Ad, that your comments are nay-saying and not made on the basis of how to find a way forward using this new technology. Seems focused on BAU.
Sure we all need to know the status quo, known by all policy analysts of status quo or do nothing. It is always put in but we are a progressive people & there is always a better way than the status quo, no matter how minor the tweak.
You get bouquets rather then brickbats if you focus your doubts on saying:
'What if' or 'what will happen' or 'have we thought about'
From that people will be able to pick out the possible things that might not work and be able to work on them. Being able to see all sides means we will be able to design systems and policies without undue negativity hiding or clouding them.
thanks for that. It's my reading of Ad's position that he is green tech BAU and anti-powerdown, and thus the middle ground and most useful pathways is lost. I suspect this underlies his hard man entry into commenting under my posts. That I also have little time for.
Completely agree about the importance of being able to see all sides in designing our best responses.
I'll stop polluting with my old banger when the militaries of the world denounce all military activity and embrace peace and a moneyless one world political system. Cough cough.
Who on earth is advising Labour for FFS. Shouldn't they mean "only home" for the peeps who wind up moving from Napier to Auckland sell and buy again and pay an increaed price? If you can't afford a mortgage then you are unlikely to be able to afford the rent either.
I'm dipping into Slavoj Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes. Interesting. Have to use the little gray cells. One para in chapter on revolutionary terror:
There is thus, beyond all cheap jibes and superficial analogies, a profound structural homology* between Maoist permanent self-revolutionising, the continuous struggle against the ossification of state structures, and the inherent dynamics of capitalism.
Definition of homology for those of us who don't use it in daily language.
Under – 'What is homology in simple words'! –
The similarity of a structure or function of parts of different origins based on their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor is homology. Analogy, by contrast, is a functional similarity of structure that is based on mere similarity of use. merriam-webster.com
He goes on to look at China's 'true' Cultural Revolution, beyond the 'violent …outbursts of a Red Guardist' which is – 'the permanent dissolution of all life-forms necessitated by capitalist reproduction? Today, the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward itself, is the repeating itself as the farce of the capitalist Great Leap Forward into modernisation, with the old slogan "an iron foundry in every village" re-emerging as "a skyscraper in every street."
It is the reign of contemporary global capitalism which is the true Lord of Misrule…p198
One National MP told Newsroom she “sailed her own waka’’ and seemed to think the party should be honoured she had agreed to join, rather than being grateful for the opportunity to be in Parliament.
This is the grasping, self interested Harete for I've known for years. To a fucking T.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Aucklanders would be disappointed Team NZ was looking to move the next regatta overseas.
Team NZ wanted twice what was on offer, Goff said.
"That clearly was not sustainable in the post-Covid environment.
"While I understand Team New Zealand have to think about their commercial interests, I share Aucklanders' disappointment that the Cup is looking like it is going overseas.
"Council invested $113 million in infrastructure for this year's successful America's Cup and made a huge effort to deliver it on time and on budget.
These are the people who concentrate on their mahi – making money and enjoying themselves. They have taken NZ for a ride which started before 1984 but has intensified since then. They are the wealthy and self-centred, who have been robbing the world for the things they want since the major colonial times.
The yachties are too big for their NZ boots. Let them put on their 7 league boots then and stride the world. And don't come back in the future asking for more largesse. Climate change poverty will be on our shoulders then, and a burden that the ordinary people won't be able to sail away from. And we don't want it made worse by wealthy people darting here and there like butterflies sipping at any good thing till it is used up, (with nothing left for young moth-ers, to which future we are on our way right now).
We should all be grateful that Phil hasn't, apparently, got the chance to throw another $99 million into the great gaping hole that is America's Cup racing. What he should be doing now isn't complaining that they want to go elsewhere. He should be apologising to the Auckland Ratepayers for the $113 million that he wasted last year.
Standing there on the dais of shame should be the Prime Minister stepping up and asking forgiveness for the $140 million that the New Zealand taxpayer also wasted on the stupid idea.
That would be at least as appropriate an apology as would one for the dawn raids of the 1970s. This one, unlike the 1970s event still has available the prime perpetrators of the fiasco. They are not, unlike Kirk, Rowling and Muldoon, long dead.
Grate! Marvellous image. He's saying – You must understand our POV.'
And she is thinking 'Hey up, don't crowd me. I'm not a soft touch. It's the country's money you are talking about. We have different sort of priorities and prestige to consider',
"massive tax take and ongoing benefit to NZ" neither of those claims has ever really stood up. a good sound bite but nobody has ever told us HOW MUCH benefit.
Was there a link between the brutal attacks on conservationists Sir Peter Blake and Captain Pete Bethune in Brazil?
In his new documentary, The Garden of Evil, Larry Keating investigates the possibility that the attacks, both of which happened in the Amazon but 16 years apart, might have been the work of powerful criminal organisations with involvement in illegal logging, drug trafficking, and the export of endangered animals.
And looking at the viciousness of rampaging men corrupt and out of the control of subduing law enforcement in Brazil, we can imagine how they might have behaved in NZ in the early days. If you were Maori then, you would probably have signed up with the Brit authorities so they could get control of these unprincipled b…ards that had landed like locusts destroying the cultural rules and Maori societies.
Here is a quote from The Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara about the way that the same villainous sailors behaved in Australia early on:
The aboriginal camp was going about its daily life and then there was a loud boom. They immediately thought of an incident when relatives were shot as the men tried to prevent the white raiders from kidnapping the women.
'Kundilla and his family had heard how their brothers and uncles were killed by ruthless white pirates, desperados and escaped convicts. Those cruel and murderous men came ashore and stole Aboriginal women and kept them on board their ships as sexual slaves, then murdered them and tossed their bodies into the ocean when their services were no longer required. These renegades made up the crews of the American whaling ships which hunted for whales and seals on the southern coast of Western Australia.' p.4
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
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Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
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Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
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Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
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TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
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Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
“It's extraordinary. I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years work in the flu surveillance area,” ESR virologist and flu expert Dr Sue Huang said."
I predicted here on TS that this would happen 🙂
'Extraordinary' lack of seasonal flu in New Zealand, ESR virologist says
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125442512/extraordinary-lack-of-seasonal-flu-in-new-zealand-esr-virologist-says
We've been doing the Flutracking survey each week for a few years, they also ask Covid questions now too. There was a distinct lack of flu during lockdown too.
https://info.flutracking.net
we really should use this as an opportunity to cement into society the behaviours that limit cold and flu spreading. Better sick leave would help.
The main reason is the lack of inwards air travel who dont go through the 2 week isolation -quarantine. It peters out by time people with flu leave.
But the other things are important too, I use the supermarket sanitiser on way out, and the reduction of air spreading by ill people using sick leave – which was increased recently
I don't udnerstand your first paragraph, can you please say that in a different way?
Quarantine system prevents flu from spreading after arriving from overseas, which is also what experts are saying
I use the supermarket sanitiser on the way in so that I don't add my bacteria to the things I touch, trolley, goods looked at and replaced etc. I thought that was best. Yet you use it going out?
Use it on the way in and on the way out…………….problem solved.
That's not what I was asking. Don't state the obvious eh.
The obvious sometimes needs to be stated to some people.
bit harsh on the hands, no?
I tend to wear gloves all the time when out and about anyway. Bloody doorknobs. Not latex, just normal gloves. Bung sanitiser on them regularly, but the hands themselves less often.
10 days sick leave is more than enough.
Bwaghorn, Yet there are many infectious conditions requiring longer quarantine than a fortnight.
Glandular Fever/Epstein barr virus, Shingles, Rheumatic Fever, and many operations require a longer recovery.
Not to mention sick dependants, parents or a significant other.
National completely agrees with you about EV's. We should expect to see strong pushback against Labour Ministers and MPs at the National Agricultural Fieldays which start tomorrow. Not sure if any of the Greens are fronting.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2106/S00102/biting-the-hand.htm
Last night Toyota made a public statement that it won't be bringing in electric utes in the foreseeable future.
Of course that's just a competitive gift to Ford and Volkswagen, but also means Toyota will be supporting a very long second hand and parts market here for the Hilux.
Anyone working in the farming or rural community or indeed the construction and tradie sectors knows that it is pretty pathetic to call utes a status symbol. It's the thing you need to do your work, and it's not replaceable. That's one reason why nearly every vehicle manufacturer has stopped making sedans.
So there's no need to worry, National will repeal the scheme you are worried about, and will of course also get rid of all that cycleway investment.
You may also find that rural communities will need to organise their own collective responses to transport solutions, since their regional and local councils are dominated by National Party people. That I suspect will be up to a few charismatic individuals.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
They don't agree with me, I support the feebate scheme and think it's not going nearly far or fast enough. If you can't be bothered to read a post and make an effort to understand it, then don't bother using it to derail to your own agenda.
Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you. You put out a set of fact-free rhetorical questions, doing exactly what I said you did.
You agreed at length with the GenZero commentary against utes. So I commented on that.
You questioned the focus on cities rather than on isolated communities. So I commented on that.
You wondered whether rural communities could organise themselves with their own solution. So I commented on that.
Stop driving engagement away.
"Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you."
Why though? You flat out lied about National agreeing with me, why should I let something like that stay under my post?
The points you are making about rural communities would work if you related them to the post. You've got useful perspectives to bring for sure, from a range of experiences, but the rhetoric you use is just too problematic. Stop blocking your own engagement.
Btw, I disagreed with Gen Zero dude,
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1404265443464945668
Kirk Serpes – Another master of the sweeping assertion which limits opportunity to discuss possible moves to fit the future.
'Everyone did pretty fine 20 years ago' – meaning nothing – pub talk! 'without a massive ……vehicle' – ditto, emotional language. 'Nobody needs' – personal opinion based on ? | 'grotesque luxury item' – emotional language and opinion again | 'Taxed much much higher than proposed' – Could be sound idea but lacking factual information to assist judgment of idea.
Agree As …Weka jumping down people's throat's just a little too quickly….love the Standard tho.
Weka, thank you for your post here and thread. As a townie only once removed from farming stock I think we need to work on ways to influence uptake of ideas and transport in the rural sector.
We need to get away from BAU. I will be thinking about your post as I go about my day and will comment later.
Your argument that utes are not a status symbol is not valid I think. I remember the Queen Street farmers going in for deer and venison with their Range Rovers in da city.
Also utes look like a manly vehicle, driven by a bloke for all seasons and reasons, salt of the earth. People don't necessarily sift through their thinking for the emotional base.
Late in my teaching career I bought a secondhand ute. I joked with my colleagues about finally becoming a 'real bloke'. It was useful for carrying horse manure to the plot, gravel for the driveway, political hoardings, bikes, pine cones and firewood- all sorts.
But the reaction from the boys was interesting. There was a group, I suspect rural lads, who approved the ute. It was 'blokey', practical, functional, cheap to buy.
You're right, greywarshark, we have to recognise the 'emotional base' for it informs what we buy, how we vote, and more.
Wise politicians respect this. Adsters know it. Con men use it.
We have a Toyota Ractis ..it fits in with emissions, has huge room in the rear when you lay the two back seats down. It easily carried a wheel chair/ walker/ toiletting chair two suitcases and sundry bags. At times two cubic m of pine, or rubbish and trimmings for the dump etc. So we are amused when people say they "need" a ute.
It just seems to my eye Ad, that your comments are nay-saying and not made on the basis of how to find a way forward using this new technology. Seems focused on BAU.
Sure we all need to know the status quo, known by all policy analysts of status quo or do nothing. It is always put in but we are a progressive people & there is always a better way than the status quo, no matter how minor the tweak.
You get bouquets rather then brickbats if you focus your doubts on saying:
'What if' or 'what will happen' or 'have we thought about'
From that people will be able to pick out the possible things that might not work and be able to work on them. Being able to see all sides means we will be able to design systems and policies without undue negativity hiding or clouding them.
Weka’s thread
https://thestandard.org.nz/climate-transition-transport-and-the-rural-road-tumbleweeds/
thanks for that. It's my reading of Ad's position that he is green tech BAU and anti-powerdown, and thus the middle ground and most useful pathways is lost. I suspect this underlies his hard man entry into commenting under my posts. That I also have little time for.
Completely agree about the importance of being able to see all sides in designing our best responses.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts later.
I'll stop polluting with my old banger when the militaries of the world denounce all military activity and embrace peace and a moneyless one world political system. Cough cough.
RBNZ has been given conditional DTI tool.
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/110868/finance-minister-gives-rbnz-debt-income-tools-condition-it-avoids-impacting-first-home
Who on earth is advising Labour for FFS. Shouldn't they mean "only home" for the peeps who wind up moving from Napier to Auckland sell and buy again and pay an increaed price? If you can't afford a mortgage then you are unlikely to be able to afford the rent either.
I'm dipping into Slavoj Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes. Interesting. Have to use the little gray cells. One para in chapter on revolutionary terror:
There is thus, beyond all cheap jibes and superficial analogies, a profound structural homology* between Maoist permanent self-revolutionising, the continuous struggle against the ossification of state structures, and the inherent dynamics of capitalism.
Under – 'What is homology in simple words'! –
The similarity of a structure or function of parts of different origins based on their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor is homology. Analogy, by contrast, is a functional similarity of structure that is based on mere similarity of use. merriam-webster.com
He goes on to look at China's 'true' Cultural Revolution, beyond the 'violent …outbursts of a Red Guardist' which is – 'the permanent dissolution of all life-forms necessitated by capitalist reproduction? Today, the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward itself, is the repeating itself as the farce of the capitalist Great Leap Forward into modernisation, with the old slogan "an iron foundry in every village" re-emerging as "a skyscraper in every street."
It is the reign of contemporary global capitalism which is the true Lord of Misrule…p198
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300334128/national-party-all-out-of-love-for-returning-mp
National are the gift that keeps giving!
I know a few whanganui nat voters who cant stand the woman, a assumed it was cause she was brown but maybe theres something to it.
This is the grasping, self interested Harete for I've known for years. To a fucking T.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444836/america-s-cup-team-nz-rejects-government-auckland-council-s-hosting-offer
The offer involved cash and in-kind support worth about $99 million.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Aucklanders would be disappointed Team NZ was looking to move the next regatta overseas.
Team NZ wanted twice what was on offer, Goff said.
"That clearly was not sustainable in the post-Covid environment.
"While I understand Team New Zealand have to think about their commercial interests, I share Aucklanders' disappointment that the Cup is looking like it is going overseas.
"Council invested $113 million in infrastructure for this year's successful America's Cup and made a huge effort to deliver it on time and on budget.
These are the people who concentrate on their mahi – making money and enjoying themselves. They have taken NZ for a ride which started before 1984 but has intensified since then. They are the wealthy and self-centred, who have been robbing the world for the things they want since the major colonial times.
The yachties are too big for their NZ boots. Let them put on their 7 league boots then and stride the world. And don't come back in the future asking for more largesse. Climate change poverty will be on our shoulders then, and a burden that the ordinary people won't be able to sail away from. And we don't want it made worse by wealthy people darting here and there like butterflies sipping at any good thing till it is used up, (with nothing left for young moth-ers, to which future we are on our way right now).
We should all be grateful that Phil hasn't, apparently, got the chance to throw another $99 million into the great gaping hole that is America's Cup racing. What he should be doing now isn't complaining that they want to go elsewhere. He should be apologising to the Auckland Ratepayers for the $113 million that he wasted last year.
Standing there on the dais of shame should be the Prime Minister stepping up and asking forgiveness for the $140 million that the New Zealand taxpayer also wasted on the stupid idea.
That would be at least as appropriate an apology as would one for the dawn raids of the 1970s. This one, unlike the 1970s event still has available the prime perpetrators of the fiasco. They are not, unlike Kirk, Rowling and Muldoon, long dead.
lol – Awesome photo. That look, and that guard of the purse
https://twitter.com/secondzeit/status/1404956799707488256
Grate! Marvellous image. He's saying – You must understand our POV.'
And she is thinking 'Hey up, don't crowd me. I'm not a soft touch. It's the country's money you are talking about. We have different sort of priorities and prestige to consider',
1000% Greywarshark. Love the "7 league boots". It is a hole of greed.
$685M for a bridge cycleway or 3 Americas Cup challenges @$200M ea. ?
Investment in the America’s Cup brings massive tax take and ongoing benefit to our country.
No virtue signalling petty envy either.
"massive tax take and ongoing benefit to NZ" neither of those claims has ever really stood up. a good sound bite but nobody has ever told us HOW MUCH benefit.
Who benefits?
And Rod Stewart supposedly got the best part if a a million bucks for an appalling rendition of his theme song.
Question to haunt us:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018799446/larry-keating-investigating-corruption-in-the-amazon
Was there a link between the brutal attacks on conservationists Sir Peter Blake and Captain Pete Bethune in Brazil?
And looking at the viciousness of rampaging men corrupt and out of the control of subduing law enforcement in Brazil, we can imagine how they might have behaved in NZ in the early days. If you were Maori then, you would probably have signed up with the Brit authorities so they could get control of these unprincipled b…ards that had landed like locusts destroying the cultural rules and Maori societies.
Here is a quote from The Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara about the way that the same villainous sailors behaved in Australia early on:
The aboriginal camp was going about its daily life and then there was a loud boom. They immediately thought of an incident when relatives were shot as the men tried to prevent the white raiders from kidnapping the women.
This is interesting for Hone Harawira's viewpoint to get Maori on the up and up.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/matangireia/story/2018791582/series-2-episode-4-hone-harawira-matangireia
Great news for the Progressive Socialist left…..
Pedro Castillo is declared the new President of Peru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAgrM-bqQ2E
Hes got a good sort of Sorting Hat! Stylish.
I just saw this and it is interesting how similar the stories are to what we see in NZ.
https://youtu.be/7hn2b5-50go