Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 6 degrees in Auckland last night.
It was 6 degrees in Dunedin last night.
It was 1 degrees in Christchurch last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
The media may think Game of Thrones, the McCanns, Julian Savea , Cricket’s DRS system and a drunk being punched three times at Eden Park, but they are not.
The majority of the media is doing everything they can to support Paula Bannett and move homelessness off the headlines.
“Try walking in my shoes, it’s not actually that easy.”
This was the challenge TA set to Prime Minister John Key. But really it’s a challenge for us all.
Homelessness also seems to have bumped the following from view;
Tax havens
mcCullys dodgy dealings, pick one.
Asset sale proceeds, a full analysis of ins and outs stacked up against the BS about what they were going to do with it.
Tanking dairy sector.
That prominent NZer, why all the fuss Johnny.
TPPA
Where’s the promised surplus again Bill ? Where that tax cut John ?
State housing sales, a broken election promise in a housing crises.
More WINZ stuff ups
Charter schools plundering the taxpayer and not performing
Slaters diversion, another WTF moment courtesy of nationals police.
Sacked DHB’s, a creaking at the seams health system
ChCh still not rebuilt
Etc
Wasn’t Paula Bennett one of their ‘celebrities’ talking about cyber bullying.
Isn’t releasing the information about Hurimoana Dennis bullying?
Isn’t revealing information about beneficiaries cyber bullying?
She is not just a cyber bully, she is a real life one also.
The National Party ministers are all bullies when it comes to the poor or those that show them up for what they truly are.
John Key for instance, had a field day bulling that poor waitress and then had his pet MSM bully her even more for bringing the matter to the attention of the public.
The overall index is at its best level of the year but prices remain well below the break-even range for farmers, who need about $3000 a tonne.
Fonterra and market commentators expected only a gradual improvement in prices this year because of an oversupply on world markets.
I bought a kilo of whole milk powder not that long ago and it cost me $12. One tonne at that price would have cost $12,000. Perhaps Fonterra, and farmers in general, need to be looking at adding more value to their product and selling it retail rather than selling it wholesale and letting others grab all the profit.
It wasnt meant for us, it was for the National MPs, and future job prospects on Chinese company boards, or others, and getting very wealthy from corrupt deals like giving our water away for nothing.
While the government is spending billions of dollars to free up traffic, the managing director of Mainfreight, Don Braid, said more could be done to move people and freight using rail.
Even the trucking companies are starting to realise that rail is the better option.
They tried that before. The company (Toll) wasn’t paying the bill to use the rail and the government seemed powerless to force them to. It’s one of the reasons why the 5th Labour led government renationalised it.
It’s very difficult to get competition on rails when you only have one track. Not that I think competition is the answer that we need as it increases costs for no added benefit.
A tweet just on RNZ…”what a razor-edged heartless sounding woman Amy Adams is”.
Well said indeed. Why on earth did the Gnats not inflation adjust the payment to Pora as advised? They had a chance here to do the right thing and win some political points, but their nasty penny-pinching won the day as usual.
Nothing this government does seems to make sense any more. An out-of-touch third term government well past its sell-by date.
anybody who would like to see some semblance of a fair deal for a demonstrably innocent person.
OK, I can understand someone coming up with sophisticated arguments as to why the government shouldn’t spend another sum of cash that’s trivial compared to the government accounts. It’s dickish, but valid if one takes minimisation of expenditure as a categorical imperative.
But are you seriously claiming that you don’t understand why this largely symbolic gesture could be seen as a fair go by people across the political spectrum? Just in a general sense? As a generally positive and principled act?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: your moral compass is broken.
The issue here is money, you think 2.5 million is not enough, I think it’ll mean he never has to work for the rest of his life and that’ll be easily double the time he spent locked up, for some its about right and for others its too much
You yourself said no amount of money will make up for what happened so should he get 2.5 million, 10 million, 100 million, a billion or because no amount makes up for it, nothing?
No matter what the government did it wouldn’t be enough for some and too much for others, I think they got it about right
See, here’s the thing, it’s not what they choose to offer him that’s the problem.
It’s that they chose to skimp on it by using an unadjusted thirty year old benchmark.
They took a late 70s benchmark and actively decided to not adjust for CPI. That’s the difference between “We’re very sorry, what’s a reasonable level of compensation established historically in NZ?” and “We’re very sorry, what’s the minimum we can pay to make you go away after a nice photo-op?”
And then shrugging and saying take it or leave it just fucks all over your previous “we’re very sorry”.
Oh Raybon. Your column will be axed and your typing fingers will be mashed for daring to challenge the words and action of such a nice girl who is our Paula. You are a naughty boy Raybon, (and North for highlighting it.)
. The Trio Performers
. Otherwise known as NZ’s Grand Duchesses Of INCOMPETENCY
I give you the Minister of Injustice Amy Adams. Her system has allowed the Police to frame a bewildered young man for evil crimes and incarcerate him unjustly for over 21 yrs. She paid the poor fellow out at currency rates deliberately based on 1998 earning capacity.
VERDICT: The Minister of Justice is a well fed, well paid Incompetent BASTARD.
I give you the Minister of Housing, Paula Bennett. Her bullying methods of revealing highly confidential material to humiliate and deem lifelong smut on her chosen victims, makes her a well fed, well paid incompentent BASTARD,
She claims she has more Bastardry up her sleazy sleeves. But a more incoherent Minister dragging her Folio (Housing) through failure after failure, through muckups and secrecy – is callous, and dishonest and unspeakable.
VERDICT: The Minster of Housing is a well fed, well paid incompentent BASTARD.
I give you The Minister of Police, Judith Collins. Her tricky little tentacles are sad. She seems to get out of control on a regular basis. She is not Competent. (telling the police to NOT enforce the Road Code recently being a total stupidity) but she is fun.
VERDICT: A well fed, well paid person fit for Pantomine Duties. But not for Ministries. A funny BASTARD.
Hekia makes the fourth person – but she is a special case to be dealt with later.
What I want to know, is how the diggins with so many fine honest and just women in this country, can the Tories choose nitwit bastard women for the important Ministries? Does anybody know?
I feel like the wheels are finally falling off this government.
They’ve made a series of mis-steps in the last few weeks that the public are finally starting to respond to:
1. On-going shambles with housing and homelessness; John Key appearing to be very out of touch / lying
2. Increasing the refugee quota by only 250 from 2018 onwards
3. Underpaying Teina Pora for 21 years in jail
There’s also the backdrop of cuts (in real terms) to health and education budgets that are being widely felt through the public.
Me too. And things like Bennett leaking personal information, when she did that to beneficiaries a few years ago it felt like she won. This time she seriously misjudged the situation and people will be looking at her for what she really is, and it’s normal to call for her resignation.
I’m a little more ambivalent on the leaking thing.
It seems her excuse has largely been repeated by the media, rather than challenged in any way. But also it’s just a “so what” moment.
The incident over which the marae head was put under investigation for doesn’t seem all that scandalous, and isn’t really related to the housing situation at all.
It’s not really the same as beneficiaries who were asking for more money, and their private details showing that they had already received a pretty good level of support from the government.
Rather than coming off as some sort of clever calculated attack on the marae, it sort of just comes off as “a really weird thing that happened”.
Why would Bennett do that or does the staffer have a grudge against Bennett…like maybe Bennett told her to leak to a journalist and the staffer deliberately chose her…
Maybe they just leaked to the first journo who came along? Who knows?
I still can’t work out if the staffer was present when the information was given to the Minister or if Bennett subsequently relayed the info to her staff?
As far as I can ascertain the staffer (press secretary) was present at the meeting with Hurimoana Dennis last Friday. Bear in mind this press secretary, Lucy Bennett (not related to Paula Bennett) only took up the position earlier this year so she probably didn’t know of the past bad blood between Paula Bennett and Rebecca Wright.
Anyone with any clues knows how ‘dirty politics’ works. Staff are aware what is expected of them, but they proceed to act without providing the minister with any of the details. It’s called “plausible deniability”. So, when the shit hits the fan the minister can act all innocent-like and deny it had anything to do with them.
It’s never been said that the staffer was present at the meeting between Bennett and Dennis, only that it was a private meeting. As I recall Bennett said that after the meeting she briefed her staff. As reported in the Herald today by Trev’ – “John Gillespie, TVNZ’s Head of News and Current Affairs, said TVNZ had already confirmed a One News journalist was approached with information.”
“……..was approached…….”. Meaning presumably that it wasn’t just chit chat in a chance meeting in Lambton Quay. The journalist was “approached”
Why possibly would a senior staffer play such a dangerous game without the express approval of her principal ? It’d be job-losing serious misconduct if it turned bad. Which it has. Nah, Bully Bennett’s in it up to her ample jowls. If only by nudge nudge wink wink hooped eyebrows. She’s a rum thing that one, with form.
Hi North. There was a staffer present at the ‘private’ meeting with Hurimoana Dennis last Friday. It was one of the first questions asked of Bennett (Mon. or Tues.) and she volunteered the information. She wouldn’t reveal who it was but the consensus of opinion seemed to be it was press secretary, Lucy Bennett. The meeting with other staff members was an office debriefing which occurred later.
What I find so disgusting about this whole affair is the fact Dennis is not being investigated by his police peers for any criminal wrong doing. The question seems to be whether he handled the case involving a 16 year old boy, and (the boy’s) relationship with a 15 yr old girl, correctly or not. No wonder Madam refused to talk about it because she and her staff enabler were effectively inferring he was being investigated for suspected criminal behaviour.
I disagree, to a certain degree, the housing issue is something the government is very weak on but as for increasing the quota by only 250 and “underpaying” Teina Pora, that won’t hurt the government at all in fact it might even see a wee bump
I think that if you can get a new house, a new car and have over 52 grand a year to play with for the rest of your life (and that’s being conservative) then that’s not a bad pay out at all and I’d suggest there’ll be more then a few people that agree with me
Its the housing that will hurt National, its not looking good and Bennett is fast becoming a liability
Yes, the housing is undeniably the bedrock of the whole thing.
It’s just the refugees and Teina Pora have come at a bad time, and appear to be “more of the same”.
If the refugees and Teina Pora stuff had come up 4 months ago, then I think they’d just be a minor blip. But coming up when they have, it’s more fuel for the fire.
How many people think that a new house, a new car and over 52 grand a year (conservatively) for the rest of your life is fair recompense
Hes 38 so could easily live another 40 years without ever having to work again, nothing can give his years back but now he can do anything he likes without having to worry about housing or work
That doesn’t mean that any random amount should be paid.
“Priceless” does not mean “without value”.
Basically, the money is a token amount based on previous cases. Only the government has penny-pinched on the token amount so the actualy “token” is as much a token of small-mindedness as it is indicative of an apology and desire to lessen as much as possible the impact of what was done to him.
McFlock: yep. As I mentioned the NATs lost a cheap and easy chance to take the moral high ground on a news story this week. Silly, bad political management from them.
$2.5 is a shit load of money , and as someone pointed out he originally ended up their because he confessed .
And CV the nats core voter will think its to much so it won’t harm them.
Page 9 of the report by the judge states that “consideration should be given to adjusting compensation payable to Mr Pora for loss of liberty to reflect the decline in the value of money”.
It also states “The rate at which claimants in Mr Port’s position will be compensated, will decline the longer they remain in prison. That appears to be anomalous an unjust”.
So for anyone upset by the payment, the government could simply say “we took up the recommendations of the judge in this case, in that it would be unjust to not adjust for inflation”.
Why would “a large group of their voters” think 2.5 million is a decent payout?
What might their reasoning be? What measure might they apply in order to come to their conclusion, do you think, Puck?
Saw our Minor Key being interviewed a morning or so ago, I forget by who/whom to do with the super large drug haul found in the North. Found by a local, who in the process of trying to help drug smugglers with their boat ,unaware of what they were, became concerned enough to get himself out of there and report them to local police. All purely accidental. BUT Mr key said that this large drug haul, tripped over by a local, shows that National’s injection of increased resources and improved policies to the police force are working. This whole scenario had nothing at all to do with policing from what I could see. If it hadn’t been for that local man this haul would never have been found.
“Working people everywhere have had enough,” Morello said in a statement. “The TPP is nothing short of a corporate takeover of our democracy. That’s why people are rising up to stop it. Corporate lobbyists want to sneak the TPP through Congress quietly; that means it’s time for us to get loud.”
“This fight against the TPP is not about right and left, it’s about right and wrong,” Lilly said. “Whatever you’re passionate about, whether it’s human rights, internet freedom, climate change or food safety, the TPP is a bad deal for humanity, and a threat to the future of democracy. The more people learn about the TPP, the less they like it. It’s our responsibility to sound the alarm, before it’s too late.”
I find it weird that, in a story about smears, a journalist appears to be smearing a fellow journalist by seemingly implying that what she did was simply for payback. Why do you find it weird?
Why would Bennett leak to a journalist she doesn’t get on with? Wouldn’t it make more sense to leak to someone you know and trust (at least as much as you can)
So basically TVNZ would not confirm who the journalist was, RNZ refuse to give up their source, presumably the journalist didn’t out herself, so that leaves Bennetts office as Trevetts source? Maybe Bennett just shot herself in the foot.
No, the ‘non gallery journalist’ is the person Trevett & Kiwiblog have named (because TVNZ & RNZ didn’t name her), some are saying the name was out already but I can’t find it other than in Trevetts piece & someone just pointed me to Kiwiblog too. So I was wondering how her name was released if not by RNZ/TVNZ.
“In addition to the powerful structural forces that are reducing global inflation, our economy has been hit by several important supply-side shocks. These include falling oil and dairy prices, strong net migration flows and rising labour force participation. Some, such as the changes in oil prices, net migration and participation, are positive for growth, but all of the supply shocks are exerting downward pressure on inflation in New Zealand.”
From Brian Easton, economist, March 2016:
The effect of low interest rates should encourage investment in productive activities. … That is not happening. It is possible that there is insufficient demand. But over recent years many measures have been taken to increase investment-inducing demand and they have had little effect. Six years is a long time – longer than from the beginning to the bottom of the Great Depression; you have to go back to the 1880s for a longer period of international stagnation.
From Kerry McDonald, June 2016:
“Auckland and the Regions
The regions are critical in the economy, and for our living standards. They produce a high proportion of exports and are the main tourist destinations. But, they are struggling because the NZD is too strong, they are less valued politically and their competitiveness and quality of life is being undermined, mainly by poor policy which doesn’t recognise their paramount role in the economy.
Auckland is increasingly a millstone around New Zealand’s neck: “its economy is inwardly focussed, driven by consumption, real estate and domestic services”; “measured internationally it’s performance is poor – ranked 69 of 85 OECD metros”; and “ it must shift from import to export-led, but is not a centre of export excellence or innovation” (source: The Auckland Council Plan).
The tax free wealth gains on Auckland property is a major opportunity lost in terms of national benefit. In a rational world the gains would be taxed to fund important national programs, such as: a rejuvenated regional development program; or a major blitz on the adverse environment consequences of agriculture; or a major program to reduce the vulnerability and decline of the conservation estate; or a major program to develop future jobs and a more effective transition to a more innovative economy. The tax would also partly compensate the Regions for their export based subsidy to Auckland!
From Bill Rosenberg, CTU, June 2016
“Sustainable increases in our incomes depends on more being produced for every person in New Zealand and from every hour worked, but increases are weak according to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics out today,” says Bill Rosenberg, CTU Economist.
“Per person, production (GDP) increases were only 0.1 percent in the three months to March and 0.5 percent over the year. Per hour worked, production went backwards – over the three months to March it fell 0.2 percent, and rose only 0.5 percent over the same period last year. These are a poor basis for wage improvements,” says Rosenberg.
“We are also seeing weak exports, production from manufacturing shrinking in three of the last four sectors and increasing only weakly over the year (1.4 percent), and overall increases dependent on construction and care for our aging population. Household spending is increasing more slowly than the rest of the economy.
“We need a more balanced economy if we want sustainable and increased incomes,” Rosenberg says.
From Minister of Finance Bill English, May 2016, Budget Speech:
“Mr Speaker, New Zealand’s economic outlook is positive. Treasury is forecasting real GDP growth of around 2.9 per cent over the coming year, and 2.8 per cent on average over the five years to June 2020. Over 200,000 more people are in work now than three years ago, and another 170,000 new jobs are expected by 2020.
Over that period, the unemployment rate is expected to drop to 4.6 per cent and the average wage is forecast to rise to $63,000 a year.”
Wow, Blinglish has confirmed his veto of Sue Moroney’s 26 weeks for babies bill. She had the numbers for the bill to pass at the next reading but Uncle Scrooge says NO. This is unbelievably mean spirited and tells parents that their baby’s well being doesn’t matter. We simply don’t care about the health and future of your family. We don’t care about our society is shaped.
Sue Moroney’s bill would have given parents another 8 weeks paid leave at home with bubba, on top of the current 18. If I were a parent or planning being on one I’d be gutted.
Technically, yes of course the govt can proceed with a financial veto but are you really ok with your govt blocking a majority vote for ideologically driven purposes, dressed up with the handy excuse of “we haven’t budgeted for it”?
If we had a law which allowed us to vote in an Emperor, does that mean that the decrees issued by that Emperor going forwards can be considered to be both democratic and democratically enabled?
“Dear Andrew,
I have just read that the Paid Parental Leave Bill has been cancelled by VETO enacted by the National Government.
I understand that there is probably little that can be done to reverse this veto but could I ask that you seriously consider taking steps to ensure that this draconian piece of law is removed from the statutes of New Zealand as soon as is possible. Not modified , removed for ever.
Thank you
John Shears.
Well, this is an argument that goes back in part to the English Civil War.
But the thing is there’s not much point planning a budget if parliament decides to fuck it a month later, and then you end up with the appropriations debacle that the US has.
But my suspicion is that in this instance the financial veto is more a cloak for ideological opposition. Like the Cabinet Manual, leaving shit up to this government’s discretion just gives them carte blanche to abuse it in fringe cases the original legislators probably never thought any government would be corrupt enough to exploit.
My preference would be to enable the option of a veto if the projected cost was a specific percentage of the immediately preceding budget’s total expenditure, say 1%. Or kick back the veto to a single conscience vote in the House.
The Ministers’ spin was that agriculture is still up because the rest of agriculture is going fine.
But look at that weighting of dairy on New Zealand’s exports. We can all see Fonterra’s reliance on low value-add whole milk powder has been our economy’s biggest-ever exporting trap. And it’s continuing to go south. With the weighting towards dairy so big and forecast to be even greater, our regional towns and cities are going to get hit harder and harder by its sustained downturn.
The agricultural sector broadly is doing its best to diversify, and doing us all good. But the dairy industry’s pursuit of high production is making us more and more vulnerable, and we are paying for that hard.
There used to be money in doing more and bigger dairy conversions. So that’s where the market went. And neither National nor Labour felt liked intervention was required.
I’m not knocking dairy entirely, or even it’s dominance really – only it’s reliance on low-value commodities and their impact on us all. We’re well overdue for a review of Fonterra and it’s legislation.
I support the Greens’ call for a suspension of dairy conversions – it’s what responsible regional councils would have done years ago. Only a few of them get it.
The point would be to review the governing legislation to require value-added production on one side, and limit mass production via RMA and water price changes on the other.
Geeezus. Replace the Fonterra board, and force the sell up of the bottom 30% of uneconomic dairy farms in the country to Landcorp. Done in 12 months.
Your way will take 10 years before any effect is visible anywhere. Pressuring corporate boards to adopt different business strategies by statute is uselessly unenforceable.
Nationalising won’t do anything except rise the entire industry up against you unnecessarily.
My way aims for the higher value side of the business without needlessly wrecking it. We have never had enough capital locally to do that – it’s going to take time and both local and foreign capital to do. Allies, not enemies.
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As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
It was 6 degrees in Auckland last night.
It was 6 degrees in Dunedin last night.
It was 1 degrees in Christchurch last night.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a car.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a container.
Not very warm to be sleeping in a garage.
Not very warm to be sleeping on the street.
The media may think Game of Thrones, the McCanns, Julian Savea , Cricket’s DRS system and a drunk being punched three times at Eden Park, but they are not.
The majority of the media is doing everything they can to support Paula Bannett and move homelessness off the headlines.
“Try walking in my shoes, it’s not actually that easy.”
This was the challenge TA set to Prime Minister John Key. But really it’s a challenge for us all.
Homelessness also seems to have bumped the following from view;
Tax havens
mcCullys dodgy dealings, pick one.
Asset sale proceeds, a full analysis of ins and outs stacked up against the BS about what they were going to do with it.
Tanking dairy sector.
That prominent NZer, why all the fuss Johnny.
TPPA
Where’s the promised surplus again Bill ? Where that tax cut John ?
State housing sales, a broken election promise in a housing crises.
More WINZ stuff ups
Charter schools plundering the taxpayer and not performing
Slaters diversion, another WTF moment courtesy of nationals police.
Sacked DHB’s, a creaking at the seams health system
ChCh still not rebuilt
Etc
But there’s far more important issues to report…….
Man films mystery objects in night sky
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/81042630/man-films-mystery-objects-in-night-sky
Of course and positioning their cyber bullying meme for more distraction value.
Wasn’t Paula Bennett one of their ‘celebrities’ talking about cyber bullying.
Isn’t releasing the information about Hurimoana Dennis bullying?
Isn’t revealing information about beneficiaries cyber bullying?
She is not just a cyber bully, she is a real life one also.
The National Party ministers are all bullies when it comes to the poor or those that show them up for what they truly are.
John Key for instance, had a field day bulling that poor waitress and then had his pet MSM bully her even more for bringing the matter to the attention of the public.
@ Paul (1.1.1) … thanks again for your thought provoking posts. Always a good read, even though disturbing.
And in NZH today, a news item is about number one son’s release of his new song! Can you believe it?
And so on it goes yet again … more sickening subterfuge and diversion by msm, to protect the corrupt high and mighty!
Give me strength!
I’m sure the luxury guests are snug and warm in Nuie as they structure their tax affairs to avoid tax with our 7.5 million development grant.
Maybe Paula can offer a $5000 ticket to Nuie for our homeless?
Unconvincing lies.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2016/06/unconvincing-lies.html?m=1
‘Rock star economy.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/306494/dairy-prices-flat,-but-whole-milk-powder-falls
I bought a kilo of whole milk powder not that long ago and it cost me $12. One tonne at that price would have cost $12,000. Perhaps Fonterra, and farmers in general, need to be looking at adding more value to their product and selling it retail rather than selling it wholesale and letting others grab all the profit.
One tonne of whole milk powder on Fonterra’s wholesale trading site is just under NZ$3000/MT i.e. 3 bucks a kg
‘Building a brighter future.’
Given the housing crisis, does anyone find this slogan just a little ironic?
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/304608/big-govt-house-build-'needed'-for-auckland
It wasnt meant for us, it was for the National MPs, and future job prospects on Chinese company boards, or others, and getting very wealthy from corrupt deals like giving our water away for nothing.
Even the trucking companies are starting to realise that rail is the better option.
Let the likes mainfreigt own the rolling stock and the government looks after the rail infrastructure. Its a no brainer,
They tried that before. The company (Toll) wasn’t paying the bill to use the rail and the government seemed powerless to force them to. It’s one of the reasons why the 5th Labour led government renationalised it.
Yes that was one company with no competition, run by mongrels governed by idiots.
It’s very difficult to get competition on rails when you only have one track. Not that I think competition is the answer that we need as it increases costs for no added benefit.
The government’s skills haven’t yet deserted them; launching the Pora compensation yesterday has given Bennett breathing space and recovery.
Still, it’s one media cycle. And it’s a long winter.
A tweet just on RNZ…”what a razor-edged heartless sounding woman Amy Adams is”.
Well said indeed. Why on earth did the Gnats not inflation adjust the payment to Pora as advised? They had a chance here to do the right thing and win some political points, but their nasty penny-pinching won the day as usual.
Nothing this government does seems to make sense any more. An out-of-touch third term government well past its sell-by date.
Yep, Adams reasons for not inflation adjusting were pathetic,…
… though wrapped in that cold blooded crisp firm voice to try sounding correct
…..
I might adjust my tax payment back to inflation-reversed 1979 too
…..
fuck the Crown (the british crown that is, dont forget). They fuck over everyone they deal with – that is the british crowns history
Political points with whom exactly?
anybody who would like to see some semblance of a fair deal for a demonstrably innocent person.
OK, I can understand someone coming up with sophisticated arguments as to why the government shouldn’t spend another sum of cash that’s trivial compared to the government accounts. It’s dickish, but valid if one takes minimisation of expenditure as a categorical imperative.
But are you seriously claiming that you don’t understand why this largely symbolic gesture could be seen as a fair go by people across the political spectrum? Just in a general sense? As a generally positive and principled act?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: your moral compass is broken.
The issue here is money, you think 2.5 million is not enough, I think it’ll mean he never has to work for the rest of his life and that’ll be easily double the time he spent locked up, for some its about right and for others its too much
You yourself said no amount of money will make up for what happened so should he get 2.5 million, 10 million, 100 million, a billion or because no amount makes up for it, nothing?
No matter what the government did it wouldn’t be enough for some and too much for others, I think they got it about right
Busy today, Puck!
Of course you think the Government got it about right, you’re a supporter.
See, here’s the thing, it’s not what they choose to offer him that’s the problem.
It’s that they chose to skimp on it by using an unadjusted thirty year old benchmark.
They took a late 70s benchmark and actively decided to not adjust for CPI. That’s the difference between “We’re very sorry, what’s a reasonable level of compensation established historically in NZ?” and “We’re very sorry, what’s the minimum we can pay to make you go away after a nice photo-op?”
And then shrugging and saying take it or leave it just fucks all over your previous “we’re very sorry”.
Echo chamber.
Raybon’s gonna get Kan-ned if he’s not careful. You’re just not allowed to explain Bully Bennett’s totality by reference to junk food.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11657226
Raybon… Brilliant and accurate
North – “Raybon’s gonna get Kan-ned if he’s not careful. ”
I prefer ‘Campbellized”.
Oh Raybon. Your column will be axed and your typing fingers will be mashed for daring to challenge the words and action of such a nice girl who is our Paula. You are a naughty boy Raybon, (and North for highlighting it.)
So good that article – thanks
. The Trio Performers
. Otherwise known as NZ’s Grand Duchesses Of INCOMPETENCY
I give you the Minister of Injustice Amy Adams. Her system has allowed the Police to frame a bewildered young man for evil crimes and incarcerate him unjustly for over 21 yrs. She paid the poor fellow out at currency rates deliberately based on 1998 earning capacity.
VERDICT: The Minister of Justice is a well fed, well paid Incompetent BASTARD.
I give you the Minister of Housing, Paula Bennett. Her bullying methods of revealing highly confidential material to humiliate and deem lifelong smut on her chosen victims, makes her a well fed, well paid incompentent BASTARD,
She claims she has more Bastardry up her sleazy sleeves. But a more incoherent Minister dragging her Folio (Housing) through failure after failure, through muckups and secrecy – is callous, and dishonest and unspeakable.
VERDICT: The Minster of Housing is a well fed, well paid incompentent BASTARD.
I give you The Minister of Police, Judith Collins. Her tricky little tentacles are sad. She seems to get out of control on a regular basis. She is not Competent. (telling the police to NOT enforce the Road Code recently being a total stupidity) but she is fun.
VERDICT: A well fed, well paid person fit for Pantomine Duties. But not for Ministries. A funny BASTARD.
Hekia makes the fourth person – but she is a special case to be dealt with later.
What I want to know, is how the diggins with so many fine honest and just women in this country, can the Tories choose nitwit bastard women for the important Ministries? Does anybody know?
In case you missed “The New New Zealand” by Tourettes. Sums it ALLLL up.
Where is Palestine these days? :
‘Tens of thousands of Palestinians left without water as Israeli firm cuts supplies – report’
https://www.rt.com/news/346811-israel-water-west-bank/
‘Non-Jews should not be allowed to live in Israel – Israel’s Chief Rabbi’
https://www.rt.com/news/337676-israel-for-jews-rabbi/
Israel should not be recreating a Warsaw Ghetto for Palestinians in its own neighbourhood.
I feel like the wheels are finally falling off this government.
They’ve made a series of mis-steps in the last few weeks that the public are finally starting to respond to:
1. On-going shambles with housing and homelessness; John Key appearing to be very out of touch / lying
2. Increasing the refugee quota by only 250 from 2018 onwards
3. Underpaying Teina Pora for 21 years in jail
There’s also the backdrop of cuts (in real terms) to health and education budgets that are being widely felt through the public.
Me too. And things like Bennett leaking personal information, when she did that to beneficiaries a few years ago it felt like she won. This time she seriously misjudged the situation and people will be looking at her for what she really is, and it’s normal to call for her resignation.
I’m a little more ambivalent on the leaking thing.
It seems her excuse has largely been repeated by the media, rather than challenged in any way. But also it’s just a “so what” moment.
The incident over which the marae head was put under investigation for doesn’t seem all that scandalous, and isn’t really related to the housing situation at all.
It’s not really the same as beneficiaries who were asking for more money, and their private details showing that they had already received a pretty good level of support from the government.
Rather than coming off as some sort of clever calculated attack on the marae, it sort of just comes off as “a really weird thing that happened”.
And it’s got weirder today with the news that the staffer leaked to Rebecca Wright a journalist who’s been at odds with Paula Bennett before.
Why would Bennett do that or does the staffer have a grudge against Bennett…like maybe Bennett told her to leak to a journalist and the staffer deliberately chose her…
Maybe they just leaked to the first journo who came along? Who knows?
I still can’t work out if the staffer was present when the information was given to the Minister or if Bennett subsequently relayed the info to her staff?
As far as I can ascertain the staffer (press secretary) was present at the meeting with Hurimoana Dennis last Friday. Bear in mind this press secretary, Lucy Bennett (not related to Paula Bennett) only took up the position earlier this year so she probably didn’t know of the past bad blood between Paula Bennett and Rebecca Wright.
Anyone with any clues knows how ‘dirty politics’ works. Staff are aware what is expected of them, but they proceed to act without providing the minister with any of the details. It’s called “plausible deniability”. So, when the shit hits the fan the minister can act all innocent-like and deny it had anything to do with them.
It’s never been said that the staffer was present at the meeting between Bennett and Dennis, only that it was a private meeting. As I recall Bennett said that after the meeting she briefed her staff. As reported in the Herald today by Trev’ – “John Gillespie, TVNZ’s Head of News and Current Affairs, said TVNZ had already confirmed a One News journalist was approached with information.”
“……..was approached…….”. Meaning presumably that it wasn’t just chit chat in a chance meeting in Lambton Quay. The journalist was “approached”
Why possibly would a senior staffer play such a dangerous game without the express approval of her principal ? It’d be job-losing serious misconduct if it turned bad. Which it has. Nah, Bully Bennett’s in it up to her ample jowls. If only by nudge nudge wink wink hooped eyebrows. She’s a rum thing that one, with form.
Hi North. There was a staffer present at the ‘private’ meeting with Hurimoana Dennis last Friday. It was one of the first questions asked of Bennett (Mon. or Tues.) and she volunteered the information. She wouldn’t reveal who it was but the consensus of opinion seemed to be it was press secretary, Lucy Bennett. The meeting with other staff members was an office debriefing which occurred later.
What I find so disgusting about this whole affair is the fact Dennis is not being investigated by his police peers for any criminal wrong doing. The question seems to be whether he handled the case involving a 16 year old boy, and (the boy’s) relationship with a 15 yr old girl, correctly or not. No wonder Madam refused to talk about it because she and her staff enabler were effectively inferring he was being investigated for suspected criminal behaviour.
Let’s hope so, but how many times have people said this will be the end of this government…
If damage is being done, I think the housing crisis is doing most of it. National supporters are possibly too self absorbed to think about refugees.
I disagree, to a certain degree, the housing issue is something the government is very weak on but as for increasing the quota by only 250 and “underpaying” Teina Pora, that won’t hurt the government at all in fact it might even see a wee bump
Feedback on Morning Report this morning was almost entirely against the government’s position on Teina Pora.
You might say that RNZ is lefty radio, but very seldom has feedback been one-sided to that extent.
I think that if you can get a new house, a new car and have over 52 grand a year to play with for the rest of your life (and that’s being conservative) then that’s not a bad pay out at all and I’d suggest there’ll be more then a few people that agree with me
Its the housing that will hurt National, its not looking good and Bennett is fast becoming a liability
Yes, the housing is undeniably the bedrock of the whole thing.
It’s just the refugees and Teina Pora have come at a bad time, and appear to be “more of the same”.
If the refugees and Teina Pora stuff had come up 4 months ago, then I think they’d just be a minor blip. But coming up when they have, it’s more fuel for the fire.
Well yes that’s a good point as well
National missed out on a silly and cheap way to own the moral high ground in the media with the Teina Pora payout.
Or they set a precedent for future cases as well as getting off side with a large group of their voters who think 2.5 million is a decent payout
How many of those voters would agree to give up 21 years of their life for $2.5M
How many people think that a new house, a new car and over 52 grand a year (conservatively) for the rest of your life is fair recompense
Hes 38 so could easily live another 40 years without ever having to work again, nothing can give his years back but now he can do anything he likes without having to worry about housing or work
That’s not bad
How many of those people would give up 21 years of their life for $2.5M, given its such a ‘good deal’?
I know what you are saying, but I am saying that none of those people would swap places, what the government did to this guy was so shite.
How many superannuitants would accept their NZ super not being inflation adjusted for 21 years?
“You’re getting it for free, don’t complain or we will take it away from you.”
To CV
Agreed, he got screwed over but would half a million, a million or whatever amount make it right?
Does there need to be a set formula, laid down by law, that should be used in cases of compensation?
Beats me
No amount will make it right.
That doesn’t mean that any random amount should be paid.
“Priceless” does not mean “without value”.
Basically, the money is a token amount based on previous cases. Only the government has penny-pinched on the token amount so the actualy “token” is as much a token of small-mindedness as it is indicative of an apology and desire to lessen as much as possible the impact of what was done to him.
McFlock: yep. As I mentioned the NATs lost a cheap and easy chance to take the moral high ground on a news story this week. Silly, bad political management from them.
$2.5 is a shit load of money , and as someone pointed out he originally ended up their because he confessed .
And CV the nats core voter will think its to much so it won’t harm them.
Page 9 of the report by the judge states that “consideration should be given to adjusting compensation payable to Mr Pora for loss of liberty to reflect the decline in the value of money”.
It also states “The rate at which claimants in Mr Port’s position will be compensated, will decline the longer they remain in prison. That appears to be anomalous an unjust”.
So for anyone upset by the payment, the government could simply say “we took up the recommendations of the judge in this case, in that it would be unjust to not adjust for inflation”.
“we took up the recommendations of the judge in this case” – which Amy Adams has said she has done. But of course she’s just telling a half truth.
Why would “a large group of their voters” think 2.5 million is a decent payout?
What might their reasoning be? What measure might they apply in order to come to their conclusion, do you think, Puck?
” a silly and cheap way to own the moral high ground in the media with the Teina Pora payout”
What does that mean?
In general it’s difficult to ‘buy’ good news coverage.
Here is one case where the government could have, by choosing to pay Pora more.
thanks
Saw our Minor Key being interviewed a morning or so ago, I forget by who/whom to do with the super large drug haul found in the North. Found by a local, who in the process of trying to help drug smugglers with their boat ,unaware of what they were, became concerned enough to get himself out of there and report them to local police. All purely accidental. BUT Mr key said that this large drug haul, tripped over by a local, shows that National’s injection of increased resources and improved policies to the police force are working. This whole scenario had nothing at all to do with policing from what I could see. If it hadn’t been for that local man this haul would never have been found.
.
> I am not sure how you can be ambivalent about confidential information relating to Police charges.
Could you explain it for me?
Releasing information can cause a lot of hassle and even mistrial.
Thanks Lanthanide
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/tom-morello-to-headline-tour-protesting-trans-pacific-partnership-20160615
“Working people everywhere have had enough,” Morello said in a statement. “The TPP is nothing short of a corporate takeover of our democracy. That’s why people are rising up to stop it. Corporate lobbyists want to sneak the TPP through Congress quietly; that means it’s time for us to get loud.”
“This fight against the TPP is not about right and left, it’s about right and wrong,” Lilly said. “Whatever you’re passionate about, whether it’s human rights, internet freedom, climate change or food safety, the TPP is a bad deal for humanity, and a threat to the future of democracy. The more people learn about the TPP, the less they like it. It’s our responsibility to sound the alarm, before it’s too late.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11657606
Ok so that’s a bit weird
I find it weird that, in a story about smears, a journalist appears to be smearing a fellow journalist by seemingly implying that what she did was simply for payback. Why do you find it weird?
Very weird, dirty politics journalism style, swipe at RNZ too, how about Claire Trevett reveal HER sources.
CT and her keyboard
Why would Bennett leak to a journalist she doesn’t get on with? Wouldn’t it make more sense to leak to someone you know and trust (at least as much as you can)
Incompetence?
So basically TVNZ would not confirm who the journalist was, RNZ refuse to give up their source, presumably the journalist didn’t out herself, so that leaves Bennetts office as Trevetts source? Maybe Bennett just shot herself in the foot.
The journalist is described as a ‘non gallery’ Wellington journalist. So thats not Trevett
No, the ‘non gallery journalist’ is the person Trevett & Kiwiblog have named (because TVNZ & RNZ didn’t name her), some are saying the name was out already but I can’t find it other than in Trevetts piece & someone just pointed me to Kiwiblog too. So I was wondering how her name was released if not by RNZ/TVNZ.
Ooooh, burn!
Nice political info from an insider going back to Johnson/Kennedy era.
Remembers the Clintons fondly 😀
http://financialsurvivalnetwork.com/2016/06/exclusive-interview-with-roger-stone-telling-it-like-it-is-elite-deviance/
That’s nice of you to spread the wingnut’s delusions.
/
Roger Stone
@RogerJStoneJr
@KennettDems @RTED2016 Soviet Agent Bernie Saunders, Should be arrested for treason and shot.
https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/457025868917776384
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/trumps-dirty-trickster-staggeringly-shady-dealings-political-operative-roger-stone
You sign a petition to get rid of Mike Hosking from TVNZ here – https://www.change.org/p/tvnz-get-rid-of-hosking-1347aa6d-8044-4a33-ba59-7fe0a5dba42b?recruiter=14044606&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=des-lg-no_src-no_msg&fb_ref=Default
What Happens to a Small Country Without Direction
From the Reserve Bank, February 2016:
“In addition to the powerful structural forces that are reducing global inflation, our economy has been hit by several important supply-side shocks. These include falling oil and dairy prices, strong net migration flows and rising labour force participation. Some, such as the changes in oil prices, net migration and participation, are positive for growth, but all of the supply shocks are exerting downward pressure on inflation in New Zealand.”
From Brian Easton, economist, March 2016:
The effect of low interest rates should encourage investment in productive activities. … That is not happening. It is possible that there is insufficient demand. But over recent years many measures have been taken to increase investment-inducing demand and they have had little effect. Six years is a long time – longer than from the beginning to the bottom of the Great Depression; you have to go back to the 1880s for a longer period of international stagnation.
From Kerry McDonald, June 2016:
“Auckland and the Regions
The regions are critical in the economy, and for our living standards. They produce a high proportion of exports and are the main tourist destinations. But, they are struggling because the NZD is too strong, they are less valued politically and their competitiveness and quality of life is being undermined, mainly by poor policy which doesn’t recognise their paramount role in the economy.
Auckland is increasingly a millstone around New Zealand’s neck: “its economy is inwardly focussed, driven by consumption, real estate and domestic services”; “measured internationally it’s performance is poor – ranked 69 of 85 OECD metros”; and “ it must shift from import to export-led, but is not a centre of export excellence or innovation” (source: The Auckland Council Plan).
The tax free wealth gains on Auckland property is a major opportunity lost in terms of national benefit. In a rational world the gains would be taxed to fund important national programs, such as: a rejuvenated regional development program; or a major blitz on the adverse environment consequences of agriculture; or a major program to reduce the vulnerability and decline of the conservation estate; or a major program to develop future jobs and a more effective transition to a more innovative economy. The tax would also partly compensate the Regions for their export based subsidy to Auckland!
From Bill Rosenberg, CTU, June 2016
“Sustainable increases in our incomes depends on more being produced for every person in New Zealand and from every hour worked, but increases are weak according to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) statistics out today,” says Bill Rosenberg, CTU Economist.
“Per person, production (GDP) increases were only 0.1 percent in the three months to March and 0.5 percent over the year. Per hour worked, production went backwards – over the three months to March it fell 0.2 percent, and rose only 0.5 percent over the same period last year. These are a poor basis for wage improvements,” says Rosenberg.
“We are also seeing weak exports, production from manufacturing shrinking in three of the last four sectors and increasing only weakly over the year (1.4 percent), and overall increases dependent on construction and care for our aging population. Household spending is increasing more slowly than the rest of the economy.
“We need a more balanced economy if we want sustainable and increased incomes,” Rosenberg says.
From Minister of Finance Bill English, May 2016, Budget Speech:
“Mr Speaker, New Zealand’s economic outlook is positive. Treasury is forecasting real GDP growth of around 2.9 per cent over the coming year, and 2.8 per cent on average over the five years to June 2020. Over 200,000 more people are in work now than three years ago, and another 170,000 new jobs are expected by 2020.
Over that period, the unemployment rate is expected to drop to 4.6 per cent and the average wage is forecast to rise to $63,000 a year.”
spot the odd man out
Wow, Blinglish has confirmed his veto of Sue Moroney’s 26 weeks for babies bill. She had the numbers for the bill to pass at the next reading but Uncle Scrooge says NO. This is unbelievably mean spirited and tells parents that their baby’s well being doesn’t matter. We simply don’t care about the health and future of your family. We don’t care about our society is shaped.
Sue Moroney’s bill would have given parents another 8 weeks paid leave at home with bubba, on top of the current 18. If I were a parent or planning being on one I’d be gutted.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/306549/govt-vetoes-paid-parental-leave-bill
Thanks for not saying it was undemocratic.
But it was undemocratic. New post…
Technically, yes of course the govt can proceed with a financial veto but are you really ok with your govt blocking a majority vote for ideologically driven purposes, dressed up with the handy excuse of “we haven’t budgeted for it”?
It’s smells shittier than nappy contents.
No, I’m not really ok with it.
But it’s their right to do it, hence why I am not calling it undemocratic.
If we had a law which allowed us to vote in an Emperor, does that mean that the decrees issued by that Emperor going forwards can be considered to be both democratic and democratically enabled?
I say no, but you may say yes.
Depends on the constitutional arrangements for this emperor, and what other bodies of power existed in this alternative universe.
I have just sent the following to Andrew Little.
“Dear Andrew,
I have just read that the Paid Parental Leave Bill has been cancelled by VETO enacted by the National Government.
I understand that there is probably little that can be done to reverse this veto but could I ask that you seriously consider taking steps to ensure that this draconian piece of law is removed from the statutes of New Zealand as soon as is possible. Not modified , removed for ever.
Thank you
John Shears.
Good thinking. However Labour won’t do that because Labour will want the power of VETO when it is in government itself.
CV can you actually support your statement about what Labour will want as far as the VETO is concerned or is just your opinion?
it’s the only logical choice for Labour. Decentralising control is not their thing. My opinion.
Well, this is an argument that goes back in part to the English Civil War.
But the thing is there’s not much point planning a budget if parliament decides to fuck it a month later, and then you end up with the appropriations debacle that the US has.
But my suspicion is that in this instance the financial veto is more a cloak for ideological opposition. Like the Cabinet Manual, leaving shit up to this government’s discretion just gives them carte blanche to abuse it in fringe cases the original legislators probably never thought any government would be corrupt enough to exploit.
My preference would be to enable the option of a veto if the projected cost was a specific percentage of the immediately preceding budget’s total expenditure, say 1%. Or kick back the veto to a single conscience vote in the House.
1% limit seems like a good measure.
This is the report our Minister of Agriculture trumpeted at the National Field Days today:
http://www.mpi.govt.nz/news-and-resources/media-releases/strong-growth-across-most-primary-sectors
But watch this:
2013 2020 Forecast
Dairy $13.1b $17.7b
Meat and Wool $ 7.8b $ 8.8b
Forestry $ 4.5b $ 6.3b
Horticulture $ 3.5b $ 5.7b
Other $ 1.6b $ 2.9b
(eg honey)
Seafood $ 1.5b $ 2.1b
TOTAL $32.4 $43.8
The Ministers’ spin was that agriculture is still up because the rest of agriculture is going fine.
But look at that weighting of dairy on New Zealand’s exports. We can all see Fonterra’s reliance on low value-add whole milk powder has been our economy’s biggest-ever exporting trap. And it’s continuing to go south. With the weighting towards dairy so big and forecast to be even greater, our regional towns and cities are going to get hit harder and harder by its sustained downturn.
The agricultural sector broadly is doing its best to diversify, and doing us all good. But the dairy industry’s pursuit of high production is making us more and more vulnerable, and we are paying for that hard.
There used to be money in doing more and bigger dairy conversions. So that’s where the market went. And neither National nor Labour felt liked intervention was required.
I’m not knocking dairy entirely, or even it’s dominance really – only it’s reliance on low-value commodities and their impact on us all. We’re well overdue for a review of Fonterra and it’s legislation.
I support the Greens’ call for a suspension of dairy conversions – it’s what responsible regional councils would have done years ago. Only a few of them get it.
So Labour and Greens are going to get in and re: dairy they are going to spend their first 12 months conducting a review? What’s the point?
The point would be to review the governing legislation to require value-added production on one side, and limit mass production via RMA and water price changes on the other.
Geeezus. Replace the Fonterra board, and force the sell up of the bottom 30% of uneconomic dairy farms in the country to Landcorp. Done in 12 months.
Your way will take 10 years before any effect is visible anywhere. Pressuring corporate boards to adopt different business strategies by statute is uselessly unenforceable.
Nationalising won’t do anything except rise the entire industry up against you unnecessarily.
My way aims for the higher value side of the business without needlessly wrecking it. We have never had enough capital locally to do that – it’s going to take time and both local and foreign capital to do. Allies, not enemies.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/81162282/british-lawmaker-jo-cox-shot-in-attack-at-advice-surgery–reports
The attacker shouts ‘Britain First’ yet not reported as terrorism.