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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Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers (left) has published a 6,000 word manifesto called ‘Capitalism after the Crises’ arguing for ‘values-based capitalism’. Yet here in NZ we hear the same stale old rhetoric unchanged from the 1990s and early 2000s. Photo: Getty ImagesTLDR: The rest of the world is talking about inflation ...
A couple of weeks ago, after NCEA results came out, my son’s enrolment at Auckland Uni for this year was confirmed - he is doing a BSc majoring in Statistics. Well that is the plan now, who knows what will take his interest once he starts.I spent a bit of ...
Kia ora. What a week! We hope you’ve all come through last weekend’s extreme weather event relatively dry and safe. Header image: stormwater ponds at Hobsonville Point. Image via Twitter. The week in Greater Auckland There’s been a storm of information and debate since the worst of the flooding ...
Hi,At 4.43pm yesterday it arrived — a cease and desist letter from the guy I mentioned in my last newsletter. I’d written an article about “WEWE”, a global multi-level marketing scam making in-roads into New Zealand. MLMs are terrible for many of the same reasons megachurches are terrible, and I ...
Time To Call A Halt: Chris Hipkins knows that iwi leaders possess the means to make life very difficult for his government. Notwithstanding their objections, however, the Prime Minister’s direction of travel – already clearly signalled by his very public demotion of Nanaia Mahuta – must be confirmed by an emphatic ...
Open access notables Via PNAS, Ceylan, Anderson & Wood present a paper squarely in the center of the Skeptical Science wheelhouse: Sharing of misinformation is habitual, not just lazy or biased. The signficance statement is obvious catnip: Misinformation is a worldwide concern carrying socioeconomic and political consequences. What drives ...
Mark White from the Left free speech organisation Plebity looks at the disturbing trend of ‘book burning’ on US campuses In the abstract, people mostly agree that book banning is a bad thing. The Nazis did us the favor of being very clear about it and literally burning books, but ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has undergone a stern baptisim of fire in his first week in his new job, but it doesn’t get any easier. Next week, he has a vital meeting in Canberra with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, where he has to establish ...
As PM Chris Hipkins says, it’s a “no brainer” to extend the fuel tax cut, half price public subsidy and the cut to the road user levy until mid-year. A no braoner if the prime purpose is to ease the burden on people struggling to cope with the cost of ...
Buzz from the Beehive Cost-of-living pressures loomed large in Beehive announcements over the past 24 hours. The PM was obviously keen to announce further measures to keep those costs in check and demonstrate he means business when he talks of focusing his government on bread-and-butter issues. His statement was headed ...
Poor Mike Hosking. He has revealed himself in his most recent diatribe to be one of those public figures who is defined, not by who he is, but by who he isn’t, or at least not by what he is for, but by what he is against. Jacinda’s departure has ...
New Zealand is the second least corrupt country on earth according to the latest Corruption Perception Index published yesterday by Transparency International. But how much does this reflect reality? The problem with being continually feted for world-leading political integrity – which the Beehive and government departments love to boast about ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
TLDR: Including my pick of the news and other links in my checks around the news sites since 4am. Paying subscribers can see them all below the fold.In Aotearoa’s political economyBrown vs Fish Read more ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
In other countries, the target-rich cohorts of swinging voters are given labels such as ‘Mondeo Man’, ‘White Van Man,’ ‘Soccer Moms’ and ‘Little Aussie Battlers.’ Here, the easiest shorthand is ‘Ford Ranger Man’ – as seen here parked outside a Herne Bay restaurant, inbetween two SUVs. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / ...
Transport Minister and now also Minister for Auckland, Michael Wood has confirmed that the light rail project is part of the government’s policy refocus. Wood said the light rail project was under review as part of a ministerial refocus on key Government projects. “We are undertaking a stocktake about how ...
Sometime before the new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that this year would be about “bread and butter issues”, National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis decided to move from Wellington Central and stand for Ohariu, which spreads across north Wellington from the central city to Johnsonville and Tawa. It’s an ...
They say a week is a long time in politics. For Mayor Wayne Brown, turns out 24 hours was long enough for many of us to see, quite obviously, “something isn’t right here…”. That in fact, a lot was going wrong. Very wrong indeed.Mainly because it turns ...
One of the most effective, and successful, graphics developed by Skeptical Science is the escalator. The escalator shows how global surface temperature anomalies vary with time, and illustrates how "contrarians" tend to cherry-pick short time intervals so as to argue that there has been no recent warming, while "realists" recognise ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTLDR: Here’s a quick roundup of the news today for paying subscribers on a slightly frantic, very wet, and then very warm day. In Aotearoa’s political economy today Read more ...
Tomorrow we have a funeral, and thank you all of you for your very kind words and thoughts — flowers, even.Our friend Michèle messaged: we never get to feel one thing at a time, us grownups, and oh boy is that ever the truth. Tomorrow we have the funeral, and ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
Lynn and I have just returned from a news conference where Hipkins, fresh from visiting a relief centre in Mangere, was repeatedly challenged to justify the extension of subsidies to create more climate emissions when the effects of climate change had just proved so disastrous. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The ...
A new Prime Minister, a revitalised Cabinet, and possibly revised priorities – but is the political and, importantly, economic landscape much different? Certainly some within the news media were excited by the changes which Chris Hipkins announced yesterday or – before the announcement – by the prospect of changes in ...
Currently the government's strategy for reducing transport emissions hinges on boosting vehicle fuel-efficiency, via the clean car standard and clean car discount, and some improvements to public transport. The former has been hugely successful, and has clearly set us on the right path, but its also not enough, and will ...
Buzz from the Beehive Before he announced his Cabinet yesterday, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced he would be flying to Australia next week to meet that country’s Prime Minister. And before Kieran McAnulty had time to say “Three Waters” after his promotion to the Local Government portfolio, he was dishing ...
The quarterly labour market statistics were released this morning, showing that unemployment has risen slightly to 3.4%. There are now 99,000 people unemployed - 24,000 fewer than when Labour took office. So, I guess the Reserve Bank's plan to throw people out of work to stop wage rises "inflation", and ...
Another night of heavy rain, flooding, damage to homes, and people worried about where the hell all this water is going to go as we enter day twenty two of rain this year.Honestly if the government can’t sell Three Waters on the back of what has happened with storm water ...
* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins continues to be the new broom in Government, re-setting his Government away from its problem areas in his Cabinet reshuffle yesterday, and trying to convince voters that Labour is focused on “bread and butter” issues. The ministers responsible for unpopular reforms in water and DHB centralisation ...
Hi,It’s weird to me that in 2023 we still have people falling for multi-level marketing schemes (MLMs for short). There are Netflix documentaries about them, countless articles, and last year we did an Armchaired and Dangerous episode on them.Then you check a ticketing website like EventBrite and see this shit ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Nanaia Mahuta fell the furthest in the Cabinet reshuffle. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: PM Chris Hipkins unveiled a Cabinet this afternoon he hopes will show wavering voters that a refreshed Labour Government is focused on ‘bread and butter cost of living’ issues, rather than the unpopular, unwieldy and massively centralising ...
Shortly, the absolute state of Wayne Brown. But before that, something I wrote four years ago for the council’s own media machine. It was a day-in-the-life profile of their many and varied and quite possibly unnoticed vital services. We went all over Auckland in 48 hours for the story, the ...
Completed reads for January Lilith, by George MacDonald The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Christabel (poem), by Samuel Taylor Coleridge The Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, by Anonymous The Lay of Kraka (poem), by Anonymous 1066 and All That, by W.C. Sellar and R.J. ...
Pity the poor Brits. They just can’t catch a break. After years of reporting of lying Boris Johnson, a change to a less colourful PM in Rishi Sunak has resulted in a smooth media pivot to an end-of-empire narrative. The New York Times, no less, amplifies suggestions that Blighty ...
On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth.Genesis 6:11-12THE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS that dumped a record-breaking amount of rain on Auckland this anniversary weekend will reoccur with ever-increasing frequency. The planet’s atmosphere is ...
Buzz from the Beehive There has been plenty to keep the relevant Ministers busy in flood-stricken Auckland over the past day or two. But New Zealand, last time we looked, extends north of Auckland into Northland and south of the Bombay Hills all the way to the bottom of the ...
Kia ora e te whānau. Today, we mark the anniversary of the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi - and our commitment to working in partnership with Māori to deliver better outcomes and tackle the big issues, together. ...
We’ve just announced a massive infrastructure investment to kick-start new housing developments across New Zealand. Through our Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, we’re making sure that critical infrastructure - like pipes, roads and wastewater connections - is in place, so thousands more homes can be built. ...
The Green Party is joining more than 20 community organisations to call for an immediate rent freeze in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, after reports of landlords intending to hike rents after flooding. ...
When Chris Hipkins took on the job of Prime Minister, he said bread and butter issues like the cost of living would be the Government’s top priority – and this week, we’ve set out extra support for families and businesses. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide direct support to low-income households and to stop subsidising fossil fuels during a climate crisis. ...
The tools exist to help families with surging costs – and as costs continue to rise it is more urgent than ever that we use them, the Green Party says. ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today held their first bilateral meeting in Canberra. It was Chris Hipkins’ first overseas visit since he took office, reflecting the close relationship between New Zealand and Australia. “New Zealand has no closer partner than Australia. I was pleased to ...
New Zealand will immediately provide humanitarian support to those affected by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation caused by these earthquakes. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones affected,” ...
An historic Northland pā site with links to Ngāpuhi chief Hongi Hika is to be handed back to iwi, after collaboration by government, private landowners and local hapū. “It is fitting that the ceremony for the return of the Pākinga Pā site is during Waitangi weekend,” said Regional Development Minister ...
The Government is investing in a suite of initiatives to unlock Māori and Pacific resources, talent and knowledge across the science and research sector, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Two new funds – He tipu ka hua and He aka ka toro – set to ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for India tomorrow as she continues to reconnect Aotearoa New Zealand to the world. The visit will begin in New Delhi where the Foreign Minister will meet with the Vice President Hon Jagdeep Dhankar and her Indian Government counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and ...
Over $10 million infrastructure funding to unlock housing in Whangārei The purchase of a 3.279 hectare site in Kerikeri to enable 56 new homes Northland becomes eligible for $100 million scheme for affordable rentals Multiple Northland communities will benefit from multiple Government housing investments, delivering thousands of new homes for ...
The Government is supporting one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most significant historic sites, the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19. “The Waitangi Treaty Grounds are a taonga that we should protect and look after. This additional support will mean people can continue to ...
A memorial event at a key battle site in the New Zealand land wars is an important event to mark the progress in relations between Māori and the Crown as we head towards Waitangi Day, Minister for Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said. The Battle of Ohaeawai in June 1845 saw ...
More Police officers are being deployed to the frontline with the graduation of 54 new constables from the Royal New Zealand Police College today. The graduation ceremony for Recruit Wing 362 at Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua was the first official event for Stuart Nash since his reappointment as Police ...
The Government is unlocking an additional $700,000 in support for regions that have been badly hit by the recent flooding and storm damage in the upper North Island. “We’re supporting the response and recovery of Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Northland, and Bay of Plenty regions, through activating Enhanced Taskforce Green to ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has welcomed the announcement that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will visit New Zealand this month. “Princess Anne is travelling to Aotearoa at the request of the NZ Army’s Royal New Zealand Corps of Signals, of which she is Colonel in Chief, to ...
A new Government and industry strategy launched today has its sights on growing the value of New Zealand’s horticultural production to $12 billion by 2035, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said. “Our food and fibre exports are vital to New Zealand’s economic security. We’re focussed on long-term strategies that build on ...
25 cents per litre petrol excise duty cut extended to 30 June 2023 – reducing an average 60 litre tank of petrol by $17.25 Road User Charge discount will be re-introduced and continue through until 30 June Half price public transport fares extended to the end of June 2023 saving ...
The strong economy has attracted more people into the workforce, with a record number of New Zealanders in paid work and wages rising to help with cost of living pressures. “The Government’s economic plan is delivering on more better-paid jobs, growing wages and creating more opportunities for more New Zealanders,” ...
The Government is providing a further $1 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Cabinet today agreed that, given the severity of the event, a further $1 million contribution be made. Cabinet wishes to be proactive ...
The new Cabinet will be focused on core bread and butter issues like the cost of living, education, health, housing and keeping communities and businesses safe, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced. “We need a greater focus on what’s in front of New Zealanders right now. The new Cabinet line ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins will travel to Canberra next week for an in person meeting with Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. “The trans-Tasman relationship is New Zealand’s closest and most important, and it was crucial to me that my first overseas trip as Prime Minister was to Australia,” Chris Hipkins ...
The Government is providing establishment funding of $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund to help communities in Auckland following flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced. “We moved quickly to make available this funding to support Aucklanders while the full extent of the damage is being assessed,” Kieran McAnulty ...
As the Mayor of Auckland has announced a state of emergency, the Government, through NEMA, is able to step up support for those affected by flooding in Auckland. “I’d urge people to follow the advice of authorities and check Auckland Emergency Management for the latest information. As always, the Government ...
Ka papā te whatitiri, Hikohiko ana te uira, wāhi rua mai ana rā runga mai o Huruiki maunga Kua hinga te māreikura o te Nota, a Titewhai Harawira Nā reira, e te kahurangi, takoto, e moe Ka mōwai koa a Whakapara, kua uhia te Tai Tokerau e te kapua pōuri ...
Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Social Development and Employment, has activated Enhanced Taskforce Green (ETFG) in response to flooding and damaged caused by Cyclone Hale in the Tairāwhiti region. Up to $500,000 will be made available to employ job seekers to support the clean-up. We are still investigating whether other parts ...
The 2023 General Election will be held on Saturday 14 October 2023, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “Announcing the election date early in the year provides New Zealanders with certainty and has become the practice of this Government and the previous one, and I believe is best practice,” Jacinda ...
Jacinda Ardern has announced she will step down as Prime Minister and Leader of the Labour Party. Her resignation will take effect on the appointment of a new Prime Minister. A caucus vote to elect a new Party Leader will occur in 3 days’ time on Sunday the 22nd of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team. In this podcast Michelle and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe.Lukas Coch/AAP Australia’s cash rate has hit 3.35%, after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the ninth time in a row – and signalled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Della Bosca, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock While the days of overt climate denial are mostly over, there’s a distinct form of denial emerging in its stead. You may have experienced ...
A potential cyclone that could bring more severe wet weather to the upper North Island is now forecast to form a day earlier, Stuff reports. Due to ideal cyclone-formation conditions over the Coral Sea, a low south of the Solomon Islands has a high chance of turning into a cyclone ...
Author I.S. Belle reveals the top five influences on her debut LGBT horror/paranormal YA novel, Zombabe.Zombabe is a LGBT found family horror/paranormal YA about a group of friends putting down an ancient evil inextricably linked to their sleepy town of Bulldeen, Maine. Does all of that bring anything to ...
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese are holding a joint press conference in Canberra. Watch live here. ...
The New Zealand government is providing $1.5 million in humanitarian support to those affected by destructive earthquakes in Turkey and Syria last night, foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta has announced. The contribution of $1m to Turkey and $500,000 to Syria will be made via the International Federation of Red Cross and ...
In a state-of-the-nation-style lunchtime speech in Auckland today, the leader of the Act Party has taken aim at both major party leaders. “Throughout this speech,” David Seymour told supporters at the Maritime Museum, “I will do my best to differentiate between the Chrisses, but it may not be easy.” Seymour ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has met with Australia’s Anthony Albanese in Canberra, exchanging a few brief words to gathered reporters before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Hipkins was driven into the courtyard of Parliament House, where he was greeted by Albanese in person. “Welcome prime minister,” said Albanese. A beaming ...
The acclaimed fashion designer has been crowned the ‘undisputed king of the frock’ – but with identical dresses widely available on fast fashion outlets, questions are being asked about his design practices.This story was first published on Stuff. He has been described as the “knight of New Zealand fashion”, his ...
In Canberra New Zealand’s media pack has arrived at Australia’s parliament ahead of this afternoon’s visit from prime minister Chris Hipkins. The PM will be met by his counterpart Anthony Albanese in the courtyard of parliament house, before heading inside for a closed doors meeting. Following the 45 minute meeting, ...
Two new funding initiatives, totalling $22 million, have been approved by Cabinet today to help ensure the cultural sector has the “certainty and support to thrive”, announced Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage. $10 million of Covid-19 recovery funding will support established arts, cultural and diversity festivals, while $12 ...
New Zealand Politics Daily is a collation of the most prominent issues being discussed in New Zealand. It is edited by Dr Bryce Edwards of The Democracy Project. Items of interest and importance todayWAITANGI, CO-GOVERNANCE, THREE WATERS Thomas Cranmer: Waitangi Day and the quiet revolution Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Waitangi in 2023: Plenty ...
ACT leader David Seymour has delivered a speech painting National and Labour as two sides of the same coin, and calling co-governance a "culture war". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Quigley, Associate Professor of Earthquake Science, The University of Melbourne Mustafa Karali / AP A pair of huge earthquakes have struck in Turkey, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and unknown numbers injured or displaced. The first quake, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kalinda Griffiths, Scientia lecturer, UNSW Sydney Getty/Marianne Purdie Cancer figures provide stark evidence of the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous people in Australia. The difference is confronting – and it’s increasing over ...
NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have used a joint media conference to affirm the nations' relationship is that of "family". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Alcohol bans are being reimposed on Northern Territory Indigenous communities, as the federal and territory governments grapple with intractable problems in Alice Springs and elsewhere in the NT. The situation in Alice Springs and the ...
I was told to avoid gluten. I was told it was all in my head. When 10% of women experience endometriosis, why does it take so long for its classic symptoms to be recognised? It was 2011 when I had my first period. It felt like a very exciting moment ...
In Canberra Chris Hipkins has touched down in Australia’s capital – his first overseas visit since becoming prime minister just three weeks ago. After disembarking from the Airforce Boeing, Hipkins was greeted by his former caucus colleague and current high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King. The pair hugged on ...
The rise of TikTok-inspired ‘algospeak’ is making online communication even more of a nightmare, writes SYSCA‘s Lucy Blakiston.This is an excerpt from the Shit You Should Care About daily newsletter – sign up here.Content warning: sexual assault The other day I was chatting with a friend about algospeak – ...
School, finally, is back this week in the nation’s largest city to howls of relief from many parents and (one hopes) some students also. Yet the resumption of normal service shouldn’t obscure a curious inconsistency. The past few weeks have shown ...
MediaRoom column: On the eve of a Cabinet decision on the fate of the proposed public broadcasting merger, questions emerge over the engagement by the TVNZ chief executive of two former National government aides to change the narrative and push TVNZ's view on the Government's plan Within weeks of taking over ...
Olivia Sisson performs a good old-fashioned cost comparison – and it might change the way you buy your veges.The price of food in New Zealand is shocking. So, how to cope? The recommendations are starting to feel like the avo-toast-flat-white trope. Cut those items out and there it is, ...
An early morning fire at an egg-laying farm in Orini, Waikato yesterday has claimed the lives of at least 50,000 hens. The farm is operated by New Zealand’s largest egg producer Zeagold, the country’s biggest egg producer, whose eggs are sold under ...
The Natural and Built Environment Bill and Spatial Planning Bill will make resource management issues worse and should be withdrawn, Federated Farmers has told the Environment Select Committee. "Farmers agree the costly, slow and unpredictable processes ...
New police minister Stuart Nash has met with new health minister Ayesha Verrall to talk about the issue with the aim of preventing ram raids. Nash wants to speed up the scheduled reduction of dairies that can sell cigarettes. Nash made the comments at a police graduation ceremony in Porirua last ...
It’s Tuesday, February 7 and welcome to a special edition of The Spinoff’s live updates. Stewart Sowman-Lund will be on the ground in Canberra today as PM Chris Hipkins meets with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. What you need to know Chris Hipkins will meet Australian PM ...
Politicking by politicians was less overt but whether there was less politics probably depends on your definition of the word and what lay beneath the optics, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Why is it becoming harder to achieve debt-free status? Money Sweetspot is a new company that uses compassion and incentives to help people pay off their debts. Co-founder Sasha Lockley talks to Simon about using gamification to increase financial literacy, breaking the cycle of poverty, and how she intends to ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins is heading to Australia today for his first face-to-face meeting with an international leader. He’ll be meeting with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese during his single-day visit to Canberra. The Spinoff live updates will be on the ground in Australia as the meeting takes place and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney Pexels/Uriel Mont The question of whether and to what extent face masks work to prevent respiratory infections such as COVID and influenza ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Mackinnon, Professor and Director, Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices, Queensland University of Technology Superconducting cables transmit electicity without lossesShutterstock For most of us, transmitting power is an invisible part of modern life. You flick the switch and the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Munro, Professor, Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Many students are returning to school this year face a renewed focus on grammar. Just before Christmas, the NSW curriculum was overhauled to include the “explicit teaching of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debra Dudek, Associate professor, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University Universal Life is full of surprises – some pleasant and some painful – but there can be no surprises without expectations. We expect the sun to come up ...
News stories have honed in on the fact Wayne Brown and his staff were left off a ‘vital’ email distribution list on the night of the Auckland floods. But internal emails from the mayor’s chief of staff show he was getting regular briefings from officials.Internal council emails obtained by ...
In a reality shaped by climate crisis, how do you think and feel about the changed present – and the changing future – without spiralling into despair?In the midst of a flood there’s not much time to think about the future. But when the water recedes, the reality of ...
06 Feb The news today of the death of 75,000 chickens at an egg farm in Waikato is yet another outrageous and avoidable tragedy. “The fact that so many hens died in this fire in the Waikato is a testament to the systemic neglect and disregard ...
Lawmakers are being urged to bridge the legal and scientific divide over braided rivers. David Williams reports What is a river? More particularly, what is a braided river? An expert group known as The Land The Law Forgot is urging politicians considering the Natural and Built Environment Bill – one ...
UK and US deals for NZ novels Three of the best New Zealand novels of recent years are about to be published in the UK and the US. All three books – She's a Killer by Kirsten McDougall, Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly, and The New Animals ...
Confidence from US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell kept markets buoyant. But mortgage payments and job losses could dampen consumer spending in NZ ...
Someone left the Swift out in the rain - insurance agents are overloaded with calls about flood-damaged vehicles It’s been a big week for testing the submarining abilities of the family station wagon. Thousands of cars around the upper North Island have been written off following the devastating floods of ...
The first of the air force's new Poseidon aircraft has landed in New Zealand. But is this the sort of workhorse the military needs? Our old heroes of the Air Force, the P-3 Orions, have retired after 56 years of service - and the first of the flash new Poseidon ...
Chris Hipkins’ first overseas trip as Prime Minister comes on relatively friendly territory. But while there have been marked improvements in the trans-Tasman relationship since a change in Canberra, there is still plenty to discuss, as Sam Sachdeva writes In many ways, it is fitting Chris Hipkins should make Australia the ...
Fiordland National Park is the crowning jewel of our national parks and arguably our greatest tourist magnet. But conservationists warn that marine life has been put at risk because the park’s waters are unprotected. Heidi Bendikson’s investigation shows they are right. Tourists on the 'M.V Sinbad' clamber to the bow to ...
As Auckland copes with unprecedented flooding, Mairi Jay points to lessons from extreme weather events in British Columbia that could be vitally important for policy-makers and administrators here “Expect extreme weather events” the climate scientists tell us. But sometimes the extreme is beyond our imagining. On Thursday January 26, New Zealand’s Met Service predicted ...
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RNZ News New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has described today’s Waitangi Day dawn service as moving and says he welcomes the shift away from a focus on politics. Hundreds of people gathered before dawn to commemorate 183 years since Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed. Hipkins said the national ...
By Hilaire Bule, RNZ Pacific Vanuatu correspondent in Port Vila Vanuatu’s prime minister has stressed any future employment within the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat must be from MSG member countries. Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, who is also chair of the MSG Secretariat, made the statement following the recruitment of ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Yamin Kogoya On Friday 10 February 2023, it will be one month since the Papua Governor Lukas Enembe was “kidnapped” at a local restaurant during his lunch hour by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and security forces. The crisis began in September 2022, when Governor Enembe was ...
By Kālino Lātū, editor of Kaniva News Dr Sitiveni Halapua, former deputy leader of Tonga’s Democratic Movement, has died aged 74. Born on February 13, 1949, he was a respected academic, a pioneer of Tonga’s democratic reforms and pioneer of a conflict resolution system based on traditional practices. Halapua earned ...
COMMENTARY:By Richard Naidu in Suva Five weeks on from Christmas Eve, I think most of us are still a bit stunned at what has happened in Fiji. A new government came to power in dramatic circumstances. It took not one but two Sodelpa management board meetings to change it, ...
By Red Tsounga Another house done, and onto the next . . . Volunteers working in Mount Roskill community over the past few days helping those suffering from Auckland’s flash flood devastation have done us proud. Tremendous work by everybody. Here are some random photos of our volunteer teams on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Mick Tsikas/AAP Senator Lidia Thorpe announced on Monday that she would be leaving the Greens. Thorpe had split with the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dennis B. Desmond, Lecturer, Cyberintelligence and Cybercrime Investigations, University of the Sunshine Coast The news of a so-called “Chinese spy balloon” being shot down over the US has reignited interest in how nation-states spy on one another. It’s not confirmed that the ...
Today, at a Waitangi ki Waititi concert hosted by Te Whānau o Waipareira at Hoani Waititi Marae, West Auckland; Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp was officially announced as Te Pāti Māori Candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau for the 2023 Election. Hailing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Daniel Pockett/AAP Victorian Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe has defected from the Greens to sit on the crossbench, declaring she wants to fully represent the “Blak Sovereign Movement” in parliament. The announcement by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Daniel Pockett/AAP Victorian Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe has defected from the Greens to sit on the crossbench, declaring she wants to fully represent the “Blak Sovereign Movement” in parliament. The announcement by ...
Sure, Scotty Morrison’s Māori At Work is a wonderful resource for Aotearoa’s collective te reo Māori journey. But is it judgemental enough for the modern office environment?First published September 12 2019 The growing strength of te reo is palpable across Aotearoa, with record numbers of people participating in Mahuru ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jane Mills, Professor and Dean La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University Shutterstock It can be tough to access front-line health care outside the cities and suburbs. For the seven million Australians living in rural communities there are significant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Donald Rothwell, Professor of International Law, Australian National University Chad Fish/AP Was the balloon that suddenly appeared over the US last week undertaking surveillance? Or was it engaging in research, as China has claimed? While the answers to these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Walker-Munro, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The generative AI industry will be worth about A$22 trillion by 2030, according to the CSIRO. These systems – of which ChatGPT is currently the best known – can write ...
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Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has described this morning's Waitangi dawn service as moving and says he welcomes the shift away from a focus on politics. ...
Screenwriter Dana Leaming’s debut comedy series Not Even is out now on Prime and Neon. This is the out the gate story of how it got there.Kia ora, Hi, What up? Up to? U up? …I’m Dana. I wrote and co-directed (with Ainsley Gardiner) the TV show Not Even ...
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.