Bill yesterday gave Grant Robertson the nick name “log jam”, I suppose for holding the balance of votes on whether or not there is a change in Labour Leadership before Conference. I hope that Robertson can see that the only way to ensure a Labour victory in 2014 is to get agreement amongst his colleagues that a change in leadership is needed and is needed now. Shearer should be assured that there is a Cabinet post waiting for him in 2014 in any new Labour govt. Stepping down is the smart move and would be respected throughout the party as a move with Labour’s best interests at heart.
Prefer they did what is right by the majority of people of this country, forget doing what’s right by the co-opted party, of which Robertson, is one who has been, co-opted!
So much to twist those rubber arms of his with, he won’t have his grubby mitts out of the cookie jar, anytime soon!
@ CV
I’ve never considered the possibility of Shearer standing down of his own volition for the good of the country. It would indeed be; “the smart move and would be respected throughout the party as a move with Labour’s best interests at heart”, which I guess is why it seems so unlikely.
Would Robertson then become leader permanently (barring a challenge by 40% of caucus)? Or would there be an automatic vote for new leader with Robertson holding interim authority? Either way would seem to be Robertson’s last best chance of becoming leader. A better scenario than Goff pulling a Rudd anyway.
@ Muzza
I too would: “Prefer they did what is right [left?] by the majority of people of this country, forget doing what’s right by the co-opted party”. But I’m not a member of the party so even if there is a leadership vote, won’t be having a say in it.
Now that there has been a change in Australia Labor, it would be opportune to think again about change here. There’s still time and if an approach as CV referred to, was followed, then I think there would be an exponential rise, with the mood in the country about the NACTs and Key as unhappy as it is.
Get over it , your’e all playing into the rights hand. Gower and Garner are stirring so that in the unlikelyhood of a spill they can claim you heard it from them first, dishonest and despicable.Also they are probably on a promise of some sort.
There is NOT 40% of caucus who want a blood-on-the-floor shit-fight over leadership to start with so it is never going to get any traction before the next election so STFU and work to win in ’14. P.s no personal agenda , I favoured and argued for DC but this have sufficient maturity to go with the decision made under the rules as the stood at the time.
And you bypass those of us that don’t particularly care about the leadership issue until you get some policies that are more left and help both those at the bottom and workers.
State housing
A decent increase in minimum wage
Increased taxation
Increased benefit rates
A general wage order for those earning under $50,000
8 hour working day, 40 hour working week
Government jobs to both take back work the government used to do and to create jobs
Universal FB so you stop pitting one set of parents against the other
Decent bus and rail services with decent bus depots to pick up and drop off passengers
Seems to me that Shearer is just incompetent enough to have an enormous ego/ overblown sense of his own importance. I think that’s something the jokers who put him in as a short term patsy overlooked. He won’t jump. He has a position and he’s entitled duntyaknow…he’s the ‘big man’.
It’s come out time and time again when he speaks. If it’s policy or opinion he’s vague. If it’s to do with himpreserving his position, he’s focussed and assertive.
Sounds like the Peter Principle might have some relevance here – this from The Peter Principle on google –
In the article Inverse Promotions…
’employees continue to win promotions until they reach a level where they simply cannot do the work required of that position. These employees end up desperately unhappy, struggling to survive and at the same time costing the company money in lost productivity, lowered morale, and less innovation.” Because of the high cost of [that] smart managers look for ways to beat The Peter Principle.’
@Bill comments ‘If it’s policy or opinion he’s vague. If it’s to do with himpreserving his position, he’s focussed and assertive.’
That fits in with the unhappy person and having less innovation from them. These are comments made about moving on from that situation:
1 Demoting people who have reached their level of incompetence may sound harsh, but it is often the only way. And it can be a win-win situation, because the individual who is at their level of incompetence isn’t happy there….
2 …With each promotion the person has to give up some of the things they have done before and take on new tasks, responsibilities and perspectives (including work values). What they did before will not ensure their success in the present. However, if the person doesn’t get good mentoring, training and a manager who can support the shift, they are not given the tools to succeed.
Is Shearer receptive to advice and retraining? He isn’t now a little king of aid distribution and development with clear activities to improve the lot of people needing bottom-up assistance – our needs are as pressing, but come from a base that’s more complex, further up the development hierarchy.
I think Labour is so effed up that they don’t stand a chance in 2014 no matter who the leader is.
The party needs a damn good clean out, starting with the retirements of Goff, King and Mallard and continuing on to the rest of the spiteful idiots who put their own self-interest above the interests of the party and the country.
At this point I’d prefer a placeholder leader who does enough to keep up-and-coming talent in Parliament but then gets the boot along with the other deadwood after the election. Then bring in a new broom to knock the party into shape and win in 2017.
Wrong Blue.
Planning to loose is not an option.
Under the right leader we can win.
The third iteration of an Interim leader is not an option. The party will collapse/split.
Cunliffe was ready to be leader last year and he still is.
What has happened since the last Conference?
1. The ABCs have lost currency, massively.
2. Cunliffe has gained massively
3. The Gap between the Party (members and Councils) has exploded to untenable proportions.
Since the last conference, Cunliffe has lost one caucus supporter – Charles Chauvel, and is about to lose another – Lianne Dalziel. He didn’t have the numbers even with their votes and having lost them now is the final blow to his leadership ambitions.
Down two MPs on his side is certainly a major blow. Which is why keeping his head down, acting as an excellent electorate MP, and letting all of this mess blow past in 2014 is also a good one.
“1. The ABCs have lost currency, massively.
2. Cunliffe has gained massively
3. The Gap between the Party (members and Councils) has exploded to untenable proportions.”
1: Nah, not massively. They remain in control of caucus and senior party leadership. And will do at least until the election.
2: After the flop at conference last year, Cunliffe is not going to be leader any time soon. His support within caucus has collapsed and there is no mechanism to test his support in the wider party. Otheer options will leave him as just a footnote in history, I’m afraid.
3: There’s no evidence of the gap ‘exploding’. There aren’t mass resignations, for example and the recent by-election had a solid turnout of volunteers. So, no, I don’t think you’re right there.
I notice you didn’t mention Shearer even once in your analysis 😉
With the status quo in place Labour has two possible outcomes in 2014 – a loss (which I currently see as being fairly likely) or a one term Shearer as PM government.
Well, as I’ve said before, CV, the less we hear from (or about) Shearer, the better Labour’s chances of victory! I heard some commentator on the radio making the point that he is almost untouchable in caucus now, given that no other candidate has any where near the numbers to win a ballot. We are stuck with him unless the poll numbers drop dramatically and the current crop of MP’s start to feel that their own jobs are on the line. Most seem to be OK with limping to victory, when we should be romping home.
“With the status quo in place Labour has two possible outcomes in 2014 – a loss (which I currently see as being fairly likely) or a one term Shearer as PM government.”
What you neglect to say CV, is that IF it’s a loss – it’s the demise of the Labour Party as we, and any other factions – sentimentalists et al, currently know it.
Still – if it comes down to that – there’ll be 4 or 5 egotists that will go down in history as being responsible. (And so much for their 15 minutes of fame – cudda shudda wudda not be in their shoes)
1. Goff Cosgrave King have lost the respect of MPs and Party for their attendance at the Skybox. Jones Goff n others alienated everyone in the party with their words on the ManBan.
2. Cunliffe is smelling of roses and the contrast of his profile with that of the ABC rump would have won him Caucus support IMHO.
3. Either you have not met with party activists lately or the ones you meet are fobbing you off for some reason. The support for the leaders in the party itself is close to single digits.
We will not resign. We believe we can win. It is our party. We will appoint a new leader.
No offence, but using words and phrases like ‘massively’ and ‘alienated everyone’ isn’t helping your argument. There is no way to quantify whether you are right or wrong, short of a party wide ballot. And that isn’t go to happen. Shearer, and, by extension, the ABCers, are going to lead us into the next election for better or worse.
It’s over for Cunliffe after the hamfisted constitutional change last year, which actually destroyed his chances, rather than enhancing them. This time last year, there were only two leadership possibilities, Cunliffe and Shearer. Now, Cunliffe is just one name among many and his support in caucus has dwindled to match the new reality. He’s not smelling of roses, he’s smelling of tumbleweed.
Now that’s tough to write, because DC would have been my preferred leader. But life and politics move on. If Shearer does go for some reason, it won’t be Cunliffe that takes over. Me, I’d go for Little because he likes a good argument, comes across fine on telly and isn’t afraid to promote left wing policies. Labour under Little would bolt home in the next election. But, I guess we have to settle for a one or two seat majority under Shearer instead.
…But it’s not just that: it’s that much of what’s written online is better. To take Ashleigh Young’s points a little further: one of the best essays of the decade, on the national event of the decade, was written on a blog; the best columnist in the country is a blogger; the best political commentary (as opposed to reporting) is to be found online, on sites too numerous to mention. Poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction thrive on the New Zealand web. While it is sometimes not as polished or technically accomplished, or the product of what Wilson would likely regard as our ‘top writers’, I would strongly argue that these kinds of online writing are consistently bolder, hence more relevant, than what one reads in print.
(Lest this claim is turned into a strawman: there are, of course, exceptions going both ways. But my single main complaint is this: that in spite of the book pages and the talent available to our mainstream magazines, together they give the picture of a country with little or no intellectual ferment, that runs on self-satisfaction, as if metaphorically stuck on page 94 of The Listener, listening to Bill Ralston drone on about ‘life’. Whilst with all its flaws the country that one can piece together from the blogs and the independent journals and magazine is, if absolutely nothing else, alive.)
On this grim midwinter’s day, I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to the writers. From the bottom of my heart.
“Kim Dotcom claims the Prime Minister wants to change the law to make GCSB spying on him lawful. John Key claims it would still be illegal for the GCSB to spy on him under proposed changes to the GCSB law.Political editor Audrey Young sets out here who is right after talking to Wellington lawyer and blogger Graeme Edgeler about the law.”
And further down in the article
“They can’t both be right, can they?
The verdict is that Key would be right if the exact same circumstances were applied, but Dotcom could also be right under certain circumstances…..”
Language used further down in the article continues in the same vein – eg “the fact is’ etc.
The article provides useful analysis of the two points of view – but IMO should have been presented as an opinion – not a judgment.
Meantime, with the deadline of 26 July looming for the Bill to be reported back to Parliament, the Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee is enjoying a week’s holiday in Singapore with his family – and presumably his Dip Corp police minders.
EDIT – bold in the above quotes for Young’s article are mine.
…
Both arguments are simply unprincipled, moralistic and emotive appeals, with no place in any of this. They fail to recognise that governments cannot and should not be trusted.
We don’t elect them on trust, although they think we do. We elect them to govern competently and to be accountable.
Where does it say that we have agreed to other people listening in on our calls or looking at text messages and emails? Not even the carrier is permitted to do that. Even where the target is metadata, which simply means the fact of communication, from who to whom, when and for how long but without content, it is still a gross invasion of privacy. Why on earth should anyone be allowed to collect that?
“What is it about, then? Somehow, one of our nation’s two great parties has become infected by an almost pathological meanspiritedness, a contempt for what CNBC’s Rick Santelli, in the famous rant that launched the Tea Party, called “losers.” If you’re an American, and you’re down on your luck, these people don’t want to help; they want to give you an extra kick. I don’t fully understand it, but it’s a terrible thing to behold”
Paul Krugman NYT
It seems the ‘right’ is following the same path here in NZ with latest ‘welfare’ rules.
I got a negative tip within seconds of posting the above guess where 🙂
Larger than life Government Minister Gerry Brownlee is reported in the Herald on-line this morning as being unhappy that Parliamentary security staff used a ‘sniff test’ to declare an envelope of ‘white powder’ sent to the Minister’s office to be safe,
Gerry says that the security guard simply sniffed the contents of the envelope declaring it to be filled with washing powder and that this was a ‘micky mouse’ system of testing,
For health and safety in employment reasons i tend to agree with the Minister and Parliamentary security should have told Brownlee to stick His own nose in the envelope so as to ascertain the nature of it’s contents…
Brownlee sounded like a bully on nine to noon this morning when talking about transport funding in Akl. Katherine Ryan, Tory though she clearly is, is starting to do a much better job with her interviews. Maybe she has been taking lessons from Kim Hill/Mary Wilson.
Love this!….practical Parliamentary Security Guard puts ‘terrorism’ scaremongering in perspective… Suspicious envelope?…..no problem! …try the ‘sniff test’…ah “just washing powder ” …move it right along …
Conclusion: No need for the ‘micky mouse’ GCSB snoop bill.
This piece of handy work must considerably lessen Morrison’s chances at the mayoralty. Just hope the people of Wellington get to see properly what sort of a guy Morrison really is so they can decide whether they want an underhand lying piece of slime in charge of the council: “Yes we will get rid of Garry [but we will say to him] you will survive…we will keep you”.
Thanks for that link, Mary. I have not taken much interest in the ‘race’ as yet, despite being a Wellintonian. But that has given me an insight into who I won’t be voting for.
PUBLIC NOTICE
We consider John “Mystery” Morrison to be a tiresome dunce who labours under the impression he is “droll” and even “witty”. He is, in fact, neither.
John “Mystery” Morrison is a shame and a curse and an embarrassment and a blight on all those whose names begin with MOR.
We urge the citizens of Wellington to NOT vote for this unfunny, witless, right wing drone.
We herewith condemn this fool to the dustbin of history.
Signed:
Jim Mora (Auckland)
Morrissey Breen (Northcote Point)
Morgan Freeman (Santa Monica, California)
Benny Morris (Be’er Sheva, Israel)
Morris Gleitzman (Sydney)
Morton Downey Jr. (New York City)
Mohamed Morsi (somewhere in Cairo)
Morrin Rout (Christchurch)
Mork (Ork)
Morwenna Banks (London)
Moriah Corey
There was simply not enough demand for goods and services produced by Auckland firms for many to be taking on staff, with 73.8 per cent reporting demand as the main constraint
Um, yeah, and there will be more of this, as the great sucking sounds of crushing debt repayments/gauged profits, remove even greater amounts of cash and energy!
Still, should force wages lower while ensuring that people in jobs, will work even longer hours out of fear, added bonus of people being knocked off early by primary and secondary effects!
Life has really improved for blacks during a black Presidency, hasn’t it.
Indeed. A president who inserts long chunks of Martin Luther King’s oratory into his own speeches, and who insists that Nelson Mandela “inspired” him. He’s doing a great job, all right.
“In short, the Right treats humanity like cattle and individual human-beings like princes, while the Left loves humanity with a passion but treats individuals like shit.”
Run away, dopey. None of us has forgotten your bloodthirsty statements of support for mass killings in Gaza. Why are you pretending to be concerned about the killing of one young man in America?
I’m calling bullshit on this Herald article which claims that a former invalid’s beneficiary is $30 – $40 down since she took a 25 hour a week job. It says that although her income is higher, her accommodation and disability allowance have been cut off.
The article makes it clear that she is still significantly disabled (the reason she is not working fulltime) and makes no mention of suddenly lower income costs, so why would she lose these two benefits which are available to all low income citizens?
This particular myth is a big favourite with the talkback taliban, that benefit levels are so high that workers get less money than beneficiaries, when in fact, the top-ups like AS are keeping a large part of the paid workforce afloat (some of them at higher rates if memory serves).
Has something changed, or have I misunderstood something, or is this article pure dog-whistle hate speech designed to settle any qualms that those amongst the comfortably off in possession of a consicence might be starting to feel about the latest chapter in what amounts to a terror campaign against beneficiaries?
Sure transport, clothes etc. But are you saying that low income working people cannot qualify for the accommodation supplement or the disability allowance?
WINZ take off things like AS or DA if your getting it before they cut into your benefit if she cancelled her benefit she get the AS and DA back since the cut off for them is a lot higher than main benefits but would she be better off doing that properly not.
Yeah, there is something very wrong with that story. She should be getting DA and AS still. WINZ’s response is to a completely different issue (the trial where she kept her IB for a period of time).
If you’re on an invalids benefit (as it was called just the other day) then you’re also entitled to accomm.benefit and disability allowance – if you can prove poverty/extreme hardship. But when you get a job – even a part-time job – I’m pretty sure the accom.benefit gets cut. So that, by the time the person has paid for bus fares, whatever to get to work, and you deduct the accom.benefit – its quite possible the person has less in the hand to pay rent, food, power, etc etc – than if they’d stayed solely on the invalids benefit plus accom and disability allowances.
I’ve just tried going thru the WINZ calculator to work out if that is what happens, but its not at all clear.
Does anyone else know ?
I understood that qualification for DA and AS were determined by disability and accomodation costs according to a standard formula, (for those on a low enough income which she surely is).
There’s nothing in that story that suggests her costs have reduced.
edit: btw, being on a benefit does not necessarily qualify a beneficiary for DA or AS. They have to demonstrate a particular level of costs to qualify, as do, or so I understood, low-paid workers.
Ta Weka,
Just as I thought, she is well below the income threshold for both the AS and the DA for non-beneficiaries, yet the article gives no explanation for their being discontinued.
I notice there are no comments allowed, unlike the articles where a beneficiary is saying his or her benefit is inadequate for his or her needs which are like the opening day of duck shooting season, for right wing arseholes.
“Ha ha ha ha! They can’t get RID of him!”
Snickering and guffawing at the victims of state vengeance The Panel, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 16 July 2013
Noelle McCarthy, Linda Clark, Tony Doe
NOELLE McCARTHY: Good afternoon to Linda Clark in Wellington! LINDA CLARK: Oh good afternoon! Ha ha ha ha ha! I’ve just come up to the studio in Radio New Zealand’s new lift! They’re spending some serious money on this place! There’s a new mural in the foyer! There’s a g-r-r-r-r-reat view of Wellington! ZOE FERGUSON: That’s Wellington on a good day. The weather’s been so bad for the last two days that we haven’t seen any view. NOELLE McCARTHY:[grimly] Heh, heh, heh. Well someone else with not such a good view is Edward Snowden. [snicker] Looks like he’s STILL in the airport. ZOE FERGUSON: Ha ha ha ha ha! They can’t get RID of him! LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha! NOELLE McCARTHY: All the other countries that might have taken him have been spooked by the United States. ZOE FERGUSON: And Vladimir Putin really doesn’t seem to have much of an idea at all about the whole case. TONY DOE: If he’d been required to sign an online contract, he would have just ticked the box, “Terms and Conditions”. NOELLE McCARTHY: Huh? TONY DOE: The box that says “I have read everything and understand it fully.” Only nobody does! NOELLE McCARTHY:[coldly] Oh yes. Ha ha.
…..[Awkward silence]….
NOELLE McCARTHY: And something on the impending royal birth? ZOE FERGUSON: Yes, Brits are spending more than £243 million on celebrations for the birth of William and Kate’s first child! NOELLE McCARTHY:We laugh, but that is serious money! LINDA CLARK: Incidentally, that’s the topic for The Vote on TV3 tomorrow night: “Should New Zealand ditch the Monarchy”? NOELLE McCARTHY: Sounds intriguing! Are you going to give us a preview? LINDA CLARK: Well, no, except to say that we filmed the program on Sunday evening and that Sir Robert Jones took part. And for a Knight of the Realm, he was behaving VERY badly indeed! NOELLE McCARTHY: Heh, heh, heh! Can’t wait!
Later in the program, the following highly revealing exchange took place…..
LINDA CLARK: Here I am, an intelligent woman, and yet I know EVERYTHING about the Kardashians and NOTHING about Syria! TONY DOE: You’re going to the wrong sites. You should read go to the Atlantic website. That’s really good. LINDA CLARK: Well, I get the New Yorker in hard copy at home, and that’s my long read.
A visiting economist has accused Finance Minister Bill English of “bullying” and “menace” after a heated encounter in a TV studio.
Professor Robert Wade of the London School of Economics said Mr English made a stabbing motion with his finger towards his chest and berated him in between their separate appearances on TVNZ’s Q+A programme at the weekend. There was no physical contact.
Mr English disagreed with his remarks on inequality and capital gains tax and told him: “Don’t you say that again”, Prof Wade said.
“I was surprised by the sort of menace in his voice,” the academic said yesterday. “He was like a schoolmaster and he sort of jabbed his finger in the direction of my chest like a school master wagging the finger. I just thanked him for his kind advice and proceeded on out.”
Prof Wade is on a New Zealand- wide lecture tour to promote Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, a book to which he has contributed.
He was interviewed on the current affairs show ahead of Mr English, and asserted: “Over the past two decades or so, economic policy in the US, the UK and New Zealand has increasingly been set by the top 1 per cent or so for the top 1 per cent.”
It was this comment to which Mr English took exception – and Prof Wade says he was later told the Clutha-Southland MP “just sort of exploded like a volcano out in the anteroom”.
Bill English’s bullying of visiting academic Professor Robert Wade shows how out of touch and arrogant the National Government has become, Grant Robertson, Labour’s Deputy Leader, says.
“It’s disgraceful that the Deputy Prime Minister would make such threatening comments and gestures towards a respected academic. Using a menacing tone and saying “Don’t you say that again” is straight out bullying, and is unacceptable. On behalf of other New Zealanders I would like to apologise to Professor Wade for Bill English’s actions.
“Following on from John Key’s comments last week that appeared to threaten the Human Rights Commission’s funding after it called for an inquiry into New Zealand’s intelligence agencies, this kind of bullying is now typical of a government that is arrogant and out of touch.
The worrying thing is that English’s popularity probably rose among that section of voters who would see this as putting a pommy ivory tower academic in their place. Ironically, the same fools wouldn’t notice that government policies are worship of Friedman, Hayek, and Monckton, not to mention the disgraceful academics Paula Benefit drags over.
I see intermediate schools’ achievements on national standards is lower than that of full primary schools.
If the government still believes there is validity in these standards then can we expect Ms Parata to close down all intermediate schools forthwith? and perhaps replace them with intermediate charter schools?
I see nova pay is still having issues. For any teachers out there expecting a refund from over paid taxes then you will have to wait as from the ird as “some of your myIR online details may not be available until 31 July while we (ird) reconcile your account.”
So yet again teachers are paying the cost for this system.
Just when I thought it wasn’t going to get worse.There are so many things wrong with this I don’t know where to begin.
IS on how beneficiaries will have to pay for their own drug tests
Beneficiaries will be forced to pay for their own drug tests
When the government announced that it would be requiring beneficiaries to pass pre-employment drug-tests, I thought it was a waste of money which would cost twice as much as it was supposed to save. But the government seems to have found a way around the latter bit: they’re going to force beneficiaries to pay for the tests, and extract it from their benefits.
It’s all there in the tender document for Pre-employment Drug Testing for Work and Income Beneficiaries with Work Obligations (GETS Reference: 39654; login required). According to that,
The tender document notes that WINZ will not actually be entering into a contract with the drug-testing agency, and that they will not be demanding results directly. It will all be handled directly between the agency and the beneficiary, with WINZ acting only as a payment source via a letter of credit as required.
This differs considerably from the scheme originally described by the Minister, debated by Parliament and envisioned in the legislation. That scheme assumed that prospective employers will pay and that WINZ “may” reimburse them for failed tests (s102C(3)), and that beneficiaries would pay only if they challenge a test and fail it (s102D(9)). I am not sure if it is even legal. But it is certainly not moral. Quite apart from charging people for their own persecution, no-one should be forced to pay a charge to receive their statutory entitlements.
But this does make drug-testing a far better mechanism for throwing people off benefits. Previously, Bennett only get to evict those who couldn’t pass a test; now she’ll get to evict the debt-averse as well. Present people with an up-front charge of a weeks’ benefit or more, and some of them will decide that they can’t pay and hence “fail” the test. And who cares what ultimately happens to them? What’s important for the government’s re-election is to get those benefit numbers down (and donations from drug-testing agencies grateful at being funnelled benefit money won’t hurt).
This is a vile policy. But isn’t it so very, very National?
AFAIK testing locally is carried out on employers premises so it’ll be interesting to see details of how and particularly where it’ll be done in the provinces.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some businessman very close to the NAct government was importing the drug testing kits. Seems to be how things work in our kumara republic these days.
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The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Officially, they’re called ‘memecoins,’ but Kōura Wealth founder Rupert Carlyon says the crypto world has another name for them: ‘shitcoins’.In digital finance, that phrase is used for tokens that have no true value – in essence, a money-grab.A few days before his inauguration, US President Donald Trump launched his own ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. Guy Williams has made a whole show off the joke that he is a “volunteer” journalist. So getting publicly owned by David Seymour while trying to act as a journalist is a good and timely reminder not to underestimate the nuance and ...
Many of Sāmoa’s beloved dishes are the result of cultural collaboration, writes Madeleine Chapman. All photos by Jin FelletIf you ever find yourself at a barbecue in a Sāmoan home, there’s 99% chance that sapasui (chop suey) will be on the table. For the past century, sapasui has ...
The funnyman takes us through his life in television, including Jono and Ben mayhem, live Telethon flubs, and funnelling all those experiences into his new comedy Vince. There’s an inciting incident in Three’s new comedy Vince where morning television presenter Vince Walters (Jono Pryor) is visiting sick kids in hospital ...
People often claim they just want Waitangi Day to be a celebration. At Waitangi, away from the headlined political acrimony and the marae ātea, celebrating is what most people are doing. The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous ...
Is there anything more fashionable than a Māori get together? One of the best things about Northland is that nobody cares what they look like — probably because they’re all naturally more stylish than the rest of us, famously. Māori from the Far North, especially. In 27 degree heat, wearing ...
I’ve been in love with him since last July, but it’s only now in this tepid hotel room that I find myself wondering why. The first thing he does when we arrive is smoke a cone in the bathroom – he emerges, hacking up a lung, fists thrust into his ...
MONDAY“Name,” barked a representative of the lower orders.I regarded him with a look of stern disapproval, and told him from up high, “May I remind you that I have name suppression. I shall also thank you to ask with more respect as befits a former president of the Act Party, ...
Books of Mana: 180 Māori-Authored Books of Significance, edited by Jacinta Ruru, Angela Wanhalla and Jeanette Wikaira has just been released by Otago University Press. In this essay, Books are Taonga, Jeanette Wikaira explores her personal relationship to books and their value.For me, books are taonga. The knowledge ...
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Bill yesterday gave Grant Robertson the nick name “log jam”, I suppose for holding the balance of votes on whether or not there is a change in Labour Leadership before Conference. I hope that Robertson can see that the only way to ensure a Labour victory in 2014 is to get agreement amongst his colleagues that a change in leadership is needed and is needed now. Shearer should be assured that there is a Cabinet post waiting for him in 2014 in any new Labour govt. Stepping down is the smart move and would be respected throughout the party as a move with Labour’s best interests at heart.
Prefer they did what is right by the majority of people of this country, forget doing what’s right by the co-opted party, of which Robertson, is one who has been, co-opted!
So much to twist those rubber arms of his with, he won’t have his grubby mitts out of the cookie jar, anytime soon!
@ CV
I’ve never considered the possibility of Shearer standing down of his own volition for the good of the country. It would indeed be; “the smart move and would be respected throughout the party as a move with Labour’s best interests at heart”, which I guess is why it seems so unlikely.
Would Robertson then become leader permanently (barring a challenge by 40% of caucus)? Or would there be an automatic vote for new leader with Robertson holding interim authority? Either way would seem to be Robertson’s last best chance of becoming leader. A better scenario than Goff pulling a Rudd anyway.
@ Muzza
I too would: “Prefer they did what is right [left?] by the majority of people of this country, forget doing what’s right by the co-opted party”. But I’m not a member of the party so even if there is a leadership vote, won’t be having a say in it.
Now that there has been a change in Australia Labor, it would be opportune to think again about change here. There’s still time and if an approach as CV referred to, was followed, then I think there would be an exponential rise, with the mood in the country about the NACTs and Key as unhappy as it is.
No need for David Shearer to consider the possibility of resigning the leadership. He needs to appear firmer, that’s all.
lolz
Get over it , your’e all playing into the rights hand. Gower and Garner are stirring so that in the unlikelyhood of a spill they can claim you heard it from them first, dishonest and despicable.Also they are probably on a promise of some sort.
There is NOT 40% of caucus who want a blood-on-the-floor shit-fight over leadership to start with so it is never going to get any traction before the next election so STFU and work to win in ’14. P.s no personal agenda , I favoured and argued for DC but this have sufficient maturity to go with the decision made under the rules as the stood at the time.
You would actually need 50% of caucus to agree to a leadership change process, since it’s mid term and not just after an election.
It might surprise you, but a lot of Labour activists and ex-activists don’t think that this message is going to resonate with campaigning teams.
And you bypass those of us that don’t particularly care about the leadership issue until you get some policies that are more left and help both those at the bottom and workers.
State housing
A decent increase in minimum wage
Increased taxation
Increased benefit rates
A general wage order for those earning under $50,000
8 hour working day, 40 hour working week
Government jobs to both take back work the government used to do and to create jobs
Universal FB so you stop pitting one set of parents against the other
Decent bus and rail services with decent bus depots to pick up and drop off passengers
Take your pick……
All of them.
http://mana.net.nz/policy/
Aye.
Most likely where my vote will now end up.
Labour would need to seriously change their attitude away from their current policy path.
This would be the first time I won’t have voted Labour.
Seems to me that Shearer is just incompetent enough to have an enormous ego/ overblown sense of his own importance. I think that’s something the jokers who put him in as a short term patsy overlooked. He won’t jump. He has a position and he’s entitled duntyaknow…he’s the ‘big man’.
It’s come out time and time again when he speaks. If it’s policy or opinion he’s vague. If it’s to do with himpreserving his position, he’s focussed and assertive.
Sounds like the Peter Principle might have some relevance here – this from The Peter Principle on google –
In the article Inverse Promotions…
’employees continue to win promotions until they reach a level where they simply cannot do the work required of that position. These employees end up desperately unhappy, struggling to survive and at the same time costing the company money in lost productivity, lowered morale, and less innovation.” Because of the high cost of [that] smart managers look for ways to beat The Peter Principle.’
@Bill comments ‘If it’s policy or opinion he’s vague. If it’s to do with himpreserving his position, he’s focussed and assertive.’
That fits in with the unhappy person and having less innovation from them. These are comments made about moving on from that situation:
Is Shearer receptive to advice and retraining? He isn’t now a little king of aid distribution and development with clear activities to improve the lot of people needing bottom-up assistance – our needs are as pressing, but come from a base that’s more complex, further up the development hierarchy.
I think Labour is so effed up that they don’t stand a chance in 2014 no matter who the leader is.
The party needs a damn good clean out, starting with the retirements of Goff, King and Mallard and continuing on to the rest of the spiteful idiots who put their own self-interest above the interests of the party and the country.
At this point I’d prefer a placeholder leader who does enough to keep up-and-coming talent in Parliament but then gets the boot along with the other deadwood after the election. Then bring in a new broom to knock the party into shape and win in 2017.
Wrong Blue.
Planning to loose is not an option.
Under the right leader we can win.
The third iteration of an Interim leader is not an option. The party will collapse/split.
Cunliffe was ready to be leader last year and he still is.
What has happened since the last Conference?
1. The ABCs have lost currency, massively.
2. Cunliffe has gained massively
3. The Gap between the Party (members and Councils) has exploded to untenable proportions.
Shearer and Robertson will be gone in weeks.
I’m sure Gower has a letter to that effect…
Since the last conference, Cunliffe has lost one caucus supporter – Charles Chauvel, and is about to lose another – Lianne Dalziel. He didn’t have the numbers even with their votes and having lost them now is the final blow to his leadership ambitions.
Down two MPs on his side is certainly a major blow. Which is why keeping his head down, acting as an excellent electorate MP, and letting all of this mess blow past in 2014 is also a good one.
“1. The ABCs have lost currency, massively.
2. Cunliffe has gained massively
3. The Gap between the Party (members and Councils) has exploded to untenable proportions.”
1: Nah, not massively. They remain in control of caucus and senior party leadership. And will do at least until the election.
2: After the flop at conference last year, Cunliffe is not going to be leader any time soon. His support within caucus has collapsed and there is no mechanism to test his support in the wider party. Otheer options will leave him as just a footnote in history, I’m afraid.
3: There’s no evidence of the gap ‘exploding’. There aren’t mass resignations, for example and the recent by-election had a solid turnout of volunteers. So, no, I don’t think you’re right there.
I notice you didn’t mention Shearer even once in your analysis 😉
With the status quo in place Labour has two possible outcomes in 2014 – a loss (which I currently see as being fairly likely) or a one term Shearer as PM government.
Well, as I’ve said before, CV, the less we hear from (or about) Shearer, the better Labour’s chances of victory! I heard some commentator on the radio making the point that he is almost untouchable in caucus now, given that no other candidate has any where near the numbers to win a ballot. We are stuck with him unless the poll numbers drop dramatically and the current crop of MP’s start to feel that their own jobs are on the line. Most seem to be OK with limping to victory, when we should be romping home.
“With the status quo in place Labour has two possible outcomes in 2014 – a loss (which I currently see as being fairly likely) or a one term Shearer as PM government.”
What you neglect to say CV, is that IF it’s a loss – it’s the demise of the Labour Party as we, and any other factions – sentimentalists et al, currently know it.
Still – if it comes down to that – there’ll be 4 or 5 egotists that will go down in history as being responsible. (And so much for their 15 minutes of fame – cudda shudda wudda not be in their shoes)
1. Goff Cosgrave King have lost the respect of MPs and Party for their attendance at the Skybox. Jones Goff n others alienated everyone in the party with their words on the ManBan.
2. Cunliffe is smelling of roses and the contrast of his profile with that of the ABC rump would have won him Caucus support IMHO.
3. Either you have not met with party activists lately or the ones you meet are fobbing you off for some reason. The support for the leaders in the party itself is close to single digits.
We will not resign. We believe we can win. It is our party. We will appoint a new leader.
No offence, but using words and phrases like ‘massively’ and ‘alienated everyone’ isn’t helping your argument. There is no way to quantify whether you are right or wrong, short of a party wide ballot. And that isn’t go to happen. Shearer, and, by extension, the ABCers, are going to lead us into the next election for better or worse.
It’s over for Cunliffe after the hamfisted constitutional change last year, which actually destroyed his chances, rather than enhancing them. This time last year, there were only two leadership possibilities, Cunliffe and Shearer. Now, Cunliffe is just one name among many and his support in caucus has dwindled to match the new reality. He’s not smelling of roses, he’s smelling of tumbleweed.
Now that’s tough to write, because DC would have been my preferred leader. But life and politics move on. If Shearer does go for some reason, it won’t be Cunliffe that takes over. Me, I’d go for Little because he likes a good argument, comes across fine on telly and isn’t afraid to promote left wing policies. Labour under Little would bolt home in the next election. But, I guess we have to settle for a one or two seat majority under Shearer instead.
And Winston
Is it possible to put forward a remit at this years conference that states that the leadership must be voted on by the whole party process every year?
This might be a way to force a vote say in Feb 2014 and negate the effect of the ABC club?
Why do you even give a shit about a labour victory, even if you cared to define what it would be under MMP?
Winter is coming mate, for our whole civilisation.
A much better analogy than “the end is nigh”, in my opinion.
Although it does tend to add an enveloping meta-why to my original question.
big lebowski anyone?
edit – wow that’s a long way down the comments list..so much for log jam…
Yep, that was my thought, too! The alternative can be found in the urban dictionary, and it ain’t nice. But it also features laying cable, so maybe …
http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/on-not-making-living.html
Giovanni Tiso (who writes like an angel).
Excerpt:
…But it’s not just that: it’s that much of what’s written online is better. To take Ashleigh Young’s points a little further: one of the best essays of the decade, on the national event of the decade, was written on a blog; the best columnist in the country is a blogger; the best political commentary (as opposed to reporting) is to be found online, on sites too numerous to mention. Poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction thrive on the New Zealand web. While it is sometimes not as polished or technically accomplished, or the product of what Wilson would likely regard as our ‘top writers’, I would strongly argue that these kinds of online writing are consistently bolder, hence more relevant, than what one reads in print.
(Lest this claim is turned into a strawman: there are, of course, exceptions going both ways. But my single main complaint is this: that in spite of the book pages and the talent available to our mainstream magazines, together they give the picture of a country with little or no intellectual ferment, that runs on self-satisfaction, as if metaphorically stuck on page 94 of The Listener, listening to Bill Ralston drone on about ‘life’. Whilst with all its flaws the country that one can piece together from the blogs and the independent journals and magazine is, if absolutely nothing else, alive.)
On this grim midwinter’s day, I’d like to say a big THANK YOU to the writers. From the bottom of my heart.
So is Audrey Young of the Herald now a judge – on the basis of only one legal opinion?*
* No disrespect to Graeme Edgeler intended.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10898501
“Kim Dotcom claims the Prime Minister wants to change the law to make GCSB spying on him lawful. John Key claims it would still be illegal for the GCSB to spy on him under proposed changes to the GCSB law.Political editor Audrey Young sets out here who is right after talking to Wellington lawyer and blogger Graeme Edgeler about the law.”
And further down in the article
“They can’t both be right, can they?
The verdict is that Key would be right if the exact same circumstances were applied, but Dotcom could also be right under certain circumstances…..”
Language used further down in the article continues in the same vein – eg “the fact is’ etc.
The article provides useful analysis of the two points of view – but IMO should have been presented as an opinion – not a judgment.
I had also been wondering about the perceived silence from the Privacy Commission on the proposed GCSB Bill. It appears that they did make a submission calling for delay as reported by the Herald here.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10898611
Meantime, with the deadline of 26 July looming for the Bill to be reported back to Parliament, the Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee is enjoying a week’s holiday in Singapore with his family – and presumably his Dip Corp police minders.
EDIT – bold in the above quotes for Young’s article are mine.
And an excellent article in the Timaru Herald today on the GCSB Bill
http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/opinion/comment/8922798/GCSB-spy-law-a-threat-to-our-freedom
…
Both arguments are simply unprincipled, moralistic and emotive appeals, with no place in any of this. They fail to recognise that governments cannot and should not be trusted.
We don’t elect them on trust, although they think we do. We elect them to govern competently and to be accountable.
Where does it say that we have agreed to other people listening in on our calls or looking at text messages and emails? Not even the carrier is permitted to do that. Even where the target is metadata, which simply means the fact of communication, from who to whom, when and for how long but without content, it is still a gross invasion of privacy. Why on earth should anyone be allowed to collect that?
[lprent: removed duplicate quote. ]
Oops – didn’t realise I had repeated the quote until after edit function time expired.
Thanks lprent. But you are supposed to be having a holiday – hope it is going well and you have the mozzies sorted.
“What is it about, then? Somehow, one of our nation’s two great parties has become infected by an almost pathological meanspiritedness, a contempt for what CNBC’s Rick Santelli, in the famous rant that launched the Tea Party, called “losers.” If you’re an American, and you’re down on your luck, these people don’t want to help; they want to give you an extra kick. I don’t fully understand it, but it’s a terrible thing to behold”
Paul Krugman NYT
It seems the ‘right’ is following the same path here in NZ with latest ‘welfare’ rules.
I got a negative tip within seconds of posting the above guess where 🙂
PK is refering to the confirmation of farming subsidies and cutting of food stamps.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/opinion/krugman-hunger-games-usa.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130715&_r=0
Larger than life Government Minister Gerry Brownlee is reported in the Herald on-line this morning as being unhappy that Parliamentary security staff used a ‘sniff test’ to declare an envelope of ‘white powder’ sent to the Minister’s office to be safe,
Gerry says that the security guard simply sniffed the contents of the envelope declaring it to be filled with washing powder and that this was a ‘micky mouse’ system of testing,
For health and safety in employment reasons i tend to agree with the Minister and Parliamentary security should have told Brownlee to stick His own nose in the envelope so as to ascertain the nature of it’s contents…
Brownlee sounded like a bully on nine to noon this morning when talking about transport funding in Akl. Katherine Ryan, Tory though she clearly is, is starting to do a much better job with her interviews. Maybe she has been taking lessons from Kim Hill/Mary Wilson.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/2562229
Maybe Brownlee wants to do a USA and fund a million dollar anti-terrorism emergency hazmat lab response team?
Kiwis getting the job done in time for a cuppa. Brilliant.
Love this!….practical Parliamentary Security Guard puts ‘terrorism’ scaremongering in perspective… Suspicious envelope?…..no problem! …try the ‘sniff test’…ah “just washing powder ” …move it right along …
Conclusion: No need for the ‘micky mouse’ GCSB snoop bill.
This piece of handy work must considerably lessen Morrison’s chances at the mayoralty. Just hope the people of Wellington get to see properly what sort of a guy Morrison really is so they can decide whether they want an underhand lying piece of slime in charge of the council: “Yes we will get rid of Garry [but we will say to him] you will survive…we will keep you”.
http://static.stuff.co.nz/files/JohnMorrisonEmail.pdf
Thanks for that link, Mary. I have not taken much interest in the ‘race’ as yet, despite being a Wellintonian. But that has given me an insight into who I won’t be voting for.
PUBLIC NOTICE
We consider John “Mystery” Morrison to be a tiresome dunce who labours under the impression he is “droll” and even “witty”. He is, in fact, neither.
John “Mystery” Morrison is a shame and a curse and an embarrassment and a blight on all those whose names begin with MOR.
We urge the citizens of Wellington to NOT vote for this unfunny, witless, right wing drone.
We herewith condemn this fool to the dustbin of history.
Signed:
Jim Mora (Auckland)
Morrissey Breen (Northcote Point)
Morgan Freeman (Santa Monica, California)
Benny Morris (Be’er Sheva, Israel)
Morris Gleitzman (Sydney)
Morton Downey Jr. (New York City)
Mohamed Morsi (somewhere in Cairo)
Morrin Rout (Christchurch)
Mork (Ork)
Morwenna Banks (London)
Moriah Corey
No Mor please 😉
How about toMORrow?
Geddit?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/auckland-city-council/news/article.cfm?o_id=13&objectid=10898558
Um, yeah, and there will be more of this, as the great sucking sounds of crushing debt repayments/gauged profits, remove even greater amounts of cash and energy!
Still, should force wages lower while ensuring that people in jobs, will work even longer hours out of fear, added bonus of people being knocked off early by primary and secondary effects!
Splendid!
Twenty years for firing a warning shot:
They’re tough on crime in Florida
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/florida-mom-marissa-alexander-serve-20-years-firing-warning-shot-while-george-zimmerman
She was black, she deserved to go to jail
Life has really improved for blacks during a black Presidency, hasn’t it.
Life has really improved for blacks during a black Presidency, hasn’t it.
Indeed. A president who inserts long chunks of Martin Luther King’s oratory into his own speeches, and who insists that Nelson Mandela “inspired” him. He’s doing a great job, all right.
MLK: I had a dream
BHO: I killed your dream
“In short, the Right treats humanity like cattle and individual human-beings like princes, while the Left loves humanity with a passion but treats individuals like shit.”
– Its one way of looking at thingass
Its one way of looking at thingass [sic]
Fool. You do nothing but repeat slogans—not very clever ones at that.
Thinking and reading is a lot harder, I know, but why don’t you give it a try?
Yes, it’s the right-wing way of looking at things otherwise known as the wrong way.
Add your name!
New York Times ad to declare: We are Bradley Manning
http://www.bradleymanning.org/featured/nyt-ad
JurorB37 currently on CNN, just wow oh wow, she makes the pakeha party
look like Te Mana.
Surly there has to be another trial?
not sure of the quote, I had just tuned in, but apparently she thinks
Zimmerman is a man with a gentle heart
I hope her book deal includes a ticket out of america.
” she makes the pakeha party look like Te Mana”
What does that mean?
I’m trying to figure that one out too.
Brett, what does it mean? Do you mean she’s a racist?
just wow oh wow
Run away, dopey. None of us has forgotten your bloodthirsty statements of support for mass killings in Gaza. Why are you pretending to be concerned about the killing of one young man in America?
Does anderson cooper have transcripts of his show?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10898604
I’m calling bullshit on this Herald article which claims that a former invalid’s beneficiary is $30 – $40 down since she took a 25 hour a week job. It says that although her income is higher, her accommodation and disability allowance have been cut off.
The article makes it clear that she is still significantly disabled (the reason she is not working fulltime) and makes no mention of suddenly lower income costs, so why would she lose these two benefits which are available to all low income citizens?
This particular myth is a big favourite with the talkback taliban, that benefit levels are so high that workers get less money than beneficiaries, when in fact, the top-ups like AS are keeping a large part of the paid workforce afloat (some of them at higher rates if memory serves).
Has something changed, or have I misunderstood something, or is this article pure dog-whistle hate speech designed to settle any qualms that those amongst the comfortably off in possession of a consicence might be starting to feel about the latest chapter in what amounts to a terror campaign against beneficiaries?
I hope MSD is getting permission to discuss clients cases with HEARLD reporters.
Yup, you can be worse off especially if you have higher than normal costs.
Sure transport, clothes etc. But are you saying that low income working people cannot qualify for the accommodation supplement or the disability allowance?
WINZ take off things like AS or DA if your getting it before they cut into your benefit if she cancelled her benefit she get the AS and DA back since the cut off for them is a lot higher than main benefits but would she be better off doing that properly not.
Yeah, there is something very wrong with that story. She should be getting DA and AS still. WINZ’s response is to a completely different issue (the trial where she kept her IB for a period of time).
I’m not so sure its bullshit, Just Saying.
If you’re on an invalids benefit (as it was called just the other day) then you’re also entitled to accomm.benefit and disability allowance – if you can prove poverty/extreme hardship. But when you get a job – even a part-time job – I’m pretty sure the accom.benefit gets cut. So that, by the time the person has paid for bus fares, whatever to get to work, and you deduct the accom.benefit – its quite possible the person has less in the hand to pay rent, food, power, etc etc – than if they’d stayed solely on the invalids benefit plus accom and disability allowances.
I’ve just tried going thru the WINZ calculator to work out if that is what happens, but its not at all clear.
Does anyone else know ?
I understood that qualification for DA and AS were determined by disability and accomodation costs according to a standard formula, (for those on a low enough income which she surely is).
There’s nothing in that story that suggests her costs have reduced.
edit: btw, being on a benefit does not necessarily qualify a beneficiary for DA or AS. They have to demonstrate a particular level of costs to qualify, as do, or so I understood, low-paid workers.
Yes js that’s my understanding of it too, the relevant factors are income and accommodation – not the source of the income.
And I’m not just agreeing with you because we’re dressed the same.
DA qualifications for non-beneficiaries (click on the income limit link)
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/income_support/extra_help/disability_allowance/disability_allowance-18.htm
AS qualifications (click on non-beneficiaries link and income limit link)
http://www.workandincome.govt.nz/manuals-and-procedures/income_support/extra_help/accommodation_supplement/accommodation_supplement-01.htm
Ta Weka,
Just as I thought, she is well below the income threshold for both the AS and the DA for non-beneficiaries, yet the article gives no explanation for their being discontinued.
I notice there are no comments allowed, unlike the articles where a beneficiary is saying his or her benefit is inadequate for his or her needs which are like the opening day of duck shooting season, for right wing arseholes.
“Ha ha ha ha! They can’t get RID of him!”
Snickering and guffawing at the victims of state vengeance
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Tuesday 16 July 2013
Noelle McCarthy, Linda Clark, Tony Doe
NOELLE McCARTHY: Good afternoon to Linda Clark in Wellington!
LINDA CLARK: Oh good afternoon! Ha ha ha ha ha! I’ve just come up to the studio in Radio New Zealand’s new lift! They’re spending some serious money on this place! There’s a new mural in the foyer! There’s a g-r-r-r-r-reat view of Wellington!
ZOE FERGUSON: That’s Wellington on a good day. The weather’s been so bad for the last two days that we haven’t seen any view.
NOELLE McCARTHY: [grimly] Heh, heh, heh. Well someone else with not such a good view is Edward Snowden. [snicker] Looks like he’s STILL in the airport.
ZOE FERGUSON: Ha ha ha ha ha! They can’t get RID of him!
LINDA CLARK: Ha ha ha ha ha!
NOELLE McCARTHY: All the other countries that might have taken him have been spooked by the United States.
ZOE FERGUSON: And Vladimir Putin really doesn’t seem to have much of an idea at all about the whole case.
TONY DOE: If he’d been required to sign an online contract, he would have just ticked the box, “Terms and Conditions”.
NOELLE McCARTHY: Huh?
TONY DOE: The box that says “I have read everything and understand it fully.” Only nobody does!
NOELLE McCARTHY: [coldly] Oh yes. Ha ha.
…..[Awkward silence]….
NOELLE McCARTHY: And something on the impending royal birth?
ZOE FERGUSON: Yes, Brits are spending more than £243 million on celebrations for the birth of William and Kate’s first child!
NOELLE McCARTHY:We laugh, but that is serious money!
LINDA CLARK: Incidentally, that’s the topic for The Vote on TV3 tomorrow night: “Should New Zealand ditch the Monarchy”?
NOELLE McCARTHY: Sounds intriguing! Are you going to give us a preview?
LINDA CLARK: Well, no, except to say that we filmed the program on Sunday evening and that Sir Robert Jones took part. And for a Knight of the Realm, he was behaving VERY badly indeed!
NOELLE McCARTHY: Heh, heh, heh! Can’t wait!
Later in the program, the following highly revealing exchange took place…..
LINDA CLARK: Here I am, an intelligent woman, and yet I know EVERYTHING about the Kardashians and NOTHING about Syria!
TONY DOE: You’re going to the wrong sites. You should read go to the Atlantic website. That’s really good.
LINDA CLARK: Well, I get the New Yorker in hard copy at home, and that’s my long read.
et cetera et cetera, ad nauseam…..
Bully for you…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/8922539/English-denies-bullying-academic
Grant Robertson has written a post on it.
The worrying thing is that English’s popularity probably rose among that section of voters who would see this as putting a pommy ivory tower academic in their place. Ironically, the same fools wouldn’t notice that government policies are worship of Friedman, Hayek, and Monckton, not to mention the disgraceful academics Paula Benefit drags over.
I see intermediate schools’ achievements on national standards is lower than that of full primary schools.
If the government still believes there is validity in these standards then can we expect Ms Parata to close down all intermediate schools forthwith? and perhaps replace them with intermediate charter schools?
Linda Clark…….another of the mouthy wannabees. Never forget how she used to nearly cream herself while interviewing that fool tau henare.
I see nova pay is still having issues. For any teachers out there expecting a refund from over paid taxes then you will have to wait as from the ird as “some of your myIR online details may not be available until 31 July while we (ird) reconcile your account.”
So yet again teachers are paying the cost for this system.
I expect there’ll be more.
http://freakoutnation.com/2013/07/15/stevie-wonder-announces-he-will-not-perform-in-states-with-the-stand-your-ground-law-until-abolished/
Calling LPrent.
I’d like to nominate this small blog to the blogroll on the right:
http://www.thelittlepakeha.net/
There is some good stuff and I think the writer deserves to be included.
+1
Just when I thought it wasn’t going to get worse.There are so many things wrong with this I don’t know where to begin.
IS on how beneficiaries will have to pay for their own drug tests
Beneficiaries will be forced to pay for their own drug tests
When the government announced that it would be requiring beneficiaries to pass pre-employment drug-tests, I thought it was a waste of money which would cost twice as much as it was supposed to save. But the government seems to have found a way around the latter bit: they’re going to force beneficiaries to pay for the tests, and extract it from their benefits.
It’s all there in the tender document for Pre-employment Drug Testing for Work and Income Beneficiaries with Work Obligations (GETS Reference: 39654; login required). According to that,
WINZdrugtesting [jpeg with details] http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2013/07/beneficiaries-will-be-forced-to-pay-for.html
The tender document notes that WINZ will not actually be entering into a contract with the drug-testing agency, and that they will not be demanding results directly. It will all be handled directly between the agency and the beneficiary, with WINZ acting only as a payment source via a letter of credit as required.
This differs considerably from the scheme originally described by the Minister, debated by Parliament and envisioned in the legislation. That scheme assumed that prospective employers will pay and that WINZ “may” reimburse them for failed tests (s102C(3)), and that beneficiaries would pay only if they challenge a test and fail it (s102D(9)). I am not sure if it is even legal. But it is certainly not moral. Quite apart from charging people for their own persecution, no-one should be forced to pay a charge to receive their statutory entitlements.
But this does make drug-testing a far better mechanism for throwing people off benefits. Previously, Bennett only get to evict those who couldn’t pass a test; now she’ll get to evict the debt-averse as well. Present people with an up-front charge of a weeks’ benefit or more, and some of them will decide that they can’t pay and hence “fail” the test. And who cares what ultimately happens to them? What’s important for the government’s re-election is to get those benefit numbers down (and donations from drug-testing agencies grateful at being funnelled benefit money won’t hurt).
This is a vile policy. But isn’t it so very, very National?
AFAIK testing locally is carried out on employers premises so it’ll be interesting to see details of how and particularly where it’ll be done in the provinces.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some businessman very close to the NAct government was importing the drug testing kits. Seems to be how things work in our kumara republic these days.