In the remaining weeks of January, every employee and manager need to be talking about how to work from home in 2021, so we can prepare better for when the next wave hits us here.
Despite a bored media and twitterati talking up a storm, nothing substantive has changed since before Xmas.
The only thing left is a complete border closure, but Ardern's leadership style since this virus began indicates she is not going to initiate that without a good reason & absolute certainty the public is behind it.
A complete border closure & big MIQ changes will only be accepted by the wider public if there another community outbreak that requires a lockdown. Ardern has been careful to not to try and lead public opinion on more restrictions on personal freedoms and human rights, but rather she likes to wait for the clamouring crowd marching in the direction of a full border closure to reach an irresistible size and then place herself at it's head.
Yes the " closing the gate after the horse has bolted policy " as it was as Covid started to bear down towards NZ in the beginning. They dillied and dallied. Too late and the consequential unnecessary extra financial cost to NZ Lock Down 4.
Out of the scenarios we considered, an earlier start to AL4 by 5 days resulted in the greatest reduction in numbers of cases and deaths, with approximately 500 fewer cases in total and 10 fewer deaths. However, in reality, the rapid escalation of the COVID-19 situation in mid-March may have made an earlier start to AL4 impractical and would have allowed less time to prepare for ongoing provision of essential services under AL4.
To Janet, New Zealand has one of the best responses in the world. In comparison to many countries where Covid19 is surging and the death toll is mounting, New Zealand has had 25 deaths and there is currently no community transmission. In regards to the economy…
"New Zealand roared out of a Covid-19 driven recession with a 14 per cent gain in gross domestic product (GDP) over the September quarter"
Isn't it against the law to render New Zealanders stateless to stop them from coming home? hence a border closure with the exception of returning New Zealanders/residents and some exemptions.
Certainly problems in restricting citizens rights to return back to their country of citizenship.
NZ could stop entry to NZ by permanent resident visa holders – particularly those that were not in NZ for say the 6 months prior to February 2020. PRVs have citizenship of another country so will not be stateless. I understand that around 30,000 people who have come through MiQ are just PRVs – not citizens.
Then again, Samoa shut it's borders to it's citizens for a lengthy period. One could argue that there is a justifiable limitation (protecting the health of the remaining population) on restricting the ability of citizens to come back.
One way of doing it would be to shut the borders to all unless they have a real and genuine desire to permanently relocate to NZ. That would get rid of the rich who just want to fly in for a few months before leaving again.
I'm very annoyed at the likes of the pizza owner published in stuff who's come back to NZ "for a break from USA" and criticising our Covid response without actually recognising he's putting our Covid response to the test.
Pretty sure its against international law to render a citizen stateless. Permanent resident holders live permanently in New Zealand and are basically afforded the same rights as New Zealanders, so on what grounds would you strip them of that? Dont tar everyone with a dirty brush due to 1 idiot who obviously has a legal right to return home to New Zealand.
A major donor to the National Rifle Association is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles.
Dave Dell’Aquila, a former tech company boss who has donated more than $100,000 to the NRA, told the Guardian on Saturday he was preparing to lodge a complaint in US bankruptcy court in Dallas, Texas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organisation’s debts.
It could also stop Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s controversial longtime chief executive, avoiding ongoing lawsuits that allege he defrauded the pro-gun group’s members to pay for luxury travel to the Bahamas and Europe and high-end Zegna suits.
I have just brought a bottle of tomato sauce and I could not unscrew the cap to peel back the foil so the sauce could pour. I then thought to poke the hole and realised the new design had a soft plastic over the hole.
So now another brand which is made out of tin or card cannot be used to refill the bottle.
This is probably occurring with a lot of products. It is not about being cheap it is about excess use of plastic.
I had friends over christmas and they came with two meals from a box company called 'hello fresh'. OMG the plastic, seriously, everything is wrapped individually in some plastic bag or pouch. 4 sauces in pouches, coriander, basil, etc in bags, noodle portions in little bags, condiments in little bags, it is sheer madness, of course all branded.
That sucks. Seems like 'time poor' is just an excuse to do next to nothing these days. But some of this companies clientele will indeed own a bamboo yoga mat – 'sustainable' (shipped from Asia).
those companies need to be shamed on social media majorly. Plenty of other companies doing the right thing or heading in the right direction, zero excuse for starting new companies now with lots of plastic packaging.
Hello Fresh and their likes aren't food companies, they are packaging companies that package individual ingredients to make a complete packaged product / meal.
That packaged convenience is than sold to a seemingly very receptive market.
It's the convenience culture, and the need for that to exist that needs the attention as much as the type of packaging.
I agree that the consumer end needs addressing too. But there's still no excuse for new businesses starting up to be doing this. It's not like their need to run a business is akin to someone's need to eat in an easier manner. But seeing as how we're apportioning blame, may as well take a poke at central and local government too. Who could be both legislating at the production end and fining/charging at the waste stream end. I'd do both.
The headline caught my eye so read the story. It is about a young woman doing her two week isolation in a hotel. She claims she was too fearful to leave her room for exercise because of a young soldier's behaviour towards her. The soldier's viewpoints are in need of an overhaul and he probably put his views in an unfortunate way, but it was obvious he was not personally threatening her. Her boyfriend (a lawyer, who was on the other side of the fence) and who was party to the conversation must have recognised it was not a personal threat.
The upshot is, there is now a formal investigation into her claims and a young soldier – plus some other staff it would seem – are being put through the mill as a result of over-blown and questionable sets of grievances.
Having been through that kind of circumstance where a person (also a woman) was making false claims which prompted two investigations into me, I feel sympathy for the young soldier and the other personnel involved.
It makes me angry whenever I read about this kind of thing because it casts aspersions on other women whose claims are genuine and should be recognised as such.
Stuff have basically declared themselves the newspaper of record for identity politics, so this story is right up their street. It will be interesting to see how it is before they merge with thespinoff and publish a story from twit complaining about how Indian restaurants all have racist names full of colonial tropes and it has to stop.
The media have been pushing panic and fear mongering about COVID the entire Xmas break, there was some usual suspect – self important and opinionated expat from LA – opining in the paper the other day "…“I guarantee, if the virus has not already spread to the community, it will any day now…”
Well golly, thanks for the insight.
COVID is now the go-to story to whip up those clicks when most of the newsroom is on holiday.
“We are not a communist country because of, you know, the Anzacs, the world wars, there are so many people that died for us to be here right now”
“Argentina … they literally, they’re armed dudes, they rock around with like weapons and stuff and I’d love them to do that here”
I certainly wouldn't be giving a loaded weapon to someone stupid enough to believe world wars were fought to prevent communism in NZ, especially when he really, really wants one to ride around with.
I don't cut him slack for being young, any more than I do for appearing ignorant.
It's a worry if idiots like this are commonplace throughout the military.
No, I also don't believe there was a threat in his comments, but looking at the 'have you been raped or murdered' logic and believing truck loads of armed imbeciles have ever stopped either from happening, just adds to his general projection of being really stupid.
Ex-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A New War Is About To Be Imposed on The Middle East!
"On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He discusses the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the possibility of a military attack by the United States in the last days of the Trump Presidency, his hopes for reconciliation and friendship with Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia, the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Yeme."
@ RedLogix, I replied but it ended up as comment #7, not sure what happened there?..anyway this was the follow up to that comment.
BTW, incredibly this is the guy we are meant to believe when he tells us Iran is now protecting al Qaeda behind their boarders…and credible news sources disseminate that garbage as fact…and Weka wonders why so many people have turned to conspiracy theories when it is MSM that are one of the biggest sources of either fake or through withholding news, disinformation in the world today.
<strong>Pompeo reveals Iran-al Qaeda secret terror alliance</strong>
Of course, it is all complete and utter baloney, but how can we tell? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff? How can we go past the one person’s reckons vs. another person’s reckons? What is your truth-distinguishing algorithm? A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me; do you know how many clips there are on YT?
"A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me"…not sure why you would say that?. some YT clips (and YT news channels) are useful others are not, just as some news stories on or from established media are useful while other are not.
It's pretty easy to find trust worthy news sources in today's world really, just google up whom ever it is you are getting a story from currently and compare their coverage of past controversial or disputed events/stories that you know the facts around today and see how they covered that story back then…a pattern will soon emerge.
Where they stood on Iraq Afghanistan and Venezuela is a pretty good starting point IMO.
Thank you, I think this is a critical issue and not just now.
Yes, there’s useful YT content, of course, but the question is how to find and discern the ‘good’ stuff. Personally, I prefer the written word over audio or audio/visual for most factual information. It is generally easier to track and verify and less distractive. When possible, I read transcripts of YT clips.
Google and other search engines are a double-edged sword because of their algorithms. Again, they can be useful for finding good factual information, but only if you really know what you’re doing. I believe that the vast majority of people don’t use Google in any critical/sceptical or research-like manner and few go beyond the first page of results. In many cases, even a subtle change of keyword(s) can produce dramatically different results, certainly of the top-ranked ‘hits’.
When it comes to searching for quality opinions, it becomes even more difficult to not slide down into one rabbit hole or another, following the helpful ‘hits’ of a search engine. One analogy is the use of GPS in cars and how many people have gone wrong or been led astray and ended literally in a paddock, for example?
Yes, (historical) patterns are a good way of finding and filtering content online. However, how many people look for these beyond merely their YT ‘heroes’ let alone opposing viewpoints? If your pattern only contains two points/sources, it is a straight line. You tend to see a lot of this one-dimensional ‘fact-finding’, commenting, and ‘thinking’ online.
The point is that it takes time, effort, critical judgement (vigilance), and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. There’s no easy & quick way. Heuristics such as ‘common sense’ or ‘common knowledge’ are intellectual/conceptual cul-de-sacs.
One option is to throw something into an online group, e.g. a blogsite that allows comments, and get a good discussion going on the merits of it, et cetera. Hypothetically, this could build a community of people whom you’d trust and whose opinions and insights you’d value and respect even though you may not always agree with them, i.e. not an echo chamber 😉
Well for a start that comparison leaves out the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
And it leaves out Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
It also betrays a profound lack of understanding about the critical role the US played by fighting the Cold War, largely accidentally and with no real master plan, in creating virtually everything about the modern global economy you take utterly for granted.
And what that list also hides, is that in terms of loss of life in major power warfare, the world has just lived through the most peaceful time ever. This didn't mean there were not a lot of secondary, smaller scale conflicts the US was involved in, but the it also ensured that no-one else was allowed to engage in war. The remarkable thing about that list is not the number of engagements the US became entangled in (for better or worse); it's that it's virtually the entire list of significant conflicts. No-one else other than the US (and it's client allies) were allowed to conduct warfare.
The news that's about to kick the world in the nuts, big time, is that the US has finally reached the point where it no longer neither needs to undertake this role. It no longer needs to protect it's trade with the rest of the world, because outside of NAFTA, they have only a tiny handful of free trade agreements and the rest of world just doesn’t count. They will still run the world's most substantial military by an order of magnitude, but outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore.
And lots of regional wannabe powers are waking up to this.
… the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
That war was started by Saddam Hussein, at the behest of his sponsor, the United States.
Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah…
Hezbollah is a strictly local, Lebanese resistance movement.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
They can. As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
… and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
What it proves is that the USA is largely (but not exclusively) responsible for 70 years of no major power war, which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere.
It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for. But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
You're correct there. The USA is in large part responsible for the destruction of democracy in much of Central and South America; Africa (the CIA, as well as being involved in the killing of Patrice Lumumba, a couple of years later ratted out Mandela to the apartheid regime); Indonesia, the Philippines, …. (hell, you know the rest.)
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
? That graphic that upsets you so much is neither right nor left. That its strictly empirical evidence makes you angry is your problem.
You're not angry, you reckon. In your last two posts you have accused me of "unidimensional, anti-US bigotry", of being part of the "unhinged left", you've called me a "bigot" and even (bizarrely) claimed that I have been yelling "Yankees go home" for decades.
You're angry, all right. I suggest you take a few minutes before you rush into print next time.
The fact that you can sweep away the ultra-aggressive and destructive history of the USA and her allies resulting in the deaths and displacement of who knows how many civilians and the downfall of countless elected governments around the world in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage is one of the most despicable comments I have read on the Standard..you should be ashamed of yourself, but I am sure that you are not, which is quite sad really.
in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism; maybe it was where I wrote:
"It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for."
Essentially we've had one power capable of imposing it's reality on most of the world for 70 plus years, and while I'm not painting the USA as an entirely benign, or even especially competent hegemon, objectively it's been better than anything that came before. Less deaths in wars, less total violence, and a massive increase in human development everywhere.
The only reason there has been less deaths over the past seventy years is solely because of the nuclear bomb and all that implies, I certainly wouldn’t give the USA any credit for those numbers…
" I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism"…
"which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere."…that part right there is where I got that idea.
I forgot to mention the United States' destruction of democracy in Vietnam in 1956, followed by its destruction of most of the country in the 1960s and 70s, as well as ravaging Cambodia and Laos.
Oh, and there's what they did to North Korea too…
Now, maybe Americans don’t remember very well, but North Koreans have a memory of not too long ago, when North Korea was absolutely flattened, literally, by American bombing. There was—there was literally no targets left. And I really urge people who haven’t done it to read the official American military histories, the Air Quarterly Review, the military histories describing this. They describe it very vividly and accurately. They say, “There just weren’t any targets left. So what could we do?” Well, we decided to attack the dams, the huge dams. That’s a major war crime. People were hanged for it at Nuremberg. But put that aside. And then comes an ecstatic, gleeful description of the bombing of the dams and the huge flow of water, which was wiping out valleys and destroying the rice crop, on which Asians depend for survival—lots of racist comment, but all with exaltation and glee. You really have to read it to appreciate it. The North Koreans don’t have to bother reading it. They lived it. So when nuclear-capable B-52s are flying on their border, along with other threatening military maneuvers, they’re kind of upset about it. Strange people. And they continue to develop what they see as a potential deterrent that might protect the regime from—and the country, in fact—from destruction. This has nothing at all to do with what you think about the government. So maybe it’s the worst government in human history. OK. But these are still the facts that exist.
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War which is the critical backdrop to understanding the Korean War. Their goal was not so much as to defeat Nth Korea (who incidentally had been a bitter foe on the ground), but to also establish their willingness to hit hard against communism.
Missing from this article is of course the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea. Both were convinced that the strategic balance had tilted in their favour and that the US would not value Korea highly enough to use nuclear weapons in such a conflict. (Which in fact they did not; while they remained an active option, the US generals were vividly aware of the costs of using them.)
All wars are brutal and bloody, both sides racked up atrocities and war crimes. But the root cause of the conflict did not lie with a US bloody-thirsty desire to bomb Korea into oblivion, but it lies absolutely with both Mao and Stalin's desire to confront the USA, who both gave permission and promises of support to Kim Il-sung's invasion of Sth Korea. Three of the world's most notorious leaders in modern times, conspired to invade a nation the US had committed to protecting – whitewashing that out from the narrative amounts to a selective, ideological version of the consequent catastrophe.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary' to achieve their purpose; yet history shows us that whenever one side gains a dominant strategic position late in a war, they're very prone to exactly this kind of over-kill. More than anything they want the damned thing to be over. And with the prospect of a protracted stalemate on the ground, still costing many lives, the US command reached for the one tool they could safely use to pressure North Korea into an armistice. Which eventually it did.
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see. Maybe I missed it.
If you want to understand an event properly, it's essential to have a clear grasp of the context. The left is supposed to be good at this sort of thing.
But stepping back from this diversion, my real point is this. Yes the USA (and it's allies) have been involved in a long list of conflicts since the end of WW2. But crucially all of them are over, and in virtually all of them the USA never replicated the pre-WW2 imperial model of permanently occupying and colonising.
For a start the US is at it's origins an anti-colonial enterprise; it's rebellion from being a British colony is still a strong thread in it's history.
Perhaps more pragmatically, the US never really needed to do colonies in the same way prior empires needed to. The advent of coal and oil meant that the land area needed for photosynthesis powered economies was no longer necessary. Occupying is always comes at an escalating cost, and eventually it exceeds the benefits; and the Americans, secure and largely self-sufficient in their homeland, never really needed to expand territory for it's own sake.
As a result, we now live in a world of almost 200 largely independent nations. Since WW2 we've seen both the collapse of conventional empire, and an unprecedented surge in nation building. And mostly this was possible because if you played to be on their side, the US provided the security and trade infrastructure to allow otherwise unviable nations to develop well beyond their capacity to do so in isolation.
There is no need to overplay any altruistic card here; the primary American motive was essentially bribe up a global coalition of nations, strong enough to present a united front against the Soviets, and win what would become called the Cold War. Yes it was sometimes a messy and ugly process, we all understand this.
Yet it has had another immensely important consequence, that of creating a nascent version of global order and cohesion never before seen in human history – and unleashing an astonishing leap in human development also never seen before.
Now the Americans were probably the least qualified people to lead this, they tend to act without thinking too much, don't understand geography very well and don't speak many languages. They never had a sophisticated idea of how they might best use this global power they'd accidentally landed up with. They fucked up many times, yet despite this the end result has been remarkably beneficial for most of humanity.
Now consider this – what might be the outcome if a new globalisation effort was driven by real principle and committed competency? What might we achieve then?
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see.
He also neglected to mention that Korea is an Asian country. I think we can take it as understood that Chomsky, of all people, was aware that the Cold War was under way. What the U.S. did in Korea, by the way, was the antithesis of a "cold" war.
No but it as catastrophic as the Korean Was was locally, it was not a major power war. So yes the Cold War had it's hot spots, but no-one wanted it to engulf the whole world again.
But this is not my main point. In many ways we've been coasting on a legacy bequeathed to the world by the humbling, chastening experience of WW2. That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it. They fumbled and stumbled and often didn't do very well, but for 70 years they more or less succeeded.
Well in my view that legacy is just about used up. We can see this in the dramatic reduction in US engagement and troop posted overseas. These are now at a lower level than any time since the 1920's. We can see this in a resurgent isolationism in Washington, even the chaotic and highly impulsive Trump didn't manage to start any new wars, and I very much doubt Biden's administration will either.
Your viewpoint had some merit back in the 80's, but the ground has shifted. Yes the US will retain the world's largest military and anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve. But this also means Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are on their own now, and this will have consequences.
???? In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it.
They "acted to try and end it"? The only thing they tried to end—and succeeded in ending—was democracy in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, the Congo, Indonesia, Chile— the list goes on and on and on. How do you explain the destruction of lives and democratic government throughout S.E. Asia, Central and South America, and Africa? Do they just not matter?
… anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve.
The West presents North Korea as a paranoid state whose fear and distrust of the US emerged ex nihilo. But North Korea’s seemingly irrational need for deterrence has a history.
US bombing of North Korea was not confined to military targets during the Korean War. The US carpet bombed North Korea, dropping around 635,000 tons of explosives and chemicals, including napalm. Cities were obliterated; Pyongyang was destroyed. Every installation, factory, city and village over thousands of square miles of North Korea was bombed into oblivion. B-29s bombed hydroelectric and irrigation dams, flooding farms and drowning crops. The US even gave serious consideration to dropping atomic bombs on North Korea. General Curtis LeMay, the head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, said US bombs killed 20 percent of the entire population of North Korea. With 8-9 million Koreans killed, Polk says that “practically no families alive in Korea today are without a close relative who perished” in the US atrocity. This small adjustment to history puts North Korea’s desire for a deterrent in a slightly more nuanced focus.
While as I said it was clearly a catastrophe locally; it was not on the scale of WW2 or anything like a direct confrontation between the US and the Soviets.
After the better part of two decades of steady decline, what exactly has been changed to turn around the fortunes of these publications?
They've come back with exactly the same formula as before – past their use by date boomers and tired gen-x writers ideologically wedded to neoliberal centrism and obsessed with being the jesters to court politics talking in tired cliches about the issues the affect an aging, white and well off demographic.
They are probably a bit more debt free but the vision is stale and bereft of any real new ideas to stop the slow march to their inevitable demise.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists, the shabby corners of garages and tyre shops, and lunch cafés & cafeteria, et cetera. They are not just for snobs and semi-cultured unthinking people who value and recognise cheap infotainment when they browse it.
I have to agree with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he pretty much says it makes no difference who the elected leader of the USA is (for Iran), as the decisions on foreign policy is a straight line through them all…with the occasional exception of course, like Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, which was probably his greatest single action as POTUS.
So many holes for tiny marbles to fall through. That stuff is for boys children, not for toddlers, as they tend to stick these up their noses or down their throats.
Play-Doh mushed into woolly carpet is one of my personal favourites. The kids have to be ready for it …
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David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Tuesday 19 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Really well-explained. Click mine then radhika’s tweet to read the thread of them:
https://twitter.com/SachaDylan/status/1350515484072894464
They need to expand the phone bluetooth app so all visits to shops are recorded automatically.
Already considered. They certainly need to do something different.
Agreed Sacha….I know I should be scanning but while there are no community cases I am as lazy as most people and don't bother.
I think scanning should be compulsory in law….impossible to police but it might make more people do it.
[Removed the same “S” from user name again. Please pay more attention next time.]
[Removed the same “S” from user name again. Please pay more attention next time.]
In the remaining weeks of January, every employee and manager need to be talking about how to work from home in 2021, so we can prepare better for when the next wave hits us here.
Despite a bored media and twitterati talking up a storm, nothing substantive has changed since before Xmas.
The only thing left is a complete border closure, but Ardern's leadership style since this virus began indicates she is not going to initiate that without a good reason & absolute certainty the public is behind it.
A complete border closure & big MIQ changes will only be accepted by the wider public if there another community outbreak that requires a lockdown. Ardern has been careful to not to try and lead public opinion on more restrictions on personal freedoms and human rights, but rather she likes to wait for the clamouring crowd marching in the direction of a full border closure to reach an irresistible size and then place herself at it's head.
Yes the " closing the gate after the horse has bolted policy " as it was as Covid started to bear down towards NZ in the beginning. They dillied and dallied. Too late and the consequential unnecessary extra financial cost to NZ Lock Down 4.
Taken from the article linked in this comment: https://thestandard.org.nz/plan-b-activists-still-think-nz-should-be-like-sweden/#comment-1772647.
The other reckons in your comment are unsubstantiated and/or not supported at all, and mostly incorrect IMO.
To Janet, New Zealand has one of the best responses in the world. In comparison to many countries where Covid19 is surging and the death toll is mounting, New Zealand has had 25 deaths and there is currently no community transmission. In regards to the economy…
"New Zealand roared out of a Covid-19 driven recession with a 14 per cent gain in gross domestic product (GDP) over the September quarter"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/nz-economy-bounces-out-of-recession-with-14-gain-in-gdp/YQCAXB65VFYBPEIJL2UKFQWJPE/
Isn't it against the law to render New Zealanders stateless to stop them from coming home? hence a border closure with the exception of returning New Zealanders/residents and some exemptions.
Certainly problems in restricting citizens rights to return back to their country of citizenship.
NZ could stop entry to NZ by permanent resident visa holders – particularly those that were not in NZ for say the 6 months prior to February 2020. PRVs have citizenship of another country so will not be stateless. I understand that around 30,000 people who have come through MiQ are just PRVs – not citizens.
Then again, Samoa shut it's borders to it's citizens for a lengthy period. One could argue that there is a justifiable limitation (protecting the health of the remaining population) on restricting the ability of citizens to come back.
One way of doing it would be to shut the borders to all unless they have a real and genuine desire to permanently relocate to NZ. That would get rid of the rich who just want to fly in for a few months before leaving again.
I'm very annoyed at the likes of the pizza owner published in stuff who's come back to NZ "for a break from USA" and criticising our Covid response without actually recognising he's putting our Covid response to the test.
Pretty sure its against international law to render a citizen stateless. Permanent resident holders live permanently in New Zealand and are basically afforded the same rights as New Zealanders, so on what grounds would you strip them of that? Dont tar everyone with a dirty brush due to 1 idiot who obviously has a legal right to return home to New Zealand.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/permanent-resident-visa
Anyone going weepy over the NRA filing for bankruptcy? Generations of good Democrat politicians and Democrat candidates just demolished by them.
Aren't they only filing in NY state so they can move their HQ to Texas? #NotReallyBankrupt
Looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
It's going to be fun.
A major donor to the National Rifle Association is poised to challenge key aspects of the gun group’s bankruptcy filing, in an attempt to hold executives accountable for allegedly having defrauded their members of millions of dollars to support their own lavish lifestyles.
Dave Dell’Aquila, a former tech company boss who has donated more than $100,000 to the NRA, told the Guardian on Saturday he was preparing to lodge a complaint in US bankruptcy court in Dallas, Texas. If successful, it could stop top NRA executives discharging a substantial portion of the organisation’s debts.
It could also stop Wayne LaPierre, the NRA’s controversial longtime chief executive, avoiding ongoing lawsuits that allege he defrauded the pro-gun group’s members to pay for luxury travel to the Bahamas and Europe and high-end Zegna suits.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/16/nra-donor-bankruptcy-dave-dellaquila-wayne-lapierre
I have just brought a bottle of tomato sauce and I could not unscrew the cap to peel back the foil so the sauce could pour. I then thought to poke the hole and realised the new design had a soft plastic over the hole.
So now another brand which is made out of tin or card cannot be used to refill the bottle.
This is probably occurring with a lot of products. It is not about being cheap it is about excess use of plastic.
I had friends over christmas and they came with two meals from a box company called 'hello fresh'. OMG the plastic, seriously, everything is wrapped individually in some plastic bag or pouch. 4 sauces in pouches, coriander, basil, etc in bags, noodle portions in little bags, condiments in little bags, it is sheer madness, of course all branded.
That sucks. Seems like 'time poor' is just an excuse to do next to nothing these days. But some of this companies clientele will indeed own a bamboo yoga mat – 'sustainable' (shipped from Asia).
those companies need to be shamed on social media majorly. Plenty of other companies doing the right thing or heading in the right direction, zero excuse for starting new companies now with lots of plastic packaging.
+1 for being shamed majorly on media.
Hello Fresh and their likes aren't food companies, they are packaging companies that package individual ingredients to make a complete packaged product / meal.
That packaged convenience is than sold to a seemingly very receptive market.
It's the convenience culture, and the need for that to exist that needs the attention as much as the type of packaging.
I agree that the consumer end needs addressing too. But there's still no excuse for new businesses starting up to be doing this. It's not like their need to run a business is akin to someone's need to eat in an easier manner. But seeing as how we're apportioning blame, may as well take a poke at central and local government too. Who could be both legislating at the production end and fining/charging at the waste stream end. I'd do both.
Wrap Rage…its an actual thing…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrap_rage
(Those little plastic/foil caps under the lid are called in our household IUDs)
The little plastic thing in the pouring hole was a little cap thing with a x in the centre. Some sort of diaphragm thing as it could be removed.
I would be interested in other people's opinion of this story on the STUFF website:
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300202050/covid19-managed-isolation-soldier-spoke-of-rape-military-rule-to-scared-returnee
The headline caught my eye so read the story. It is about a young woman doing her two week isolation in a hotel. She claims she was too fearful to leave her room for exercise because of a young soldier's behaviour towards her. The soldier's viewpoints are in need of an overhaul and he probably put his views in an unfortunate way, but it was obvious he was not personally threatening her. Her boyfriend (a lawyer, who was on the other side of the fence) and who was party to the conversation must have recognised it was not a personal threat.
The upshot is, there is now a formal investigation into her claims and a young soldier – plus some other staff it would seem – are being put through the mill as a result of over-blown and questionable sets of grievances.
Having been through that kind of circumstance where a person (also a woman) was making false claims which prompted two investigations into me, I feel sympathy for the young soldier and the other personnel involved.
It makes me angry whenever I read about this kind of thing because it casts aspersions on other women whose claims are genuine and should be recognised as such.
Clumsy communication by what was probably a young defence force member nothing more – over sensationalised by the MSM on a slow news day.
Wonder why those involved felt the need to go to the media ?
My reaction too. As for why they went to the media. Part of the me, me, me brigade and a chance for 15 minutes of fame?
Stuff have basically declared themselves the newspaper of record for identity politics, so this story is right up their street. It will be interesting to see how it is before they merge with thespinoff and publish a story from twit complaining about how Indian restaurants all have racist names full of colonial tropes and it has to stop.
The media have been pushing panic and fear mongering about COVID the entire Xmas break, there was some usual suspect – self important and opinionated expat from LA – opining in the paper the other day "…“I guarantee, if the virus has not already spread to the community, it will any day now…”
Well golly, thanks for the insight.
COVID is now the go-to story to whip up those clicks when most of the newsroom is on holiday.
Pain in the arse high maintenance clown with wanker boyfriend.
Good one, Cleetus. lol
This soldier sounds like a right dopey knob head.
“We are not a communist country because of, you know, the Anzacs, the world wars, there are so many people that died for us to be here right now”
“Argentina … they literally, they’re armed dudes, they rock around with like weapons and stuff and I’d love them to do that here”
I certainly wouldn't be giving a loaded weapon to someone stupid enough to believe world wars were fought to prevent communism in NZ, especially when he really, really wants one to ride around with.
I don't cut him slack for being young, any more than I do for appearing ignorant.
It's a worry if idiots like this are commonplace throughout the military.
No doubt he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed ,but when you read his comments in context it was in no way a threat.
Yes, that was the context I made my initial remarks. But Al1en is right… that soldier's got a lotta learnin to do.
No, I also don't believe there was a threat in his comments, but looking at the 'have you been raped or murdered' logic and believing truck loads of armed imbeciles have ever stopped either from happening, just adds to his general projection of being really stupid.
Ex-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A New War Is About To Be Imposed on The Middle East!
"On this episode of Going Underground, we speak to the former President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He discusses the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the possibility of a military attack by the United States in the last days of the Trump Presidency, his hopes for reconciliation and friendship with Middle Eastern rival Saudi Arabia, the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Yeme."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsHrfAP7Nd4
The US military no longer recognises Trump as it's CinC in any practical sense. There will be no US led war in the next 3 days.
@ RedLogix, I replied but it ended up as comment #7, not sure what happened there?..anyway this was the follow up to that comment.
BTW, incredibly this is the guy we are meant to believe when he tells us Iran is now protecting al Qaeda behind their boarders…and credible news sources disseminate that garbage as fact…and Weka wonders why so many people have turned to conspiracy theories when it is MSM that are one of the biggest sources of either fake or through withholding news, disinformation in the world today.
<strong>Pompeo reveals Iran-al Qaeda secret terror alliance</strong>
https://nypost.com/2021/01/12/mike-pompeo-reveals-iran-al-qaeda-secret-terror-alliance/
<strong>Mike Pompeo About CIA : We lied, We cheated, We stole</strong>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RmEsPE7iq0
Of course, it is all complete and utter baloney, but how can we tell? How can we separate the wheat from the chaff? How can we go past the one person’s reckons vs. another person’s reckons? What is your truth-distinguishing algorithm? A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me; do you know how many clips there are on YT?
"A YT clip doesn’t cut it for me"…not sure why you would say that?. some YT clips (and YT news channels) are useful others are not, just as some news stories on or from established media are useful while other are not.
It's pretty easy to find trust worthy news sources in today's world really, just google up whom ever it is you are getting a story from currently and compare their coverage of past controversial or disputed events/stories that you know the facts around today and see how they covered that story back then…a pattern will soon emerge.
Where they stood on Iraq Afghanistan and Venezuela is a pretty good starting point IMO.
Thank you, I think this is a critical issue and not just now.
Yes, there’s useful YT content, of course, but the question is how to find and discern the ‘good’ stuff. Personally, I prefer the written word over audio or audio/visual for most factual information. It is generally easier to track and verify and less distractive. When possible, I read transcripts of YT clips.
Google and other search engines are a double-edged sword because of their algorithms. Again, they can be useful for finding good factual information, but only if you really know what you’re doing. I believe that the vast majority of people don’t use Google in any critical/sceptical or research-like manner and few go beyond the first page of results. In many cases, even a subtle change of keyword(s) can produce dramatically different results, certainly of the top-ranked ‘hits’.
When it comes to searching for quality opinions, it becomes even more difficult to not slide down into one rabbit hole or another, following the helpful ‘hits’ of a search engine. One analogy is the use of GPS in cars and how many people have gone wrong or been led astray and ended literally in a paddock, for example?
Yes, (historical) patterns are a good way of finding and filtering content online. However, how many people look for these beyond merely their YT ‘heroes’ let alone opposing viewpoints? If your pattern only contains two points/sources, it is a straight line. You tend to see a lot of this one-dimensional ‘fact-finding’, commenting, and ‘thinking’ online.
The point is that it takes time, effort, critical judgement (vigilance), and experience to separate the wheat from the chaff. There’s no easy & quick way. Heuristics such as ‘common sense’ or ‘common knowledge’ are intellectual/conceptual cul-de-sacs.
One option is to throw something into an online group, e.g. a blogsite that allows comments, and get a good discussion going on the merits of it, et cetera. Hypothetically, this could build a community of people whom you’d trust and whose opinions and insights you’d value and respect even though you may not always agree with them, i.e. not an echo chamber 😉
As long as the the 20,000 national guardsmen that a flooding the capital are loyal to the flag and not his tannedness
That is reassuring.
Are you talking about Pelosi's attempt to get military leaders to defy Trump?
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/us/politics/trump-pelosi-nuclear-military.html
The urgency to get rid of Trump by whatever means possible may end up with the constitution being more broken than ever.
A comparison of the United States and Iran….
https://twitter.com/sahouraxo/status/1349083488457170944
Well for a start that comparison leaves out the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
And it leaves out Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
It also betrays a profound lack of understanding about the critical role the US played by fighting the Cold War, largely accidentally and with no real master plan, in creating virtually everything about the modern global economy you take utterly for granted.
And what that list also hides, is that in terms of loss of life in major power warfare, the world has just lived through the most peaceful time ever. This didn't mean there were not a lot of secondary, smaller scale conflicts the US was involved in, but the it also ensured that no-one else was allowed to engage in war. The remarkable thing about that list is not the number of engagements the US became entangled in (for better or worse); it's that it's virtually the entire list of significant conflicts. No-one else other than the US (and it's client allies) were allowed to conduct warfare.
The news that's about to kick the world in the nuts, big time, is that the US has finally reached the point where it no longer neither needs to undertake this role. It no longer needs to protect it's trade with the rest of the world, because outside of NAFTA, they have only a tiny handful of free trade agreements and the rest of world just doesn’t count. They will still run the world's most substantial military by an order of magnitude, but outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore.
And lots of regional wannabe powers are waking up to this.
"Iran/Iraq war" where Iraq invaded Iran
"Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME"
similar troublesome actors eh.
"outside a much more narrowly defined self-interest, they've got no interest in imposing global stability anymore."
Right.
So we're all good.
If you imagine global 'instability' is going to be a good thing; refer to your pre-WW2 world history.
… the Iran/Iraq war, which more or less deals to the credible intentions of whoever did it.
That war was started by Saddam Hussein, at the behest of his sponsor, the United States.
Iran's deep sponsorship of Hezbollah…
Hezbollah is a strictly local, Lebanese resistance movement.
And it assumes the two nations can be valued in such a unidimensional manner.
They can. As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
… and a number of similar troublesome actors in the ME.
There’s one actor that is responsible for nearly all of the mayhem in the ME.
https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/386535580500992050/
As that graphic irrefutably demonstrates, one of them is the world's leading terrorist state, sponsoring brutal regimes from Tel Aviv to Manila.
What it proves is that the USA is largely (but not exclusively) responsible for 70 years of no major power war, which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere.
It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for. But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
But everything you take totally for granted about the world you live in, has been in many ways shaped by the role the USA has played since the end of WW2.
You're correct there. The USA is in large part responsible for the destruction of democracy in much of Central and South America; Africa (the CIA, as well as being involved in the killing of Patrice Lumumba, a couple of years later ratted out Mandela to the apartheid regime); Indonesia, the Philippines, …. (hell, you know the rest.)
That you've turned all this into a unidimensional, anti-US bigotry is fairly typical of the unhinged left.
? That graphic that upsets you so much is neither right nor left. That its strictly empirical evidence makes you angry is your problem.
No it doesn't make me angry; that's just you projecting probably.
What I'm trying to convey is that bigots like you have been yelling 'Yankees go home' for decades, and now your wishes are going to come true.
You may not like what you've asking for however.
You're not angry, you reckon. In your last two posts you have accused me of "unidimensional, anti-US bigotry", of being part of the "unhinged left", you've called me a "bigot" and even (bizarrely) claimed that I have been yelling "Yankees go home" for decades.
You're angry, all right. I suggest you take a few minutes before you rush into print next time.
Redlogix called you a bigot?! Extraordinary.
Not helpful, not even remotely Please drop these personal snide remarks, thanks.
@ RedLogix
The fact that you can sweep away the ultra-aggressive and destructive history of the USA and her allies resulting in the deaths and displacement of who knows how many civilians and the downfall of countless elected governments around the world in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage is one of the most despicable comments I have read on the Standard..you should be ashamed of yourself, but I am sure that you are not, which is quite sad really.
in one brush of your hand because your life and I assume those of your friends are unaffected and probably even benefited from that carnage
I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism; maybe it was where I wrote:
"It didn't really have any master plan for this; it was mostly accidental, so yes there are many things they got wrong and have been rightly criticised for."
Essentially we've had one power capable of imposing it's reality on most of the world for 70 plus years, and while I'm not painting the USA as an entirely benign, or even especially competent hegemon, objectively it's been better than anything that came before. Less deaths in wars, less total violence, and a massive increase in human development everywhere.
Yet you brush this off as somehow unimportant.
The only reason there has been less deaths over the past seventy years is solely because of the nuclear bomb and all that implies, I certainly wouldn’t give the USA any credit for those numbers…
" I'm not sure where you got the idea that I think the USA is above criticism"…
"which in turn enabled an era of massive growth in trade and human development virtually everywhere."…that part right there is where I got that idea.
There are way too many assumptions in your comment about the commenter and their personal life and that of his friends even.
Please stick to the comment and leave the personal stuff out of it, thanks.
Please stick to the comments and avoid labelling/stereotyping the commenter(s).
I forgot to mention the United States' destruction of democracy in Vietnam in 1956, followed by its destruction of most of the country in the 1960s and 70s, as well as ravaging Cambodia and Laos.
Oh, and there's what they did to North Korea too…
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War which is the critical backdrop to understanding the Korean War. Their goal was not so much as to defeat Nth Korea (who incidentally had been a bitter foe on the ground), but to also establish their willingness to hit hard against communism.
Missing from this article is of course the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea. Both were convinced that the strategic balance had tilted in their favour and that the US would not value Korea highly enough to use nuclear weapons in such a conflict. (Which in fact they did not; while they remained an active option, the US generals were vividly aware of the costs of using them.)
All wars are brutal and bloody, both sides racked up atrocities and war crimes. But the root cause of the conflict did not lie with a US bloody-thirsty desire to bomb Korea into oblivion, but it lies absolutely with both Mao and Stalin's desire to confront the USA, who both gave permission and promises of support to Kim Il-sung's invasion of Sth Korea. Three of the world's most notorious leaders in modern times, conspired to invade a nation the US had committed to protecting – whitewashing that out from the narrative amounts to a selective, ideological version of the consequent catastrophe.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary' to achieve their purpose; yet history shows us that whenever one side gains a dominant strategic position late in a war, they're very prone to exactly this kind of over-kill. More than anything they want the damned thing to be over. And with the prospect of a protracted stalemate on the ground, still costing many lives, the US command reached for the one tool they could safely use to pressure North Korea into an armistice. Which eventually it did.
The context Chomsky is omitting here is of course the Cold War…
???? Chomsky does no such thing.
Arguably the bombing of North Korea went beyond the principle of 'the least force necessary'…
Good, you got one thing right. That's encouraging.
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see. Maybe I missed it.
If you want to understand an event properly, it's essential to have a clear grasp of the context. The left is supposed to be good at this sort of thing.
But stepping back from this diversion, my real point is this. Yes the USA (and it's allies) have been involved in a long list of conflicts since the end of WW2. But crucially all of them are over, and in virtually all of them the USA never replicated the pre-WW2 imperial model of permanently occupying and colonising.
For a start the US is at it's origins an anti-colonial enterprise; it's rebellion from being a British colony is still a strong thread in it's history.
Perhaps more pragmatically, the US never really needed to do colonies in the same way prior empires needed to. The advent of coal and oil meant that the land area needed for photosynthesis powered economies was no longer necessary. Occupying is always comes at an escalating cost, and eventually it exceeds the benefits; and the Americans, secure and largely self-sufficient in their homeland, never really needed to expand territory for it's own sake.
As a result, we now live in a world of almost 200 largely independent nations. Since WW2 we've seen both the collapse of conventional empire, and an unprecedented surge in nation building. And mostly this was possible because if you played to be on their side, the US provided the security and trade infrastructure to allow otherwise unviable nations to develop well beyond their capacity to do so in isolation.
There is no need to overplay any altruistic card here; the primary American motive was essentially bribe up a global coalition of nations, strong enough to present a united front against the Soviets, and win what would become called the Cold War. Yes it was sometimes a messy and ugly process, we all understand this.
Yet it has had another immensely important consequence, that of creating a nascent version of global order and cohesion never before seen in human history – and unleashing an astonishing leap in human development also never seen before.
Now the Americans were probably the least qualified people to lead this, they tend to act without thinking too much, don't understand geography very well and don't speak many languages. They never had a sophisticated idea of how they might best use this global power they'd accidentally landed up with. They fucked up many times, yet despite this the end result has been remarkably beneficial for most of humanity.
Now consider this – what might be the outcome if a new globalisation effort was driven by real principle and committed competency? What might we achieve then?
Took another quick scan of your linked article – no mention of the Cold War that I can see.
He also neglected to mention that Korea is an Asian country. I think we can take it as understood that Chomsky, of all people, was aware that the Cold War was under way. What the U.S. did in Korea, by the way, was the antithesis of a "cold" war.
No but it as catastrophic as the Korean Was was locally, it was not a major power war. So yes the Cold War had it's hot spots, but no-one wanted it to engulf the whole world again.
But this is not my main point. In many ways we've been coasting on a legacy bequeathed to the world by the humbling, chastening experience of WW2. That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it. They fumbled and stumbled and often didn't do very well, but for 70 years they more or less succeeded.
Well in my view that legacy is just about used up. We can see this in the dramatic reduction in US engagement and troop posted overseas. These are now at a lower level than any time since the 1920's. We can see this in a resurgent isolationism in Washington, even the chaotic and highly impulsive Trump didn't manage to start any new wars, and I very much doubt Biden's administration will either.
Your viewpoint had some merit back in the 80's, but the ground has shifted. Yes the US will retain the world's largest military and anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve. But this also means Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are on their own now, and this will have consequences.
… the Korean War…was not a major power war.
???? In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
That generation understood viscerally the consequences of major power empire and conflict, and acted to try and end it.
They "acted to try and end it"? The only thing they tried to end—and succeeded in ending—was democracy in Iran, Guatemala, Vietnam, the Congo, Indonesia, Chile— the list goes on and on and on. How do you explain the destruction of lives and democratic government throughout S.E. Asia, Central and South America, and Africa? Do they just not matter?
… anyone stupid enough to confront what the American's still define as their 'interests' will pretty much get what they deserve.
Such as being stupid enough to elect an independent, democratic government, as Venezuela foolishly has done, in spite of the most ominous threats and spectacularly incompetent coup attempts by Washington’s idiotic proxies.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/05/dumbest-aspects-of-the-mercenary-coup-plot-in-venezuela.html
Europe, Asia, the ME and Africa are pretty much on their own now, and this will have consequences.
They're better off on their own than being "helped" by the likes of these people….
https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/09/22/leadership-failure/firsthand-accounts-torture-iraqi-detainees-us-armys-82nd
https://theintercept.com/2017/05/28/villagers-say-yemeni-child-was-shot-as-he-tried-to-flee-navy-seal-raid/
https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2012-apr-18-la-na-afghan-photos-20120418-story.html
In your message at 10:45 am you wrote of "the critical role both Stalin and Mao Zedong played in supporting Kim's invasion of South Korea."
If you don't understand the term 'proxy war', then I don't think you should be participating in this conversation.
They're better off on their own than being "helped" by the likes of these people.
You need to go check on the history of Europe, the ME and Asia before you imagine that.
If you don't understand the term 'proxy war'…
So if it was just a little "proxy war", was it?
While as I said it was clearly a catastrophe locally; it was not on the scale of WW2 or anything like a direct confrontation between the US and the Soviets.
After the better part of two decades of steady decline, what exactly has been changed to turn around the fortunes of these publications?
They've come back with exactly the same formula as before – past their use by date boomers and tired gen-x writers ideologically wedded to neoliberal centrism and obsessed with being the jesters to court politics talking in tired cliches about the issues the affect an aging, white and well off demographic.
They are probably a bit more debt free but the vision is stale and bereft of any real new ideas to stop the slow march to their inevitable demise.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/16/the-remarkable-bounce-back-of-new-zealands-magazines
You twenty-plus hipsters with your … hmmm … phones and things … and all that interwebby stuff. You just don't understand.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists, the shabby corners of garages and tyre shops, and lunch cafés & cafeteria, et cetera. They are not just for snobs and semi-cultured unthinking people who value and recognise cheap infotainment when they browse it.
These magazines are necessary components of essential NZ infrastructure such as waiting rooms of GPs and dentists…
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/A_man_in_a_doctor%27s_waiting_room_tells_a_woman_that_he_has_c_Wellcome_V0011500.jpg
very apt
Catering to the ppl who actually buy them rather than who whinge about them, seems sensible.
I have to agree with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when he pretty much says it makes no difference who the elected leader of the USA is (for Iran), as the decisions on foreign policy is a straight line through them all…with the occasional exception of course, like Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, which was probably his greatest single action as POTUS.
I agree it makes little difference, because what matters to Iran now really lies in the hands of Israel and Saudi.
Engineering apprenticeships. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/123946767/engineering-firm-says-not-enough-companies-take-on-apprentices
Will no one think of the incels…
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1350542281636524032
They’re easy to spot by the horns and fake fur in their profile pictures.
https://twitter.com/parlertakes/status/1350575370550927360
I can feel his pain and it makes me nauseous. At least he found his missing piece. Next: where are his marbles?
I can vividly recall the old man hopping around and howling with a piece of this embedded in his hoof.
So many holes for tiny marbles to fall through. That stuff is for
boyschildren, not for toddlers, as they tend to stick these up their noses or down their throats.Play-Doh mushed into woolly carpet is one of my personal favourites. The kids have to be ready for it …
https://www.insider.com/capitol-riot-detainee-q-shaman-mocked-for-demanding-organic-food-2021-1
50 years ago ZZ Top released their first album – ZZ Top’s First Album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W8d8YIsDkk&feature=youtu.be
During the period of John Key's holding office, a Standard reader kept a log of the "leaders" lies. It ran into pages.
It would be an interesting exercise to chronicle the changes of National's stance on Covid.
"We should open our borders to Australia immediately (circa March/April '20).
"We should stop everyone coming through our borders …"
"Let's have a bubble with Australia now…"
Just what is their policy now?