Open mike 17/04/2021
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All those tears on your cheeksJust like deja vu flow nowWhen grandmother speaksSo tell me a story (I'll tell you a story)Spell it out, I can't hear (What do you want to hear?)Why you wear black in the morning?Why there's smoke in the air? Songwriter: Greg Johnson.Mōrena all ☀️Something a ...1 week ago
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Returning to the model that was failing for most polytechnics and Institutes of Technology is not the answer. ...3 days ago
- Release: National buries 1019 planned homes
It’s been revealed that National has cancelled 60 percent of its housing projects planned before mid-2025 amidst housing woes. ...3 days ago
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The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...3 days ago
- Release: Why not both? Luxon shuns Waitangi celebrations
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is running away from problems of his own creation, with his decision not to go to Waitangi. ...4 days ago
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The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...4 days ago - Release: Nicola Willis spirals country deeper into recession
The economy shrank 1% this quarter and New Zealand has tumbled into the depths of a recession of Nicola Willis’ making. ...4 days ago
- Release: Hikes for company directors but not ordinary Kiwis
Working people are going backwards while company directors are being given huge pay hikes. ...5 days ago
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The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...5 days ago
- Release: Strengthening Justice Services for New Zealanders
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...5 days ago
- Release: Labour will continue fight against destructive projects
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...5 days ago
- Green Government will revoke dodgy fast-track projects
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...6 days ago
- Government for the wealthy keeps pushing austerity
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...6 days ago
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The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...6 days ago
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With more debt and a larger deficit, Nicola Willis’ reputation is in tatters after her failure to return the Government’s books to surplus. ...6 days ago
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Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt cuts wages for lowest paid NZers… again
For the second year running, the government has effectively cut wages for the lowest paid workers in New Zealand. ...6 days ago
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The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...6 days ago
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All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...6 days ago
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The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...6 days ago
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The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...7 days ago
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The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...7 days ago
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The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...1 week ago
- Release: Four weeks annual leave under threat
The Government’s attack on workers continues with news it is scrapping work on the Holidays Act. ...1 week ago
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New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...1 week ago
- Greens stand in solidarity with Whakaata Māori on sad day
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...1 week ago
- Sanctions regime to create more hardship for families
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...1 week ago
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Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...1 week ago
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Labour is urging the Prime Minister to walk the talk and support legislation combating modern slavery. ...2 weeks ago
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The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament made an unprecedented decision on the government amendment to the Fast Track Approvals Bill last night. ...2 weeks ago
- One year on, still no progress on new ferries
Today’s announcement from the Government on its plan for new ferries throws more uncertainty on the future of the country’s rail network. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Nicola Willis’ smaller ferries will cost more
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...2 weeks ago
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Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...2 weeks ago
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France acts to restrict air travel.
While the French government are passing legislation to restrict air travel.
The New Zealand government are making tens of $millions available to subsidise air travel.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/france-domestic-flight-ban-emissions-scli-intl/index.html
this is happening in Germany
https://www.aviationpros.com/airlines/news/21218870/german-aviation-rail-industry-want-to-cut-back-on-domestic-flights
essentially cut out air transport to get to Frankfurt airport and rather use trains. Not a bad idea.
Yes. Franfurt is the focal airport for a region of 16 million people in Rhine-Main-Ruhr regions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Rhine-Main
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine-Ruhr
The inter-urban services already have their own direct Frankfurt airport terminal on the Cologne Franfurt high speed line only 177 km ( the same distance as Te Awamutu to Auckland)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Airport_long-distance_station
Its a wonderful service they provide.
If we extended the SH1 expressway through to Tauranga and Tirau and Whangarei we could conceivably remove domestic flights from Auckland to Hamilton, Tauranga, Whangarei, and Taupo. Just needs an extra $8b and another decade.
"tens of $millions available to subsidise air travel."
International flights, mainly air cargo exports and imports – you do know how vaccines and most medicines get here ?
WE dont have the population density/ city size and the existing infrastructure – and public acceptance- of medium distance trains
Netherlands is size of Canterbury but with 18 mill people
London to Birmingham – a region with 1.5 mill people is 190km, thats the same distance to Otorohanga from Auckland
Stuttgart region has 4 mill people and its the capital of a state with 11 mill people ( more than NSW) and is the size of Hawkes Bay/Manawatu Whanganui combined.
well one day Auckland region with nigh on two million people will have a tram to the Airport. Surely one day.
Funny thing is , NZ used to have a fairly decent railway system, and it was much smaller in population then.
And goods can and in the future probably will moved again by water.
Tram to airport was just a ruse to make the Domionion road part business case stack up. They even made the tram size twice as long by runnning them coupled together, which wont happen either, even Melbourne doesnt run its articulated trams that way. All done to make the 'case' .
Trackless trams are the best solution for this route.
People in Mangere arent going want to travel city via Dominion Rd, they will transfer to catch the train in Onehunga. For most there South Auckland is their focus not 1950s style trips into town to visit George Courts, Maple or Farmers
When did the Trans-Tasman Tunnel open again?
Your comparison is a false equivalence.
No Trans-Tasman Tunnel, but a Trans-Tasman Seabridge might be a viable option.
Especially if the same amount of eye watering amount of government finance was made available.
Don't need to lay tracks, all the infrastructure and staff is transferable and mostly in place.
Your false equivalence is no comparison.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2021/04/11/guest-blog-patrick-john-odea-meet-the-bullet-trains-of-the-sea/
New Zealand isn't as flat as France and we don't have the population of Japan, even though we have similar terrain. At this time in our history for five million people aeroplanes are a far more practical way of getting around a mountainous archipelago than trying to build the rail infrastructure required.
@Sanctuary
Mass air travel is only a recent innovation.
For more than a century of European settlement the coasts of this ribbon like mountainous archipelago seperated into two main islands the coasts were our highways. And for even longer if you consider Maori transportation.
"At this time in our history….
…aeroplanes are a far more practical way of getting around"
Sanctuary
'Practical', Is not how I would describe air travel. At this time in our history, unsustainable long term, and evironmentally destructive and profligately wasteful, would be my depiction of air travel.
Sooner or later it will have to be curtailed.
Better sooner than later.
What if the $1.5 billion in financial support made available to Air New Zealand to keep them polluting was instead made available for a coastal and Trans-Tasman and coastal passenger ferry service to compete with the air lines, to permanently complete the job of grounding the airlines that the pandemic began.
And climate change will finish.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/19/climate-change-spells-turbulent-times-ahead-for-air-travel
They are confusing the public utility of subsidizing freight for exporters, with serving the community they are elected to represent.
There is no limit to what they will spend on exporters, but contemporary rail is beyond them. They imagine that carbon responsibility is something they can talk their way out of, which is why they let the agricultural sector do so. Second best is good enough they figure – perish the thought NZ should have proper government, much less proper transport infrastructure.
Shameless.
Anyone aware of extra prebudget announcements?
There don't seem to have been many outside of housing.
Doing a budget would not be easy. This budget will need to factor in a high level lock down level 3 minimum. As well not having a trans – Tasman bubble.
The way the pfizer vaccine is going (uncertainty that the vaccine is enough with two jabs and that a third jab 6-12 months from the second jab and then an annual jab may be needed) I am not confident that the trans – Tasman bubble will last.
Brian Easton was asking a similar question: https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/will-the-2021-budget-be-focused-on-wellbeing [from Feeds on TS]
You gotta admire the balls of the US elite…Biden keeps Trump appointed Russian Ambassador…you know the same Trump who was apparently in the pocket of the Russians and doing the bidding of the evil genius Vladimir Putin, how anyone with half a brain can still buy into the Russian conspiracy is quite astounding, but there you have it….
<strong>Biden Team Asks Trump-Picked Russia Ambassador to Stay in Post</strong>
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-18/biden-team-asks-some-trump-appointees-to-stay-as-ambassadors
It can only be an admittance that Russia is far far superior in cyber technology that they can so easily hack American security and able to sway the intelligent American voter in which way to vote, if only they could sway the American health authorities to use the Sputnik jab to protect those same voters. Mmm.
Why would they bother. Russians don't.
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access/
https://www.dw.com/en/putin-gets-his-covid-jab-as-russians-stay-away-from-sputnik-v/a-56963871
Not that sort of vote meddling… it seems Manafort , Trumps crony, may have provided the Russians inside knowledge of their polling data and that sort of thing, campaign quadrants and such. Some hackers may have penetrated Democratic party DNC email system, but campaigns by candidates are separate and all it showed was party activists are two faced. Politicians rate lowly anyway so no real surprises there
US voters are inundated by advertising and saturation news coverage, what could the Russians do that could 'sway' people.
It provided an opportunity for an attack on Hillary that was sufficient to at least temporarily persuade Comey to break protocols about current elections in the crucial period in the weeks leading up to the election. If it wasn't decisive, it wasn't from want of trying.
Holy hell, you people are really living in some sort of self induced Conspiracy la la land…here is a link that might help you….
Conspiracy Theory Addiction Center
https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/conspiracy-theory-addiction/
I suppose the ignorance that comes from an unrelieved diet of RT and rohypnol is such that you slept through the Trump/Hillary election.
The Comey Letter Probably Cost Clinton The Election | FiveThirtyEight
Go back to sleep and leave the conversation to the adults.
Clinton later went on to blame the election loss squarely on Comey and the Russian meddling. Which is as ridiculous as it sounds.
It was certainly a contributing factor.
But no doubt as the lickspittle lackey of a genocidal despot you want to deny it.
" an opportunity for an attack on Hillary"
Clintons private email server wasnt hacked at all, the controversy was over her using one and its ramifications and wheter all the data was provided to FBI etc.
That wasnt a Russian operation at all. Clinton was running as an old time 'machine politician' and heir to Obama. Trump was a better campaigner/liar who got out voters who didnt normally vote
Didn't her emails end up on wikileaks? Standard Russian MO.
from your link (before the paywall sprung up):
Its also a log jam in the Senate when a new President starts as he wants his agency heads approved by the Senate first. Next comes the judges and I think last are the Ambassadors
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018791897/james-cameron-explains-dairy-cows-on-wairarapa-farm
Cameron can only go organic vege if hes got access to cheap indentured labourers!
Maybe Cameron could make a movie on organic veg and get some sort of tax relief so he can ditch the cows.
don't give them any ideas, we are going to run of tax gifts to donate to rich people.
Its not really a tax gift as such. When you export a product the GST component ( 15%) is refunded. Movies are more complicated as far as exporting goes, but this was a way of them getting the GST accumulated during production back. – with a bit more for the big projects. I would check very very closely Hollywood accounting and that various parts of the movie are done offshore ( for their tax benefits) and then recycled through NZ again to double dip.
One way or another, we the taxpayer will fund the bill. No matter the colorful and legal accounting shenanigans.
I thought OIA approval was conditional, for purchases such as this farm, upon providing extra jobs for locals not for underpaid imported labour from elsewhere. Any imported labour needs to not replace local labour, be at the living wage for a full 40 hour week and I think it is long overdue that these work visas come with a requirement for the employer to pay the union fees for all the labour with a visa so that the conditions are properly policed. Time to tell the Cameron's to sod off really – plenty of people here can run cows.
AFAIK, James Cameron is a NZ Resident.
So is whats his name,and he is a resident for life.
Ah, yes, sorry, how could I forget about what’s his name …
Wally.
Thiel ?
He was German citizen at birth, became naturalised American and again for NZ in 'instant coffee process' which none of those responsible can remember who approved it- which in politics means they are covering for the boss!
I gather Cameron has been in NZ more than he normally would have been due to Covid restrictions and needing to be in MIQ. He would not be alone with clocking up time as an NZ resident.